Gulf Watchers Wednesday - Gulf Coasters beg Colbert for coverage - BP Catastrophe AUV #539

Topics: Gulf Coasters turn to Colbert, A Year After BP Caps Well, Fishermen Still Fight for Survival, Year After Gulf Oil Spill, Columbus Company Still Waits For Claim, BP Oil Still Ashore One Year After End of Gulf Spill, Observations: What Was in the Oil Spilled during BP's Gulf of Mexico Disaster?, Feds' own data raise questions about effort to blame Gulf fishermen for sea turtle death spike, Kemp's ridley turtle numbers at record levels in Texas, BP continues cleanup of Lisburne drill site spill

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Gulf coast residents, still suffering health and environmental effects from BP's black monster which gets little attention at all, let alone priority attention, from the traditional media have taken to posting pleas on Stephen Colbert's site begging him to give their plight some attention. Gulf Coasters turn to Colbert Somewhere far below the debt ceiling, the end of the shuttle program, the Casey Anthony trial, the FIFA Women’s World Cup and Rupert Murdoch’s British imbroglio is the long-forgotten Gulf Oil Spill, now almost 15 months behind us — the anniversary of the actual capping of the Macondo well was this past Friday — and so far off the mainstream media’s radar it nary merits a mention. But fans of comedian Stephen Colbert haven’t forgotten, and a recent post by one of them in the story suggestion section of the ColbertNation.com website has been far and away the most read and commented on of recent posts, generating more than 3,600 views and 80 comments. (A typical story suggestion gets a couple of comments and roughly 25 views.) ... The Gulf Coaster's posts on the Colbert Nation Forum are a combination of frustration, anger, heartbreak and fear. Sadly, it appears that BP's victims are destined to join the ranks of the long-ignored Exxon Valdez victims. IT’S NOT OVER DOWN HERE...NOT BY A LOOOOOOOONG SHOT!!! NO MATTER WHAT YOU’VE HEARD!!!! Sea life is destroyed, some ailing, some deformed...unborn dolphins, aborted, washed up by the hundreds in the Spring. Beach workers, fishermen, residents...are SICK from the mixture of oil and dispersants, dumped on us for months. When I say "sick”, I mean...inordinate amounts of miscarriages, abscesses, sepsis, skin lesions, respiratory issues, rashes...what sympathetic scientists are calling...”the Blue Plague"...an’ NO HEALTH CLAIMS were honored by Feinstein...none...not the first one... Bp has not made it right. People are very sick. The Government fails to respond, or help. The oil is still here! I am an RN and my Husband is an MD,  Fritzi is so right.   Women are losing their unborn fetuses,   people are dying, it is not clean and I  and we need help to help them....The people to TPTB are just collateral damage.   Come on down and swim in the putrid waters, eat the toxic seafood it's good for ya.   Sheesh....it is alll about the buck. I implore you to not brush aside the stories you are hearing about the Gulf. They are no fairytales, magical disappearing oil, or lives made whole again as the mainstream news reports and advertisements would have you believe. Instead it is a nightmare many of us have to wake up to everyday. There is still something in the air here making sensitive people sick and it can be proven by leaving the area and then coming back. ...BP's fantasy is a nightmare many of us are forced to wake up to everyday here. ... I live on the Mississippi Coast and was involved in BP's Vessels of Opportunity clean up program.  It was nothing more than a dog & pony show for the local residents and the media. ...The seafood and the water is safe according  to them.  Independent lab tests tell a different story. ... I have spoken with our Attorney General, Jim Hood.  He was unaware of the health problems that people were having and he was going to see if mobile units from the CDC could be dispatched here to test and treat people that are now sick.  So far, nothing else from him.  I hand delivered my test results to him.  I expected to have BP's toxins in my body, but never expected my two-year-old grandson to have them in his little body.  His levels are higher than mine and he got poisoned from just breathing the air. ... I have Blood and Urine tests that say I will soon be a commodity on Wall Street. I'm turning into Gasoline and Scrap Metal!  ... First and foremost, I am asking why the Gulf Coast has not been addressed regarding health concerns? Many have been tested for VOCs and the results are alarmingly high and positive. I have attended the NOLA GCCF meeting with Lisa Jackson and she seemed unconcerned. There are people with toxins in their system and very little doctors to help us. I speak of the area from Panama City, FL to Grand Isle, LA. I personally have been sick since June 2010 and have seen my doctor on at least 7 different occasions. ... I now have a spot the doctors are watching from my last mammogram. I have been bleeding for 2 1/2 weeks and now am seeking a GI specialist. ...

