Big BP Mistake

http://www.examiner.com/x-325-Global...y-oil-skimmers

Listed above is an article. Quick summary: The Dutch government has offered to send three 'skimmers' to the Gulf. Each skimmer has the capacity to take in 36,500 barrels of oil per day...all three could easily take in more than 100,000 barrels a day. Considering BP is only capturing 15,000 barrels a day, this is huge. This could really reduce the amount of oil hitting the shore.

How come it took this long for the Dutch to offer? Well, they made the offer three days after the rig burned down.

Ok, how come the US didn't accept the offer? Well, the skimmer sucks in oil and water, and discharges seawater back to the sea, with a small amount of oil in it. This is what makes them so much more efficient than a normal skimmer. They don't try to just get the oil off the top. Instead, the skimmer gulps it all in, uses the differing densities to separate, and pumps the water back out.

It is strictly against EPA regulations to discharge oily water back in the sea. Sure, it might gulp in water with 50% oil, and spit out water with 5% oil...but that is still against regualtions.

Finally, somebody has caught a case of sanity and allowed the use of the skimmers...55 days after the offer.

It is possible that these skimmers could have prevented any of the beaches from getting hit...its really sad actually. Its things like this which cause me to distrust government immensly.

And, of course, this is an indictment on the president's leadership. We suspended EPA rules to build the border fence...but nobody considered this during the oil disaster? Utterly stupid, no matter how you look at it.

there are so many laws out there some help some harm but please don't blame it on the prez

and lets ask the dutch what they going to with all that oil

I just figured something out, if you record cheaper and then play the recording backwards he makes perfect sense............. lol just player cheaper. The Dutch would probably keep the oil for payment for the use of the ship, hell I would rather BP pay the dutch then someone to clean it off the beach.

Maybe if BP hadn't lied about the amount of oil being released into the gulf, they wouldn't have been so quick to reject them. Also I'm sure that Obama is relying on advice from the admiral in charge. If he had advised that the Dutch skimmers would be a good thing, the help might have not been refused.

Um..the skimmers are equipment atttached to boats...so the Dutch wouldn't be operating them, for those concerned with what to do with the oil. I've read that all skimmed oil is being offloaded into barges...and is generally useless after having been exposed to the dispersant and seawater...so nobody's fighting over it.

Sorry, I do blame the president. We are getting multiple stories of locals having trouble getting shit done, because of the feds. Two days ago, Jindal had the LA national guard start building sand berms...because the feds still hadn't authorized work to start (still doing an impact study!). Yesterday, officials in Pensacola voted to violate federal law and implement their plan to stop the oil....with a Coast Guard officer in the room protesting and declaring it illegal. Two weeks ago, I saw photos of Dauphin island, with huge sand berms (my 'Bama boys said fuck you to the EPA earlier than others). Another 'Bama community is sinking barges at the mouth of a river, against the advisement of the EPA. We have refused offers from 13 nations to help with equipment, because of the protectionist Jones Act (which Bush suspended in the aftermath of Katrina btw).

It has become a giant cluster fuck...and the admiral isn't in charge. We alternated between BP being declared in charge, the feds deciding they would work 'alongside' BP, to the feds being 'in charge'...but BP is still 'running things', and we have the admiral...but also have AG Holder down there investigating, but also have the Corps of Engineers guarding their turf...but also have the EPA demanding impact studies.

There is one man who can have a two sentence memo typed up, and unclog this bs system. I have no clue why he doesn't. It makes absolutely no sense. Its almost as if he is too proud to admit that he should have in the first place, so now he won't.

Look, it is impossible to stop the leak...but very, very possible to prevent the oil from fouling the coastline of four states so far (and its 160 miles from Cuba ). If the man at the top isn't doing anything, he deserves the blame.

20 BILL 20 BILL FOR CLAIMS PLUS 100 MILL 100 MILL FOR LAID OFF WORKERS PLUS THEY HAVE TO PAY THE FOR THE CLEAN UP. WHAT MORE DO YOU WANT WHAT MORE CAN YOU ASK FOR. EVERYBODY WANTS TO BLAME OBAMA BUT THEN THE SAME PEOPLE WANT THE GOV TO STAY OUT OF PRIVATE BIZ LET PRIVATE BIZ DO THEIR THING THEN WHEN SOMETHING FUCKS UP THEN ITS WERE IS THE GOV WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO SAY NOW OBAMA GOT THE MONEY SOMEBODY HELP ME I THOUGHT THE CAP WAS 75 MILL NOT 20 BILL WITH NO CAP. ok I vented let the naysayers & haters come out.

