Let's get something straight. The USA military was 'on the job' within days of the initial fire on the Deepwater Horizon. NO one asked them, except, the President.
The fire began at 9:45 PM, CDT on April 20, 2010. The Coast Guard, a segment of the USA military was
'on the job' immediately when the fire broke out.
...Within 24 hours of the explosion on the rig, an entry in the logs raises a concern that the oil could pour out at the rate of 8,000 barrels a day in the event of a blowout.
That estimate was raised to a potential leak of at least 64,000 barrels on April 23, showing that first responders began to understand the environmental threat to the Gulf of Mexico when Coast Guard officials detected the first signs of oil appearing on the gulf waters.
The official White House timeline first mentions a leak on April 24, four days after the explosion, when undersea robots discovered a plume of oil coming from the riser on the sea floor....
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/04/us/04coastguard.html
Basically, I don't see the Republicans along the Gulf having respect fotr anyone including their constituencies, except, their own agendas. I really don't want to hear how statements are 'heartless.' What is completely heartless are the poor priorities of these States. When Jindal and Barber want to deal out criticism they can look in the mirror first.
Guard readies as Gulf Coast braces for oil spill
By Air Force Master Sgt. Mike R. Smith
National Guard Bureau
ARLINGTON, Va., (4/30/10) – At least three states along the Gulf of Mexico are preparing for a potential call for thousands of National Guard members as the nation ramps up its response to the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill today.
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal sent letters to federal officials asking them to approve funding to activate up to 6,000 Guardmembers to assist in the response to the oil spill....
http://www.ng.mil/news/archives/2010/04/043010-Oil.aspx
The Gulf States asked for help from the USA military. Beyond the National Guard, as of today, there are 25,000 people involved in efforts. Who is paying that bill? Jindal should have been suing BP, Transocean and Halliburton from the beginning. His Attorney General hasn't told the Parish Presidents whom to communicate with? Like the military person sitting in their offices?
25,000 people is nearly a small city. When is the Federal Treasury going to be reimbursed from any of the States that are suppose to be receiving 'costs' from BP? Or, is keeping the monies the Federal Treasury is now doling out part of the 'relief monies' the Gulf States are counting on? Then there is the cost of the USA miltiary right from the beginning. Who is paying for that?
TODAY, ...over 1,200 Coast Guardsmen Federal Military), 1,400 National Guardsmen, 21,000 contractors and 700 volunteers....
...400 skimmers on duty and around the gulf, 500 barges, 2,500 government and contract vessels and more than 2,000 vessels of opportunity utilizing local watermen and their knowledge and their vessels, 64 aircraft and 2.7 million feet of boom either deployed or staged and ready to deploy....
2.7 million feet of boom - That circles the Equator of Earth over 108 times.
...We have skimmed, to date, about 18 million gallons of oily water—the oil has to be decanted from that [and] our yield is usually somewhere around 10 or 15 percent on that. We have burned 3.8 million gallons of oil. We’ve applied over a million gallons of dispersant....
I really want them to stop using the dispersant. A million gallons into the Gulf is over the limit as far as I am concerned.
Canada remained the largest exporter of total petroleum in March, exporting 2.517 million barrels per day to the United States,...
The OTHER exporting countries (in order of gallons per day) providing oil to the USA everyday is Saudi Arabia, MEXICO, Venezuela, Nigeria, Angola, (this was as of March), Iraq (450,000 barrels per day. Do we pay for that?) , Brazil (Brazilians use a lot of E85 - ethanol 85% - gas 15%)...So, basically, the Brazilians export their oil to the USA to enrich their national treasury while they are burning E85....followed by Algeria, Russia, Kuwait, Colombia, Ecuador, UNITED KINGDOM and lastly the Congo.
But, the Republicans want to chronically scream how the USA has to drill offshore and otherwise in order to stop importing oil.
Oh. I'm feeling safer already. From whom? Canadians, I suppose. Canada supplies nearly twice the amount of oil to the USA, than Saudi Arabia.
March 2010 Import Highlights: May 27, 2010
Monthly data on the origins of crude oil imports in March 2010 has been released and it shows that three countries exported more than 1.00 million barrels per day to the United States (see table below). The top five exporting countries accounted for 66 percent of United States crude oil imports in March while the top ten sources accounted for approximately 86 percent of all U.S. crude oil imports....
http://www.eia.doe.gov/pub/oil_gas/petroleum/data_publications/company_level_imports/current/import.html
The whining of the Republicans at any level of government along the Gulf Coast, with the exception of Crist (the guy seems to have some dignity), is POLITICAL. Congress needs to take that into consideration during their hearings.
There are many problems in the Gulf of Mexico and along the coastal states, but, 'the response' really isn't 'all that.'
As of today, Governor Jindal found out that when the State seeks support from BP, rather than pounding away at the Federal government and the Obama Administration, he actually gets what he asks for:
BP First Payment for Barrier Islands Project to Louisiana
Friday June 11th 2010
BP in a letter to Louisiana’s Governor, Bobby Jindal, gave details on their plans to fund the $360 million for six berms for the Barrier Islands Project. BP paid the first payment of $60 million to the State of Louisiana.
With this initial payment Louisiana will be able to begin work immediately on this project. Five additional payments of $60 million each will be paid when the project is certified in 20%, 40%, 60%, 80% and finally 100% completion milestones. Instead of establishing an escrow fund BP announced that they will make all the payments directly to the State of Louisiana....
http://www.infotipguide.com/bp-first-payment-for-barrier-islands-project-to-louisiana/846/
WHOM are the laborers for these barrier islands? Displaced workers from Louisiana? I hope there is no corruption with those kinds of monies rolling in.
Scientist Warns: Sand Berms Won't Last
by NPR Staff
June 11, 2010
...But some scientists who've spent decades studying the fragile Mississippi River delta aren't sold on the berm idea, and they worry those berms could make things even worse.
Rob Young, a coastal geologist at Western Carolina University who's been working in the Gulf for 20 years, says he thinks the man-made sandbars will take six to nine months to finish. And he doesn't think they're going to last....
..."The structure that I see that they're planning to build is going to erode as soon as it's constructed, and it's going to have a tough time making it through a hurricane season that's predicted to be a fairly active one," Young tells NPR's Melissa Block. "I just don't have a very high level of confidence that a project that's going to require a lot of energy and a lot of sand and mobilize a lot of people is going to do what they promise it will do."...
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=127774917
Has anyone, I do mean ANYONE, thanked President Obama for holding BP accountable? Hm? To Bipartisan an action I suppose.
And last, but, not least Admiral Thad Allen stated today: (click title to entry - thank you)
...And that will all continue and, as I said, immense operation going on down there and we are also deploying teams today—and will be next week—under Tracy Wareing, [head of] our integrated services team, to take a look at the claims processing, and that continues with our oversight and work with BP....
Now, what was the complaint ACTUALLY ?