The National Resources Defense Council got boots on the ground very early after the Macondo blew and worked very hard on establishing relationships with locals. They have often been a voice for the voiceless in the Gulf. They confirm what Gulf residents have posted to Colbert's site, things are a long way from being back to normal in the oil-riddled Gulf. A Year After BP Caps Well, Fishermen Still Fight for Survival ... Now a year after the well was plugged, those fears have been justified. Many fishermen are struggling with the same problems, the same concerns that their livelihoods will never return. The oil is not gone; it keeps coming in places like Grand Isle, LA,  and Biloxi,MS, rolling in with the tides as globs of tar balls and sheen. Louisiana beaches near Port Fouchon and parts of the rich fishing grounds in Barataria Bay remain still closed due to oil contamination. No one can predict when they will open again. But that’s not the story that BP or local government officials paint. According to a recent document posted by BP, everything in the Gulf is recovering nicely and fishing is back to normal. In fact things are going so well, the oil giant argues, that new claims for damages shouldn’t have to be paid. That fits in nicely with BP’s hundred million dollar PR and advertising campaign that keeps rolling out pleasant testimonials from seemingly happy people in the Gulf.   But the reality is much different for many who make their living on the water. Commercial fishermen are still suffering though some of the worst shrimp and crab catches in memory, as rock bottom seafood prices make fishing trips too expensive to make them worthwhile. Many say they are continuing to battle Ken Feinberg’s claims office to get adequate compensation for losses that continue to mount. Dean Blanchard Seafood is a particularly hard-hit company on Grand Isle, LA. He used to be the largest shrimp buyer in the Gulf, but after the oil disaster struck his shrimp business has been almost cut in half. ... Blanchard says he’s seen things he’s never seen before; shrimp covered in oil, some green, yellow and orange, and fish with sores he’s stuck his fingers through. What's causing it cannot be proven yet, but the water still doesn't seem right to many fishermen. They fear the worst will come as future generations of fish and sealife reproduce in an environment they say is still contaminated with oil.  ... Louisiana shimpers Darla Rooks and her husband Todd are also facing financial ruin, and they say they have received nothing recently from BP to help them get through the worst shrimp season in memory. “I’m not sure what we’re going to do,” Darla says. “We can’t afford to shrimp with these kinds of catches and prices. We’re all sick. Guess I’m going to have to throw out some catfish traps in the river or get a job at Lowes. We have to do something else to survive.” ... For fishermen like these, the well capping a year ago was a Pyrrhic victory, a confusing and conflicting symbol that the disaster was over and life as normal would return. Soon after, the media left, and with it the nation's attention. The only story that most people around the country hear these days is the one from BP. ...

BP's black monster's tentacles did not restrict its damage to the Gulf Coast. The victims not living on the Gulf are being treated every bit as shabbily as those in close proximity to the horror. BP's Gulf Coast Claim Facility, headed by Ken Feinberg, offered a Columbus, Ohio frozen fish supplier $200,000 less than his actual losses and, then, reneged on paying even that. They also blew off a local television station investigating the story. Year After Gulf Oil Spill, Columbus Company Still Waits For Claim ... Aside from the environmental impact, the spill also impacted fish and seafood businesses throughout the country. One Columbus company says more than a year after they filed a claim for losses in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, they still have not received a dime. Even inside the freezer at Columbus Fish and Seafood on Columbus’ west side, Owner Frank Gonzalez is heated. ... 14 months ago, he says he filed a claim with BP for $489,000; the amount he says they incurred in losses from the spill. Finally, three weeks ago he says his accountant was told they'd be receiving $289,000. Though $200,000 less than what they initially asked for, Gonzalez says he would have taken it but there was a problem. “Three days later, we were denied,” he says. ... So what's going on with the claim?  NBC4 wanted answers so we visited the Gulf Coast Claims Facility which happens to be in Dublin.  NBC4 was told by a manager that no one at the facility was authorized to answer questions.  They instead took contact information down and said they’d give it to one of their attorneys in New York. NBC4 made that visit on Monday.  More than 24 hours later that attorney still has not called back. ...

