National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA )Administrator Jane Lubchenco released data today that confirms what university researchers and nonprofits have been saying endlessly for weeks. Massive underwater plumes of oil have been spreading throughout the Gulf of Mexico since Deepwater Horizon sunk. A situation we have almost no way to handle with our current oil recovery technology and which drastically masks the true extent and/or size of the spill. From her press conference:
Water samples collected by the R/V Weatherbird II vessel have confirmed biodegraded crude oil in two undersea layers as far as 40 nautical miles northeast of BP’s seabed leak, NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco said at a press briefing. The vessel’s samples show oil as deep as 3,300 feet in the water, Lubchenco said.
“The bottom line is that yes, there is oil in the water column, it’s at very low concentrations, and we will continue to release those data as soon as they are available,” Lubchenco said at a press conference held jointly with Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen. “That doesn’t mean that it does not have significant impact.”
The New York Timesnotes that NOAA’s initial research is entirely consistent with research conducted by independent scientists:
The announcement of test results appeared to confirm information first presented three weeks ago by two other groups of researchers, from the University of Georgia and the University of Southern Mississippi, regarding huge plumes of dispersed oil droplets. Those scientists have not yet completed their analysis of the water samples they collected, but one of them, Samantha Joye of the University of Georgia, held a news conference Tuesday where she presented detailed instrument readings. Those readings confirm that a plume, probably consisting of hydrocarbons from the leak, stretches through the deep ocean for at least 15 miles west of the gushing oil well, Dr. Joye said.
Bacteria appear to be consuming the oil-related compounds at a furious pace, Dr. Joye said. That is depleting the water of oxygen, she said, though not yet to a level that would kill sea creatures.
I can’t stress this enough. Despite the previous findings of independent researchers and now today’s formal acknowledgment from NOAA, BP has for weeks maintained that there were no undersea plumes. At what point exactly are we going to reach the point that nobody, I mean nobody should believe a single thing BP says.
In a recent Washington Post-ABC News poll, 64 percent of responders believe the U.S. government should pursue criminal charges in BP’s Deepwater Horizon disaster. Only 28 percent say the federal government has done a good job of responding to spill, compared to the 16 percent who say BP responded well.
NOAA has further expanded the fishing ban in the Gulf by about 50% and extended the ban through at least May 17. Why do I get the very real feeling this area will keep expanding and expanding.
Last night on his prime time CNN show, Glenn Beck, talking with former Cheney shill senior adviser Mary Matalin, he noted the possibility that Hurricane Gustav (now only a tropical storm) could hit New Orleans on “day one of the Republican convention.” Instead of concern for the residences and the fact the levees are still not up to pre-Katrina standards (which of course still lacking) Beck expressed his displeasure that tax money is being spent in New Orleans and offered the canned Republican response to residents, just freaking “move:”
BECK: Why are we spending all this money in New Orleans? We shouldn’t spend a single dime of taxpayers’ money in a place where—I don’t care where it is—where it is in a flood zone. Move out of the place that, you know, you’re below sea level.
But of course there is a serious problem with the shit all stupid mind-set. And that would be that the New Orleans area is not even close to the only flood zone in the United States that receives federal tax dollars. Not even close actually. Parts of Minnesota, Indiana, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri and numerous other states are now considered flood zones.
Would Beck offer the same advice to them, “move?”
I could make the argument that Katrina and its aftermath is the worse example of the Bush administration. Iraq is just terrible, but it is thousands and thousands of miles away. Not within our own borders. Estimates are Hurricane Gustav will reach New Orleans on Monday, the same day President Bush is scheduled to speak at the Republican National Convention. Which of course is the third anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.
Well score another one for the federal government and against the residents and taxpayers of the nation. The Associated Press is reporting:
A federal judge threw out a key class-action lawsuit Wednesday against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers over levee breaches after Hurricane Katrina, saying that the agency failed to protect the city but that his hands were tied by the law.
U.S. District Judge Stanwood Duval ruled that the Corps should be held immune over failures in drainage canals that caused much of the flooding of New Orleans in August 2005.
The ruling relies on the Flood Control Act of 1928, which made the federal government immune when flood control projects like levees break.
The suit led to about 489,000 claims by businesses, government entities and residents, totaling trillions of dollars in damages against the agency.
I understand the court ruled in the only way they could, but loopholes like this must be closed. The government can’t at one time be “in charge” but on the other hand “immune when flood control projects like levees break.” If anybody is aware of another business or organization, other then the federal government, that could get away with this please let me know.