I really don't care how much money he extorted out of BP...you can't fix everything with money. The birds are still dead, the shrimp are still dead, people have already lost their boats. If I were a fisherman, I would much rather be fishing, that filling out forms to get money doled out to me. Half the rigs have left the gulf already, as a result of the drilling ban...so we get to import more oil than ever before. 20 Billion is not even close to the final tab.

But lets let all that oil slide under the bridge. What more do I want? The President can interrupt his schedule for 17 seconds to:

1. Suspend the Jones Act
2. Lift the off-shore drilling ban
3. Accept help from the 13 nations who have offered
4. Tell the EPA they no longer matter in this situation
5. Tell the Corps they no longer matter in this situation

That's all I want...why won't he do these things?

"WHAT MORE DO YOU WANT WHAT MORE CAN YOU ASK FOR"

Well Cheaper I think he is saying "the more he wants the president to do is sign an executive order to unclog the system and get things done. You got the epa wanting to do studys on the impact of the method of clean up they want to use when at the same time oil is spilling into the ocean, which is worse the enviroment damage that bull dozing the beach into a damn would cause or the oil washing onto the beach.You have all these federal agencies bumping into each other clogging up the mess, suspended their authority and tell them to get the fuck out of the way and let people do what they can to stop this mess. SO he got the money, if he does not unclogg this federal cluster fuck, then he is going to need a hell of a lot more than 20 billion. BY the way I dont think it was really any big feat that he got them to agree to 20 billion. I think that might have been the profit last quarter.

In times of emergency you dont do business as usual, the federal government is not equipped to handle an emergency situation because you cant get everyone of the agencies to work together and realize that you have to think outside the norm. Thats the only critisism of Obama, he is not unclogging the drain which he could with an executive order suspending agency authority and allowing all maters to be supervised by one person the coast guard dude. One person making the decisions cuts out the usual buracratic red tape bullshit of let me check into it and let me get back to you. crap which they finally do 3 weeks later after the horse has left the barn.

The eleven principles of leadership, as taught in the Army (and I think the Marine Corps):

1. Be proficient in all that you do.
2. Live your values.
3. Know your people and look out for their welfare.
4. Keep people informed.
5. Set the example.
6. Ensure the task is understood, supervised, and accomplished.
7. Train as a team.
8. Make sound and timely decisions.
9. Develop a sense of responsibility among subordinates.
10. Employ your work group in accordance with its capabilities.
11. Seek responsibility and take responsibility for your actions.

How is our leader doing in this situation?

crew is not a navy man in charge & drilling more import oil ummp bp is import oil. red tape their is always red tape look at what happen New orleans when all those people were dying. shit you people are never happy.

"bp is import oil"

We get a royalty when they drill in US territorial waters...in fact, BP still owes it for every drop that is spewed into the ocean.

I don't know who's in charge. Last I heard it was Thad Allen, from the Coast Guard....you know, the guy who was authoritatively describing how BP was doing top kill, at his direction...only to find out later that BP stopped the attemp 10 hours beforehand.

Nope, I'm not happy....much of the red tape was suspended after Katrina btw...but why does that matter? The mere comparison to Katrina implies this is some sort if intramural pep rally, with 8th graders on different sides of the gym cheering for their team. It doesn't matter if Bush were the devil himself...it has no bearing on the here and now. Its not a contest where I want Obama to fuck up...I really would like him to take the reins, and succeed in this situation.

The simple fact is that Obama, as a community organizer, has no clue how to respond to a disaster like this, and is too arrogant to ask for advice. Regulating coastal waters is one of the few things the federal government is supposed to do. It would be nice to have a competent, freedom loving president, but don't hold your breath.

who has the clue how to handle this common you guys kill me you want small gov right you want private biz to do whats good for biz this is a capitalist country right. but now that somebody fuck up you want the prez to swim down & close the pipes himself you want to not let all the states who say they can run their own state & want big gov to mind their own biz now to run everything. Now at least he got bp to pay for this your mad again. if the dutch were going to come & fix things for free or out of the kindess of their heart then they would have just did it like any other tree hugger. they would have just shipped out, complain complain shit don't change if your so mad or concerned then jump in your car or truck & head to the coast & help the gov can't fix all your problems hell plus you can write your time off on you taxes

You are moving the goalpost. Nobody said anything about plugging the hole. Nobody has asked for more government. At this point, we would be better off if all federal employees left the Gulf region, and let the states help themselves and accept foreign equipment...that would be less government by my calculation. I have seen the term 'hater' in this thread. I think the correct term is 'defender'. Is the current status ok for the next several months? Or do the haters have permission to ask that the president improve the situation, by simply stepping outof the way. How can anyone defend continuing the current situation....when 13 nations are offering to help us? I'm stunned anyone could defend that. It would be like not accepting a fire hose when your house is on fire...'Cause you already got money from the guy who started the fire.