BP made assurances to the Minerals Management Service that all necessary precautions would be taken to safely explore their lease in Block 252 of the Gulf of Mexico, the "Macondo Prospect," now best known to cartographers as "Incident Site."
All preliminary reports suggest that the company's project managers overruled on-site engineers who warned that removing drilling mud from the drill string before cementing was complete. After pressure irregularities had shut down the rig before cementing had even begun.
In other words, all necessary precautions were not taken.
Since the blowout and fire, BP has attempted to staunch the leak by lowering the "big box" containment, which was immediately fouled by frozen water and hydrates. Exactly as was predicted would happen. Now they're trying again with a smaller containment. If that doesn't work, they'll try shoving a pipe in the pipe. Or golf balls.
Meanwhile, the government, in the form of the Coast Guard and the Department of the Interior, stand by, hoping for BP's engineers to come up lucky, while a third of America's seafood production goes under the volcano.
I know these are untried techniques in an extreme environment. I know we're in, shall we say, uncharted waters here. But, as a Gulf Coast resident and American taxpayer, my patience is wearing thin.
If BP's finest engineering talent can't stop this thing, I think we may have to bring in some fresh blood.
While I'm not quite ready to go along with the honorable Maxine Waters and nationalize the entire industry,
I can see no reason why this lease should not be revoked and engineers from the military, augmented by the best talent from private industry, be assigned the tasks of stopping this leak and mitigating the harm to our national treasure, the Gulf beaches and estuaries. Once the well is safely capped, the government can bring the oil to market and use the proceeds to pay the hundreds of billions of dollars needed to ameliorate the effects of the spill and compensate those whose property and livelihoods have been affected.
There may be some here who do not hold the military in the highest regard, but there is one thing that cannot be disputed: when men and women of the United States armed forces, particularly the engineering corps, are given an objective, they will not stop until it is achieved. They don't sit around figuring out how to pad contracts and "having fun."
I am tired of overpaid suits and their pet pocket protectors who have the leisure of treating what is happening to our beautiful, beloved Gulf as an "exercise" take their best shots and then head home to comfy McMansions in Clear Lake and Kingwood.
Time to bring in some folks with mottos like. . .
See the hill, take the hill. The impossible takes a little longer. If logistics were easy, they'd be called tactics. Can fucking do.
Rather than folks with mottos like. . .
All appropriate measures. No one could have anticipated. Maximize shareholder value.
While there are certainly going to be a lot of legal objections to this idea, it's already clear that BP has abrogated its responsibilities in the management of the lease of the Macondo Prospect. Their mismanagement has resulted in a national catastrophe that threatens our economic security. If ever a private enterprise called out for government intervention, this is it.
For those who say such a move would be unprecedented, google "Resolution Trust Corporation."
PS: Not quite what I had in mind, but this is a good start:
Criminal charges likely from Gulf oil spill, legal experts say
PPS: The smell's back again today. Like fresh, steaming asphalt with a layer of paint thinner. I'm not feeling the love for BP's engineers tonight.