That is an important question Katrina vanden Heuvel asks writing in the Huffington post:
The investigation shows lawlessness, but also a stunning inhumanity. Thompson interviews unrepentant vigilantes, and a video accompanying the article includes footage of vigilantes joking that shooting blacks “was like pheasant season in South Dakota. If it moved, you shot it.” Thompson details the suspicious death of Henry Glover, who according to eyewitnesses was shot by vigilantes and then bled to death in his car while police beat his would-be rescuer. Most troubling in all of this is the role of law enforcement, as witnesses allege that New Orleans police covered up and destroyed evidence, authorized the shootings and savagely beat witnesses.
To date, not a single incident has ever been investigated. New Orleans police, Homeland Security and the State of Louisiana have refused to answer questions for over 8 months, and Thompson (with the invaluable support of the Investigative Fund of the Nation Institute) had to sue to gain access to autopsy records. In total Thompson reviewed over 800 autopsies and state death reports, and amassed a pile of evidence that substantiate his report. “As a reporter who has spent more than a decade covering crime,” he wrote, “I was startled to meet so many people with so much detailed information about potentially serious offenses, none of whom have ever been interviewed by police.”
The full extent of the disregard for poor African-Americans and the embarrassing failure of leadership laid bare by Katrina still remains unknown.
Not only do the residents of New Orleans need the help of the Federal government, but so does the coast line. “We had a 50-year projection for wetlands loss as part of the Louisiana Coastal Area Ecosystem Restoration plan,” said USGS scientist Jimmy Johnston, referring to the proposed $1.2 billion collection of restoration projects still awaiting congressional approval. “Guess what? That’s outdated. We went through 40 percent of that loss with these storm events.”The story goes on to detail further USGS findings:
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita ripped away 217 square miles of Louisiana’s fragile coastline, with each turning huge swaths of land to water overnight, accelerating a process that already posed grave threats to coastal communities, according to a new U.S. Geological Survey study.
Survey scientists compared satellite images taken in 2004 with similar images from October 2005 to match areas that were wetlands, undeveloped dry land and farmland with what looked like open water several weeks after the storms.
One of the reasons, if you are not aware, Katrina caused so much damage, is the traditional or natural coast line that used to protect New Orleans has disappeared. It needs to be rebuilt sooner rather then later and steps need to be put into place to ensure future erosion is at a much slower place.
Wilma is now a Category 4 hurricane which is expected to re-strengthen somewhat. Speed is still 7MPH and air pressure has risen to 910 MB. Computer models still have the storm making initial landfall in the Yucatan Peninsula–the outer bands are just now beginning to touch northeastern Mexico–and rebounding toward Florida this weekend. Forecasters still stress that this is a dangerous storm.
Lots of folks have suggested the idea that maybe New Orleans should be abandoned, or that it’s just not worth rebuilding what’s been lost. Jack Shafer wrote about it in Slate last week, Dennis Hastert argued it in congress, and it’s a sure bet that right-wing talk show hosts have been saying the same thing. As pragmatic as this stance may be, it’s simply an argument that isn’t even worth making; not only is it defeatist and completely unamerican, but the city will rebuild no matter who foots the bill, there is no question about that.
Sunday’s Washington Post features an opinion piece called “A Sad Truth: Cities Aren’t Forever.” In it, writer Joel Garreau doesn’t quite argue that the city shouldn’t be rebuilt. He just suggests that the city will not rebuild itself despite the best efforts of the government. The main points of his argument are as follows:
A large segment of the population will not return to the city
Looking at the situation right now, this may seem probable, but once the smoke clears and the anger subsides, people are going to miss their home. Garreau suggests that the city’s poorest citizens are the ones who won’t return, that they will stay in Texas and wherever else they end up. I can’t see this happening. Although many people in the shelters right now are saying they’re never coming back, these are the people with deep, deep roots in New Orleans. Sadly, once they realize they’re just as poor in Texas as they were in New Orleans, they will come back to the city they know best. If anything, the people who don’t return are going to be the more recent transplants to the city who don’t have roots there. But they will be replaced.
Project Katrina is my historical record of Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath. You’ll find posts about general news, government procurement, the rebuilding of the levees, links to government reports, book reviews, videos, photos, and of course commentary.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA )Administrator Jane Lubchenco released data today that confirms what university researchers and nonprofits have been saying endlessly for weeks. Massive underwater plumes of oil have been spreading throughout the Gulf of Mexico since Deepwater Horizon sunk. A situation we have almost no way to handle with our current oil recovery technology and which drastically masks the true extent and/or size of the spill. From her press conference:
