OilGate: Is it Incompetence or Malice

[bonnie]

OilGate: Former Federal Spill Response Coordinator Blasts White House Reaction as 'Unconscionable' -- Was It Incompetence or Malice?

On April 29th, Ron Gouget, who once managed Gulf spill response teams, publicly pilloried the administration's response to the tragic oil rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico. Gouget is an expert when it comes to these matters: he helped create the 1994 plan that allowed expedited burning of oil as soon as a major spill had occurred -- without having to wait for permission or approvals.

Federal officials should have started burning oil off the surface of the Gulf last week, almost as soon as the spill happened, said the former oil spill response coordinator for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Ron Gouget, who also managed Louisiana's oil response team for a time, said federal officials missed a narrow window of opportunity to gain control of the spill by burning last week, before the spill spread hundreds of miles across the Gulf, and before winds began blowing toward shore.

He also said the heavy use of dispersants instead of burning the oil has likely knocked so much oil into the water column that portions of the Gulf may be on the threshold of becoming toxic to marine life. Add in the oil spreading into the water as it rises from the seafloor, and Gouget said he expected officials would have to begin limiting the use of the dispersants.

..."They had pre-approval. The whole reason the plan was created was so we could pull the trigger right away instead of waiting ten days to get permission," Gouget said. "If you read the pre-approval plan, it speaks about Grand Isle, where the spill is. When the wind is blowing offshore out of the north, you have preapproval to burn in that region. If the wind is coming onshore, like it is now, you can't burn at Grand Isle. They waited to do the test burn until the wind started coming onshore."

Asked why officials waited for a week before conducting even a test burn, Gouget said, "Good question. Maybe complacency was the biggest issue. They probably didn't have the materials on hand to conduct the burn, which is unconscionable."

He said the NOAA officials involved at the Unified Command Center in Louisiana know how to respond to spills, and know burning should have started as soon as possible after the initial release was detected. Gouget said they may have been overruled... "This whole thing has been a daily strip tease. At first they thought it was just the diesel, then they said the well wasn't leaking. It's unfortunate they didn't get the burning going right away. They could have gotten 90 percent of the oil before it spread."

News flash: this is a scandal. Why didn't NOAA execute the pre-approved plan to contain the leak? An incurious mainstream media could easily have picked up Gouget's locally reported comments and started digging into this issue.

But the White House response has consisted of dispatching lawyers to New Orleans and shutting down other rigs that have nothing to do with the BP disaster. On April 30th -- ten days after the catastrophic explosion -- the oil and gas news site RigZone reported that the White House had forbidden new drilling.

Yesterday, the administration escalated its response to the oil spill in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico following the rig's collapse in approximately 5,000 ft. of water on April 22... On Friday, top advisor David Axelrod said, "No additional drilling has been authorized and none will until we find out what has happened here." He also defended the White House's response to the April 20 blowout incident, saying "we had the Coast Guard in almost immediately..."

I'll say it again: this is a scandal. Why did NOAA not execute its pre-approved plan to contain the spill?

Furthermore, a lazy, incompetent legacy media-complex thoroughly ignored this issue, apparently hypnotized by the President's teleprompter as he campaigned endlessly as the disaster unfolded.

What explains the failure to execute a pre-planned incident response process? Is there anyone in legacy media who still cares? Hello? Is this thing on?

[karl]

One cannot help but think that this is the main objective.

Quote:

On April 30th -- ten days after the catastrophic explosion -- the oil and gas news site RigZone reported that the White House had forbidden new drilling.

The mouth of this well should have been blown up days ago to stop the leak. The oil on the surface should have been burned.

What HAS been done is to shut down drilling and shut down other platforms that have nothing to do with the leak.

Liberals.

[bonnie]

BONNIE

THIS is really bad planning and organization

dgrimm60

I am still trying to figure out why the swat teams that were sent.

You would suspect some of the moaning and hand wringing that went on with Katrina

[Dr. Shane]

I think the weather prevented them from doing the burn early on.

[karl]

I think the weather prevented them from doing the burn early on.

..."They had pre-approval. The whole reason the plan was created was so we could pull the trigger right away instead of waiting ten days to get permission," Gouget said. "If you read the pre-approval plan, it speaks about Grand Isle, where the spill is. When the wind is blowing offshore out of the north, you have preapproval to burn in that region. If the wind is coming onshore, like it is now, you can't burn at Grand Isle. They waited to do the test burn until the wind started coming onshore."

[Dr. Shane]

Too bad that pre-approval can't control the weather. It would be really great if it could stop the sun or reverse it.

[karl]

Too bad that pre-approval can't control the weather. It would be really great if it could stop the sun or reverse it.

