Gulf Oil Spill 'Collateral Damage'

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AndyH

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 23, 2010
Messages
6,388
Location
San Antonio
HEB is the primary grocery chain in San Antonio. It covers Texas and parts of Nrn Mexico. This sign has been up for at least a week.

HEB_Fish.jpg
 
Omega Protein is the nation's leading supplier of fish meal and fish oil used for animal feed, Omega-3 human supplements, and organic fertilizer. They operate a fleet of fishing vessels in the Gulf and off the mid-Atlantic coast.

From Business Week:
"As previously announced, the oil slick has had an adverse effect on the Company's ability to operate in the fishing grounds east of the Mississippi River Delta, near its Moss Point, Mississippi facility. Regulators have closed this area to commercial fishing until at least May 17, 2010. In addition, on May 9, 2010, the Louisiana Department of Fisheries and Wildlife (LDWF) announced additional areas closed to commercial fishing, extending from the eastern shore of South Pass of the Mississippi River westward to the eastern portion of Atchafalaya Bay at Point au Fer, Louisiana.

As previously announced, in response to the spill, the Company relocated its Moss Point fishing fleet to fishing grounds on the west side of the Mississippi River Delta. Docking and re-supply for the Moss Point fleet have been relocated to the Company-owned facility at Morgan City, Louisiana. That fleet continues to process fish at Moss Point, as well as at the Company's other two Louisiana facilities in Abbeville and Cameron."


omegastock.jpg
 
Gulf Fisheries supply the bulk of United State's oysters and shrimp. The $1.8 Billion industry is second only to Alaska.

"VENICE, Louisiana (Reuters) - The United States suspended fishing across a wide swath of its Gulf of Mexico waters on Sunday [2 May10] as a spreading oil slick gushing from a ruptured undersea well threatened an environmental catastrophe....The swelling black tide threatens wildlife, beaches and one of the world's most fertile fishing grounds in an area stretching across four states, from Louisiana to Florida..."There are finfish, crabs, oysters and shrimp in the Gulf of Mexico near the area of the oil spill," Roy Crabtree, NOAA Fisheries Southeast Regional Administrator, said in a statement. "The Gulf is such an important biologic and economic area in terms of seafood production and recreational fishing."'

CBS...15May10
(CBS) Twenty five days after the drilling rig explosion, BP says it's trying again Saturday evening to siphon oil to the surface of the Gulf of Mexico through a mile-long tube. The company already tried once Friday night.

A misalignment issue set back Saturday's operation for hours, CBS News Correspondent Mark Strassmann reports.

By Sunday morning, BP hopes its latest deep-sea fix is in place...

.."BP did this," said one fisherman. "They destroyed us."

With a fishing ban in place, many local fishermen are out of the water and out of patience, hoping BP will hire them for clean-up work but frustrated by BP's red-tape.
 
Economic Overview from NRDC

TOURISM:

In 2003, tourism and recreation comprised 71 percent of the employment in the Gulf region’s ocean economy.

RECREATIONAL FISHING:

A 2006 National Marine Fisheries Service report noted that 6.2 million recreational anglers in the Gulf region spent $2.2 billion on more than 23 million fishing trips in 2006.

A similar report in 2008 noted that 3.2 million resident recreational anglers took a Gulf of Mexico fishing trip in 2008.
In 2008, eastern Florida and the Gulf region’s commercial fishing industry generated more than $10.5 billion in sales, more than $5.6 billion in income, and supported more than 200,000 jobs in 2008.

COMMERCIAL FISHING:

More than 75 percent of the nation’s commercial fish and 80 to 90 percent of its recreational fish spend part of their lives in estuary habitats – oiled wetlands will impact the breeding areas and nurseries for a variety of fish and shellfish, and the fishing.

Many of the Gulf region’s key species are likely to be the first casualties of spill: oysters cannot flee the low dissolved oxygen areas caused by oil on the water’s surface and the newly spawned larvae of shrimps and crabs – the catch of the future – are likely to be closer to the water’s surface and any floating oil.

BIRDING:

In 2006, more than 7 million people participated in bird watching in eastern Florida and the Gulf region; wildlife watchers in this region in general spent nearly $7 billion on expenditures (e.g., equipment purchases like binoculars and cameras).
Currently, it is peak spring migration for colorful songbirds that winter in South and Central America and nesting season begins soon for terns, plovers, and egrets. All of these species depend on the Gulf marshes to refuel after long flights and could be impacted by oiled resources.

All we know is that that the short and long-term economic impacts will be severe for a Gulf population already recovering from several hurricanes and our national recession.
 
Get your omega-3s from plant oils. They're not affected by the spill, and taste a hell of a lot better ;) Walnut oil, flax oil, and hemp oil come to mind off the bat. They all have a delicious "nutty" flavor. The downside is that you should not cook with them -- they need to be used where you use cold oils (dressings, pesto, etc)
 
KarenRei said:
Get your omega-3s from plant oils. They're not affected by the spill, and taste a hell of a lot better ;) Walnut oil, flax oil, and hemp oil come to mind off the bat. They all have a delicious "nutty" flavor. The downside is that you should not cook with them -- they need to be used where you use cold oils (dressings, pesto, etc)


I knew it. Karen caused the spill to boost her secret holdings in veg-based plant oils.
 
