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Egypt oil spill threatens Red Sea marine life


Agence France-Presse
Sun, 20 Jun 2010 14:54 UTC
Image
© Agence France-Presse/file A sea turtle swims with scuba divers in the Ras Mohammed protection area near Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt. …
Cairo - An oil spill off the Egyptian Red Sea coast of Hurghada threatening to damage marine life in the area has prompted environmental agencies to demand tighter regulation of offshore oil platforms.

Large quantities of oil have appeared in recent days around the resorts of Hurghada which draw millions of tourists who come to dive or snorkle, according to the Hurghada Environmental Protection and Conservation Agency.

"It started four or five days ago and the companies responsible didn't notify anyone. It is catastrophic," HEPCA Managing Director Amr Ali told AFP.

The spill was caused by leakage from an offshore oil platform north of Hurghada and has polluted protected areas and showed up on tourist beach resorts.
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Eye 2

As oil spews in Gulf, BP chief at U.K. yacht race

Raphael Satter
Associated Press
Sat, 19 Jun 2010 13:07 UTC
BP Chief Executive Tony Hayward
© Win McNamee / Getty ImagesBP Chief Executive Tony Hayward
New Orleans -- BP chief executive Tony Hayward, often criticized for being tone-deaf to American concerns about the worst oil spill in U.S. history, took time off today to attend a glitzy yacht race off England's Isle of Wight.

Spokeswoman Sheila Williams said Hayward took a break from overseeing BP efforts to stem the undersea gusher in Gulf of Mexico to watch his boat "Bob" participate in the J.P. Morgan Asset Management Round the Island Race.

The one-day yacht race is one of the world's largest, attracting hundreds of boats and thousands of sailors.

In a statement, BP described Hayward's break as "a rare moment of private time" and said that "no matter where he is, he is always in touch with what is happening within BP" and can direct recovery operations if required.
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Bizarro Earth

Best of the Web: Pathocrats Turning on Each Other: Partner in Damaged Oil Well Slams BP for "Reckless" Actions -- And Inaction

Joel Achenbach and Steven Mufson
The Washington Post
Sat, 19 Jun 2010 12:27 UTC
Oil covered crabs
© Charlie Riedel/AP PhotoHermit crabs struggle through patches of oil from the Gulf of Mexico spill on a barrier island off East Grand Terre Island, Louisiana, Sunday. The thickness of the crude oil afflicting some Louisiana beaches is apparently sufficient to stymie even much larger life-forms.
BP's three-front oil spill war -- on the seafloor, on the Gulf Coast and in Congress -- turned into a four-front battle Friday when its main partner in the damaged exploration well blamed the oil giant's "reckless decisions and actions" for causing a disaster that was "preventable."

It was the first time since the blowout in the Gulf of Mexico that Anadarko Petroleum had given its view of the accident, and its chief executive, Jim Hackett, did not mince words. In a statement, Hackett said he was "shocked" by information that has emerged from investigations of the accident. He said it "indicates BP operated unsafely and failed to monitor and react to several critical warning signs during the drilling of the Macondo well."

Anadarko's statement contrasted with the testimony of BP's chief executive, Tony Hayward, who told a congressional committee Thursday that it was too soon to reach conclusions about the disaster's causes.

Comment: It's all a game, folks, a farce, a distraction. They'll all dump on each other the way Scooter Libby took the rap to take the heat off Cheney in the Wilson Spy Case. Then, he got pardoned and is happily raking in dough.

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Bizarro Earth

South Korea: Scientists Warn of Volcanic Activity


Joong Ang Daily
Sat, 19 Jun 2010 00:21 UTC
South Korea is bracing for possible volcanic activity at Mount Paektu on the North Korean-Chinese border, after detecting topographical signs that indicate the dormant mountain may awaken within years, the weather agency said yesterday.

The last volcanic eruption at the 2,744-meter Mount Paektu was in 1903. It has since been considered inactive, but experts became concerned about a possible eruption after a magnitude-7.3 quake hit China's northeastern Jilin Province in 2002.

Since then, minor tremors close to the peak have become 10 times more frequent, experts say. Historic records indicate volcanic activity has previously occurred on the mountain roughly every 100 years.

"We will come up with comprehensive countermeasures within this year at national levels and try to arrange international cooperation as well," said Jeon Byung-sung, chief of the Korea Meteorological Administration in Seoul.

At a KMA seminar earlier this week, an expert said that Mount Paektu could erupt "within several years," citing topographical signs and international studies. Some Chinese experts even predict that there may be an eruption between 2014 and 2015, said Yun Sung-whyo, a geology professor at Pusan National University.
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Bizarro Earth

US: Minnesota Digs Out from Tornadoes; 3 Dead, Dozens Hurt

Chris Williams and Dave Kolpack
The Associated Press
Fri, 18 Jun 2010 16:17 UTC
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© AP Photo/Kelly HumphreyCindy Wood, far right, stands in front of her tornado-damaged home in Wadena, Minn., on Thursday June 17, 2010.
As tornados bore down on southern Minnesota, Angie Woodside called her in-laws and said they should rush to her house west of Albert Lea, where there was a basement to take cover. Her mother-in-law, Kathy Woodside, refused.

