Earth Changes
Dwayne Price, a charter boat fisherman, gave the AP's Bonny Ghosh a tour of oil-soaked Barataria Bay in Louisiana. Price decried the impact of the oil spill on the areas wildlife and pleaded for more help cleaning it up.
© Lee Celano/Reuters
‘Obama cannot order pelicans not to die (no matter whose ass he kicks). And no amount of money – not BP’s $20bn, not $100bn – can replace a culture that’s lost its roots.’
‘Obama cannot order pelicans not to die (no matter whose ass he kicks). And no amount of money – not BP’s $20bn, not $100bn – can replace a culture that’s lost its roots.’
Everyone gathered for the town hall meeting had been repeatedly instructed to show civility to the gentlemen from BP and the federal government. These fine folks had made time in their busy schedules to come to a high school gymnasium on a Tuesday night in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, one of many coastal communities where brown poison was slithering through the marshes, part of what has come to be described as the largest environmental disaster in US history.
"Speak to others the way you would want to be spoken to," the chair of the meeting pleaded one last time before opening the floor for questions. And for a while the crowd, mostly made up of fishing families, showed remarkable restraint. They listened patiently to Larry Thomas, a genial BP public relations flack, as he told them that he was committed to "doing better" to process their claims for lost revenue - then passed all the details off to a markedly less friendly subcontractor. They heard out the suit from the Environmental Protection Agency as he informed them that, contrary to what they have read about the lack of testing and the product being banned in Britain, the chemical dispersant being sprayed on the oil in massive quantities was really perfectly safe.
But patience started running out by the third time Ed Stanton, a coast guard captain, took to the podium to reassure them that "the coast guard intends to make sure that BP cleans it up".
© Agence France-Presse/file
A sea turtle swims with scuba divers in the Ras Mohammed protection area near Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt. …
A sea turtle swims with scuba divers in the Ras Mohammed protection area near Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt. …
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.
© Win McNamee / Getty Images
BP Chief Executive Tony Hayward
BP Chief Executive Tony Hayward
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.
© Charlie Riedel/AP Photo
Hermit 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.
Hermit 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.
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.
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.
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.
© AP Photo/Kelly Humphrey
Cindy Wood, far right, stands in front of her tornado-damaged home in Wadena, Minn., on Thursday June 17, 2010.
Cindy Wood, far right, stands in front of her tornado-damaged home in Wadena, Minn., on Thursday June 17, 2010.
"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.
© Unknown
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.
© Associated Press/Gerald Herbert
Oil 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.
Oil 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.
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:
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.