Here we go again - clear out the Gulf, pull up the skimmers, another storm is coming. For safety's sake, BP has suspended work on that oh-so-close relief well:Concerned that stormy weather might soon force an evacuation in the Gulf of Mexico, BP temporarily suspended work on a relief well considered to be the ultimate solution for plugging the blown-out Macondo well that until last week had been gushing oil into the Gulf of Mexico, BP Vice President Kent Wells said.So far it's just a tropical depression, but that's enough to put a halt to everything. Thad Allen says work could be halted for up two weeks.
As far as environmental concerns, there are signs of hope.
Tom Bianchi, a Texas A&M oceanography professor, has inspected the marshlands around Grand Isle, and CNN reports that he's found signs of encouragement:
Bianchi and researchers from several other universities studied the wetlands off Grand Isle, Louisiana, by boat over the past week, funded by a $114,000 emergency grant from the National Science Foundation. Several days of inspecting the swampy home of mussels, crabs, sea grass and microbial creatures yielded good news for a precious part of the region's food chain, Bianchi said.
You know what we can do to help? Eat some Gulf shrimp! Seafood! It's good and safe to eat, so if you can find it, help out the struggling fishermen and the local economy and eat seafood! I know I can still get Gulf shrimp around here.
Cross fingers that this new storm stays small then blows away. We don't need anymore new problems down here!
Amen to that!
ReplyDeleteThe Gulf Oil Spill should be being treated with a wartime footing. But it is not. There should be fleets and fleets of military craft (which are available but not yet present)along with all the trawlers who have changed from nets to dragging for oil, committed to the Gulf of Mexico like the D-Day invasion. There have been statements that there are as many boats on the water now as there were in that armada. The D-Day invasion fleet was committed on June 6 despite the possibility of Force 5 winds (Beaufort scale, winds 19-25 mph), not too good for some small ships but very bad for landing craft, and in fact in the early hours there were losses because of that. But the weather broke enough for the majority to cross and invade the beaches of Normandy. It would have been too costly to delay.
ReplyDeleteThe conditions with this tropical depression (from NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL at 5:00PM EDT 7-22-10PM today)show maximum sustained winds at 35MPH and not strengthening--now we all know that doesn't mean much, by later tonight it could turn into a full blow!
But even so,why is this crisis in the Gulf any less urgent than D-Day? This is a national emergency in the Gulf, not a walk on the golf course du jour.
We have to be cautious about the weather, but there is a time to throw caution to the wind.