"She told me she would not go down in one," Angie Woodside said Friday, a day after Kathy was killed when a tornado tossed her 200 feet from her house into a nearby field. "She just thought the whole thing would collapse on top of her. She would rather not be underneath everything."

Kathy Woodside, 66, was one of three people killed Thursday by a turbulent system that fueled twisters across Minnesota. Also killed were two northwestern Minnesota residents: Margie Schulke, 79, of Almora, whose home was destroyed by a tornado; and Wes Michaels, 58, of Mentor, whose gas station was leveled.

Dozens more were injured, including Kathy Woodside's husband, Ron, who was hospitalized Friday in Rochester. The storms damaged several hundred homes and buildings and toppled trees and power lines. The most serious damage was in the northwestern Minnesota city of Wadena, where officials reported 232 homes were hit, and in a rural area just west of Albert Lea, where about 60 rural properties saw damage.
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Bizarro Earth

Dead Whale Found South Of BP Oil Spill: Sperm Whale Is First Dead Whale Spotted By Feds


Huffington Post
Fri, 18 Jun 2010 04:25 UTC
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© Unknown
A dead sperm whale has been found floating 77 miles south of the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

According to a news release, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is conducting tests to determine the circumstance around the whale's death. It wasn't known if exposure to oil caused the animal's death.
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Binoculars

What BP's Partners-In-Crime Are Doing in Gulf Oil Spill Cleanup

Matt Rocheleau
Christian Science Monitor
Tue, 15 Jun 2010 10:46 UTC
Development Driller II
© Associated Press/Gerald HerbertOil floats on the surface of the water around the Development Driller II, which is drilling a relief well to try to plug the source of the Gulf oil spill. The rig is owned by Transocean, which also owned the Deepwater Horizon.
Aside from BP, several companies connected to the Deepwater Horizon rig could be found liable for the Gulf oil spill. Here's what they're doing to help with cleanup.

BP has taken responsibility for the Gulf oil spill and is leading the cleanup effort. But a kaleidoscope of different companies was working on the Deepwater Horizon rig when it exploded April 20 and could be held legally at fault in the future.

What role are they playing in the cleanup?

Here is a look at what they are doing:
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Hourglass

A Major Hurricane in Gulf Could Burst Pipelines and Topple Rigs, Research Says

Mark Schleifstein
nola.com
Mon, 14 Jun 2010 05:07 UTC
Hurricane Boat
© David Grunfled / The Times-PicayuneHurricane transfer some of their orbital motion into the water beneath them -- think of the force created by waves breaking on the beach -- and the researchers found that motion was exacerbated by ocean currents spun up by the storm at the same time.
As if the Deepwater Horizon oil well blowout wasn't enough to threaten Gulf Coast communities with oil, scientists with the Naval Research Laboratory at the Stennis Space Center say waves as tall as 91 feet and strong underwater currents generated by major hurricanes create massive forces that can wreak havoc on the more than 31,000 miles of pipelines connecting oil wells in the Gulf of Mexico to the coast.

"Major oil leaks from damaged pipelines could have irreversible impacts to the ocean environment," conclude the authors of a study of the underwater effects of Hurricane Ivan in 2004 published last week in Geophysical Research Letters, a journal of the American Geophysical Union.
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Bad Guys

Cracks Show BP Was Battling Gulf Well as Early as February

Alison Fitzgerald and Joe Carroll
Bloomberg
Thu, 17 Jun 2010 09:00 UTC
Transocean Development Driller platform
© Derick E. Hingle/Bloomberg The Transocean Ltd. Development Driller III platform, leased by BP Plc, works to drill a relief well at the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill site
BP Plc was struggling to seal cracks in its Macondo well as far back as February, more than two months before an explosion killed 11 and spewed oil into the Gulf of Mexico.

It took 10 days to plug the first cracks, according to reports BP filed with the Minerals Management Service that were later delivered to congressional investigators. Cracks in the surrounding rock continued to complicate the drilling operation during the ensuing weeks. Left unsealed, they can allow explosive natural gas to rush up the shaft.

"Once they realized they had oil down there, all the decisions they made were designed to get that oil at the lowest cost," said Peter Galvin of the Center for Biological Diversity, which has been working with congressional investigators probing the disaster. "It's been a doomed voyage from the beginning."
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Binoculars

Cuba Braces to Contend with BP Oil Spill

Rory Carroll
The Guardian
Wed, 16 Jun 2010 17:37 UTC
Deepwater Horizon oil A sli
© Lee Celano/ReutersDeepwater Horizon oil A slick of oil from the Deepwater Horizon oil floats near a boat off Grand Isle, Louisiana.
Havana calls in Venezuelan experts to combat potential environmental disaster as tarballs spotted off island's coast

Cuba is steadying itself for an ecological and tourism crisis as the Deepwater Horizon oil spill appears to be heading towards its pristine northern coast.

Authorities are preparing coastal communities to respond to the first sign of black slicks and have brought in Venezuelan experts to advise on damage limitation.

Patches of oil were reportedly spotted 100 miles north-west of the island, prompting concern that gulf currents will add Cuba to the list of casualties from the April 20 Deepwater Horizon rig explosion.
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