The Gulf Coasters posting on Stephen's Colbert's site are absolutely right in asserting that things where they live are a long way from being all better. Even No Oil At All (NOAA) admits that nearly 500 miles of precious Gulf coastline remains fouled by BP's black monster. That's almost half of the total of 1,074 miles total that were contaminated. Louisiana, the hardest hit state, still has miles of heavily contaminated beaches and marshes. The marshes are nearly impossible to effectively clean. It's interesting that this news has only been reported by a publication that caters to the investment community which puts a high priority on not trusting their investment dollars to the deceptions of public relations winds. BP Oil Still Ashore One Year After End of Gulf Spill Crude oil continues to wash ashore along the Gulf of Mexico coast a year after BP Plc (BP/) stopped the flow from its damaged Macondo well, which caused the worst U.S. offshore spill, government officials said. About 491 miles (790 kilometers) of coastline in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida were contaminated by BP oil as of July 9, the last available tally from field inspections, Tim Zink, a spokesman for the National Atmospheric and Oceanic Administration, said in an e-mailed message. A total of 1,074 miles has been oiled since the spill began, he said. ... The latest survey in Louisiana by the agency found 5 miles of beaches and 8 miles of marsh heavily oiled, according to results provided by Zink. The July survey by the oceanic agency covered almost 4,300 miles of shoreline in the four states. Submerged mats of congealed oil, often resembling a mousse, are a source of the tar balls, Hein said. The areas with the most oil are Louisiana coastal marshes, she said. ... How long the BP oil will persist, the extent of damage it has caused and how much it may yet inflict is still being studied. A government estimate found about 1.1 million barrels of oil unaccounted for after adjusting for amounts that were recovered, dispersed into the sea, burned and evaporated as of July 14, 2010, Ben Sherman, a spokesman for the oceanic agency, said today. The Coast Guard said 1,260 people remain employed in spill cleanup as of yesterday, down from a peak of 48,200 a year ago. Compounding the difficulty of calculating how much oil may remain to wash ashore or harm wildlife is a dispute between BP and the U.S. over the amount that escaped during the 87-day spill. ... The 23 percent of the oil the government couldn’t account for may have settled to the bottom of the sea or remain suspended in the water as tar balls that eventually wash ashore, the oceanic agency said. Residual oil may persist for years, said Ian MacDonald, a professor of earth, ocean and atmospheric science, at Florida State University in Tallahassee. ... “We really didn’t mount the comprehensive kinds of sampling studies or mappings required to better assess where the oil was distributed initially and where it eventually ended up,” Robert Weisberg, a professor of physical oceanography at the University of South Florida in St. Petersburg, said in an interview yesterday. ...

Much of what piddling little independent science that has been done in the Gulf was sponsored by the National Academy of Sciences. The published results from this study doesn't offer much in the way of comfort other than some dispute over the toxicity of compounds that isn't explained in the reporting. Microbes ate the edible compounds more slowly than was expected and it seems we are left with 410,00 barrels of something called "polar hydrocarbons" which are resistant to degradation. Observations: What Was in the Oil Spilled during BP's Gulf of Mexico Disaster? Despite common parlance, oil is not a singular substance but rather a toxic stew of many different hydrocarbons that comes out of the ground mixed with natural gas. The oil that spewed from BP's Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexico last year was no different—and now a precise measurement of its chemical composition has been published July 18 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. On June 21, 2010, two months and a day into the spill, researchers manipulated the robotic sub known as Millennium 42 to collect a sample directly atop the blown-out well—the only such sample gathered for scientific purposes. Keeping it and another sample taken from nearby tightly sealed and at the same pressure as on the seafloor, the scientists brought them back for precise analysis at the lab at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI). Using chromatography, the scientists determined that at least 1,600 cubic feet of natural gas accompanied each barrel of oil that escaped into the water—a mix broadly similar to those previously recovered from efforts by the Q4000 drilling vessel and the Discoverer Enterprise flaring ship. That means, in addition to the 4.1 million barrels of oil that spewed into the Gulf of Mexico, roughly 6.6 billion cubic feet of natural gas escaped. More than 80 percent of it was methane that dispersed in plumes at a depth of roughly 1,100 meters, and that therefore did not escape to the surface and into the atmosphere. All told, 1.7 trillion grams of hydrocarbons spilled, according to this analysis, which also included more than 200 water samples collected at varying depths during a research cruise on the R/V Endeavor. ... The spilled hydrocarbons ranged from alkanes to xylenes. In fact, benzene, toluene, ethylbenze and the various xylenes were the most abundant larger hydrocarbons, at concentrations of 78 micrograms per liter, which formed from that deepwater plume at roughly 1,100 meters. All are toxic. "We don't know with certainty the adverse effects it might cause on marine life," said WHOI marine chemist Christopher Reddy, who lead the research, though his fellow scientists note that toxic levels begin at 5 milligrams per liter, roughly 100 times higher than the sampled levels. The findings also suggest that microbes took roughly a month to gobble up the edible range of hydrocarbons in the 35-kilometer long plume, starting with the easier-to-digest natural gas and alkane portions and eating at a rate of 2 micrograms per liter per day. That is far slower than some previous estimates and suggests that marine life encountering the plume might have experienced longer-term exposure. In addition, the researchers found some 410,00 barrels worth of so-called "polar hydrocarbons," or those that have already mixed with oxygen, nitrogen or sulfur to form slightly different compounds. These polar hydrocarbons are "not typically analyzed in field samples" and "are resistant to evaporation, biodegradation" and breaking down in sunlight, the researchers write. And that means these hydrocarbons could linger, overlooked, in the seas, swamps and sands of the Gulf long after the rest of the oil is gone.