"Ron Gouget, who also managed Louisiana's oil response team for a time, said federal officials missed a narrow window of opportunity to gain control of the spill by burning last week, before the spill spread hundreds of miles across the Gulf, and before winds began blowing toward shore."

[Dr. Shane]

Why... may I ask... did the federal government need to get control of the spill anyway? Why did BP get a hold of it for goodness sake? Shouldn't they have an emergency plan ready to execute when these kinds of things happen?

They same people that say government is so bad and the private sector is so good are letting the private sector off the hook and blaming the government.

[karl]

The only responsiblity of the government in this is to require the well construction to contain the explosives necessary to cave in the mouth of the well in the event of this type of occurance.

It is BP's responsibility to cap this thing and that should have been done days ago.

[phkrause]

The same people that say government is so bad and the private sector is so good are letting the private sector off the hook and blaming the government.

Because that's the easy way out.

pk

[Dr. Shane]

I think they were still looking for survivors out there the first few days. I don't think burning the oil was a real option with possible survivors out in it. Or do the President's critics think we should have just torched the oil with possible survivors in it?

[Woody]

The government needs to protect this country from no matter who it may be ... whether it be BP or whether it be from terrorists.

In this situation ... the government has failed .

What was Obama doing? He was trying to promote MORE drilling off our shores instead of the more safe methods such as drilling in Alaska ANWAR.

This shows poor leadership. Poor judgment. And poor reaction to this situation. All Obama did was a fly over. Bush did much more for Katrina.

I think this is going to be a big issue come election time.

[karl]

The government needs to protect this country from no matter who it may be ... whether it be BP or whether it be from terrorists.

In this situation ... the government has failed .

What was Obama doing? He was trying to promote MORE drilling off our shores instead of the more safe methods such as drilling in Alaska ANWAR.

Many conservatives believe President Obama’s advocacy of domestic oil drilling was merely a ploy to get support for the cap and trade bill.

Obama struck first by stating his administration would allow offshore drilling. This statement was issued in advance of the Senate vote on cap and trade, but actual drilling would be put off for at least 10 years. Then, if EPA and government agency permits are not approved, there would be no drilling. Oil independence advocates got a bone, but environmentalists get the meat – regulations and restrictions that will virtually void the promise of domestic drilling.

[Dr. Shane]

I am not drinking the Kool-aid. I think BP should have been ready to deal with the issue. Everyone knows the private sector does things better than government. Who in their right mind would expect the federal government to react quickly and deal with an issue like this? OH, I know. I bet Hugo Chavez would expect that.

[lazarus]

What was Obama doing? He was trying to promote MORE drilling off our shores instead of the more safe methods such as drilling in Alaska ANWAR.

LOL, what happened to drill baby drill?

It's the role of the opposition to oppose of course but this stuff is cute. Soon, Limbaugh will be suggesting that the coast guard, under Obama's direction, placed C4 on the rig.

[lazarus]

The mouth of this well should have been blown up days ago to stop the leak. The oil on the surface should have been burned.

What HAS been done is to shut down drilling and shut down other platforms that have nothing to do with the leak.

Liberals.

The ocean will take care of this on its own if it was left alone and left out there. It's natural. It's as natural as the ocean water is.

[bonnie]

Quote:

The ocean will take care of this on its own if it was left alone and left out there. It's natural. It's as natural as the ocean water is.

The context of this would be nice. It was not advocated to do nothing. Only that nature would take care of it in it's own time and way.

[Woody]

Laz. You're lookin' older these days. :)

[Ted Oplinger]

It doesn't help to hear that BP contributed heavily in donations to the party now in charge of the government...or that BP got special waivers from same administration on safety issues over the last few months.

I can only imagine what the "press" would have done had this all occurred under the administration of the previous occupants of the White House....Katrina and Halliburton all rolled into a convenient package.

[bonnie]

It doesn't help to hear that BP contributed heavily in donations to the party now in charge of the government...or that BP got special waivers from same administration on safety issues over the last few months.

I can only imagine what the "press" would have done had this all occurred under the administration of the previous occupants of the White House....Katrina and Halliburton all rolled into a convenient package.

Before this is over,somehow,someway Bush will be responsible.

Obama has not taken responsibility for anything.

[Dr. Shane]

It doesn't help to hear that BP contributed heavily in donations to the party now in charge of the government...or that BP got special waivers from same administration on safety issues over the last few months.

I can only imagine what the "press" would have done had this all occurred under the administration of the previous occupants of the White House....Katrina and Halliburton all rolled into a convenient package.

This is a valid point that needs to be made. Thank you for that.