KarenRei said:
Get your omega-3s from plant oils. They're not affected by the spill, and taste a hell of a lot better ;) Walnut oil, flax oil, and hemp oil come to mind off the bat. They all have a delicious "nutty" flavor. The downside is that you should not cook with them -- they need to be used where you use cold oils (dressings, pesto, etc)

Good point - and that is where I get my Omega-3s from. But it doesn't help my organic fertilizer customers much... ;)
 
http://www.loe.org/shows/segments.htm?programID=10-P13-00020&segmentID=2

"YOUNG: Seafood is a multi-billion dollar business in the Gulf. But it's just one of the valuable services the coast's marshes and estuaries provide. Professor David Yoskowitz is working at the Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies in Corpus Christi Texas to put a dollar figure on what are called ecosystem services. He looked at some 500,000 acres of marsh that might be affected by the spill.

YOSKOWITZ: We estimate that the impact on ecosystem services would be in the range of one point two billion dollars per year. And in terms of this oil spill, if the biological impact on those marshes is significant, this could be something that doesn't take place in just one year, but in several years."
.....
"YOUNG: The spill coming just a few months before we will mark the fifth anniversary of Katrina, it really gives you a reason to stop and think about how all this comes together, doesn't it?

YOSKOWITZ: It sure does. You know, it's a one-two punch that's unfortunately happened to the Gulf coast. And the first punch was Katrina, and this second punch with the oil spill. It's imperative that we begin to take some action and start to really talk about what we receive in terms of the benefits from our natural environment.

YOUNG: David Yoskowitz at the Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies. Thank you very much."
 
This goes under collateral non-damage.

Transocean to give shareholders $1 billion while trying to cap its responsibility for Gulf spill at $27 million

http://climateprogress.org/2010/05/18/transocean-to-give-shareholders-1-billion-while-trying-to-cap-its-responsibility-for-gulf-spill-at-27-million/#more-25356

Transocean, Ltd., the giant oil contractor that leased its Deepwater Horizon rig to BP, held a “closed-door meeting” with shareholders Friday, “just days after” executives appeared before Congress to explain the company’s role in the massive Gulf of Mexico oil spill. As ThinkProgress noted, the meeting took place at the company’s headquarters in Zug, Switzerland, where Transocean relocated two years ago to avoid paying taxes. Though CEO Steven Newman “ignored questions from reporters,” the company said in a statement that it would distribute $1 billion in dividends to shareholders.
 
There can only be 1 correct response to this news from the US Government:

retract ANY and ALL offshore drilling leases granted to transocean, now and forever,
they should be BANNED from ever drilling off the coast of the United States EVER again.
The United States should Legally seize any and all assets of Transocean located off the coast of the United States, for possibly auction to the highest bidder to use in recovering damages to the environment.

Further, the United States should petition the World Court for the assets of TransOcean and try to block this obvious attempt at "giving away" their assets, before they are seized.

This is unconcienable behaviour.
 
Sorry - I can't connect the dots the way the authors suggest.

Investors buy stock to make money. Companies exist to make money. It's in a company's best interest to move to where conditions are best for them. Some companies pay dividends - it's part of their investing plan, in their corporate structure, etc. They filed for stock buy-back and the dividend back in Feb.

They were allowed to be in the Gulf because 'we' let them. They didn't have to use better BOPs because 'we' let them. 'We' set the environmental rules. Sure - the industry lobbies hard to get the best deals for them - that's their job and their part of the 'game'. It would be nice if our Senators and Reps were actually looking out for us - but it's not clear that's the case.

As far as I can tell, the 'game' of oil in the US is like a basketball game where the all stars are on one team and some tiny high school team is standing in for the government. Or is it that the all stars are on offense and the league gave the government team a party with hot and cold running escorts and fifths of Jack before they took the field? Dunno which is the best analogy.

Bottom line - in this chess game, we don't win by whining that the opponent is using his pieces 'correctly'*. And we also don't win by not paying attention to the game.

(* Realize that 'correctly' is relative...airplanes aren't supposed to crash when operated correctly, and rigs aren't supposed to sink...but they do.)

Andy
 
mitch672 said:
There can only be 1 correct response to this news from the US Government:

retract ANY and ALL offshore drilling leases granted to transocean, now and forever,
they should be BANNED from ever drilling off the coast of the United States EVER again.

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This is unconcienable behaviour.
I'm sure there is plenty of blame to go around, but based on the '60 Minutes' report it appears that TransOcean may have been trying to slow things down and do them right, while BP kept overriding them and pushing forward.

I say "may have been". I don't think anyone knows yet how much blame lies in which corner. Between BP, TransOcean, Halliburton, and the government's own MMS there are four corners, and all of them look like they could use some cleaning.
 
Doesn't matter in the end.

What matters is that deep ocean drilling has too high a risk. When things go wrong, there is no quick fix. Until that is solved - no new drilling.
 
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