No Oil At All (NOAA) is busy doing public relations work for BP yet again, this time at the expense of Gulf fishers. It should be noted that Louisiana has a vile law on the books that forbids their fish and game officers from enforcing the federal law requiring turtle exclusion devices (TEDs) which leaves their fishers wide open for NOAA's cheap shot. NOAA is being no friend to turtles to by turning a totally blind eye to data showing increased turtle deaths timed to BP's deep sea gusher. NOAA also went out of its way to only test visibly oiled dead turtles. Their efforts will certainly get BP clean off the hook for any turtles poisoned by oil-contaminated food. Feds' own data raise questions about effort to blame Gulf fishermen for sea turtle death spike There was an outpouring of anger from fishermen at a public meeting held in Mississippi last week to discuss federal plans for addressing a dramatic increase in deaths of endangered sea turtles. The government is considering requiring all shrimpers with skimmer boats to use turtle-excluder devices (TEDs) in their nets -- a fix some smaller operations say they can't afford. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reports that about 600 turtles washed up dead on Gulf Coast beaches last year and another 400 so far this year -- an alarmingly high number compared to the usual 100 or so strandings per year. NOAA, a division of the Department of Commerce, says those numbers show the need for TEDs built into all shrimp nets to allow trapped turtles to escape. ... Kuhns and other Gulf fishers say there's a more likely suspect for the turtle deaths: BP's Gulf oil spill. For years before the 2010 BP oil spill disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, shrimpers were found to be 97 percent compliant with TED regulations, Kuhns points out. Then suddenly, as the oil began spilling from the company's Macondo well, sea turtle deaths -- as well as deaths of other marine life -- began increasing dramatically. A researcher at the University of Central Florida has reported that the oil and chemical dispersants used on the spill may have contributed to an unusual number of dolphin deaths by disrupting the food chain. The government's own data show the correlation between the oil disaster and sea turtle deaths. NOAA shared the following chart at last week's meeting in Mississippi. As the chart illustrates, the first big spike in sea turtle deaths in Mississippi came around the 18th week of 2010. That would have been the first week of May -- two weeks after BP's Deepwater Horizon rig exploded in the Gulf. The second big spike came around week 24 or mid-June, when the well was still gushing uncontrolled. During this time, vast areas of the Gulf were closed to fishing due to the spill, with shrimp trawlers idled across the region. But last October, despite the evidence that the spill was impacting marine life, NOAA stopped handling stranded sea turtles under its oil spill response program and instead shifted responsibility back to their pre-existing Sea Turtle Stranding and Salvage Network. From Oct. 20, 2010 onward, only visibly oiled animals were tallied as casualties of the BP disaster -- a move that Kuhns says was a mistake. "This ongoing policy of making natural resource and safety decisions based on the presence or lack of visible oil totally disregards known toxicological science," she says. "It enables NOAA and others to relieve BP of a large part of its natural resource damage recovery responsibilities to the citizens of the United States of America."

Fortunately, there is some small bit of happy news about Kemp's ridley turtles. Texas has reported a record number of nests. Unfortunately, nesting numbers in Mexico weren't so good and the prospects for the long-term survival of the species is still uncertain. Scientists are also very concerned about effects from BP's black monster showing up years from now. Kemp's ridley turtle numbers at record levels in Texas GALVESTON — A record number of endangered Kemp's ridley sea turtle nests was found in Texas this year despite worries that nesting could be harmed by the BP oil disaster and a cold winter that killed hundreds of turtles. The increase in Texas is overshadowed by the disappointing number of nests found near the central nesting ground at Rancho Nuevo in Mexico's Tamaulipas state. The increase failed to match the previous record, leaving scientists worried about the turtle's long-term prospects. As of Monday, 199 nests had been found along the Texas Coast, the largest number since record-keeping began in the early 1980s. The Upper Texas Coast set a record as well, with 22 nests found from the Matagorda Peninsula to Sabine Pass. Most were found on Galveston Island, which also set a record with 15 nests. Scientists counted between 18,000 and 20,000 nests near Rancho Nuevo, up from the 13,000 counted last year. The count is still below the record 22,000 recorded in 2009, said Pat Burchfield, U.S. field group coordinator with the binational Kemp's ridley project. ... The record nesting year in Texas comes after a plunge last year preceded by five years of steady gains. After reaching 197 nests in 2009, the number plunged to 139 last year. The sudden drop worried scientists because the nesting season, which runs roughly from April 1 to July 15, came during a period when a huge section of the Gulf was covered with oil from the ruptured wellhead at BP's Deepwater Horizon oil platform. Scientists found scores of dead juvenile Kemp's ridleys floating among oil-fouled debris in the deep ocean while some 500 dead turtles, most of them Kemp's ridleys, were discovered closer to shore. Although the increase this year is a good sign, scientists are being cautious about its significance. The effects of the BP oil still could surface years from now. ...

Why anyone thinks that BP has any business doing deepwater drilling when they are incapable or unwilling to maintain a simple aboveground pipeline is beyond my ken. Cleanup crews have apparently taken a break so they can get the drill site partially back in production. BP continues cleanup of Lisburne drill site spill ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — BP Exploration Alaska will complete the cleanup of a spill at the Lisburne drill site on Alaska's North Slope before digging up the pipe that burst and caused it, a spokesman for the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation said Tuesday. An estimated 2,100 to 4,200 gallons of methanol, water and crude oil spilled early Saturday onto a gravel pad and into a tundra pond at the production facility. The spill occurred as crews tested newly installed valves by pressurizing a section of pipe that crosses beneath a road. The valves held up but the pipe failed, said Tom DeRuyter of the DEC's Spill Prevention and Response Division. "It obviously ruptured. We know that part. Why it ruptured, we don't know yet and we won't for a while," DeRuyter said. "They want to have the response to this completed and the spill cleaned up prior to going out and excavating that line." ... Vacuum trucks by Monday had recovered more than 600 gallons of methanol and produced fluids. Spill responders were using "flush and recovery" on the spill, DeRuyter said, gently flooding the spill area with fresh water to dilute the mix, and recovering the rinse water. Methanol, he said, mixes easily with water, but crude oil is stickier. "It takes repeated flooding to get that off," he said. The company expects to have the area cleaned before freeze-up in the fall. DeRuyter called that a realistic goal. The Lisburne Production Facility had been down more about a month as part of planned maintenance. DeRuyter said cleanup crews would take a break Tuesday as the facility is partially brought back online. "The cleanup is standing down while that goes on," he said.

PLEASE visit Pam LaPier's diary to find out how you can help the Gulf now and in the future. We don't have to be idle! And thanks to Crashing Vor and Pam LaPier for working on this!

Previous Gulf Watcher diaries:

7-17-11 01:29 PM	Gulf Watchers Sunday - Judge Rejects RICO Charges Against BP - BP Catastrophe AUV #538	Yasuragi
7-15-11 08:11 PM	Gulf Watchers Block Party--WTF? Nobody home?	Phil S 33
7-13-11 03:50 PM	Gulf Watchers Wednesday -Hey BP... We Haven't Recovered! - BP Catastrophe AUV #537	shanesnana
7-10-11 12:13 PM	Gulf Watchers Sunday - Generating an Alternative Reality - BP Catastrophe AUV #536	Lorinda Pike

The last Mothership has links to reference material.

Previous motherships and ROV's from this extensive live blog effort may be found here.

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