Tag Archives: recovery

Oil Spill Disaster – July 30 – commercial fishing to resume

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Two news articles about the resumption of fishing off the LA coast: Commercial fishing east of Mississippi River could reopen this week; and another account in Bloomberg News. The decision to resume fishing was supported by the U.S. Food and Drug Admin. [Thanks to Laura Olson for pointing out these articles.]

On the dark side, today’s NY Times has an article titled Gulf of Mexico Has Long Been a Sink of Pollution, NYT, July 30.  Here are some excerpts:

The gulf is one of the most diverse ecosystems in the hemisphere, a stopping point for migratory birds from South America to the Arctic, home to abundant wildlife and natural resources. But like no other American body of water, the gulf bears the environmental consequences of the country’s economic pursuits and appetites, including oil and corn. There are around 4,000 offshore oil and gas platforms and tens of thousands of miles of pipeline in the central and western Gulf of Mexico, where 90 percent of the country’s offshore drilling takes place. At least half a million barrels of oil and drilling fluids had been spilled offshore before the gusher that began after the April 20 explosion, according to government records.

The article then goes on to discuss the latest addition of oil to the waters, saying the Gulf region has been a “sacrifice zone” for the past 50 years. Some additional quotes:

All along the coast, people speak of a lack of regulatory commitment and investment in scientific research on the gulf by state and federal lawmakers.

Some of the strongest resistance to tough regulation, as well as the most permissive attitude toward industry and property development, has come from the Gulf States themselves.

The last line in this article is as follows: “You can fool people, but you cannot fool the fish.”

Another commentary, this one from the environmental community: Deception by dispersal; the great Gulf oil tragedy.

Trust. That’s a feeling severely lacking in the fishing community here. No one trusts anyone after three months of anxiety and depression, watching wave and wave of oil pour into their fishing grounds. They don’t trust BP, the Louisiana fish and wildlife agencies, the EPA or virtually every politician who parades through these communities with false promises and grandstanding accusations. They’ve seen it before during Katrina. Now they’re seeing it again. Some people who are connected are making good money off the misfortune of others. Most are just trying to get by.

Oil Spill Disaster – July 24 – evacuation order reveals underlying distrust

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No wonder no one trusts anyone. Here are two examples of problems: one with local public officials and the second with scientists in connection with BP.

Tension Among Officials Grows as Storm Nears, NYT, July 24. The complicated job of evacuating residents and workers in LA reveal great distrust of BP and federal officials.

At the end of the day, it’s my job and the parish president’s job to look out for what’s best for residents of St. Charles Parish,” said Scott Whelchel, the director of emergency preparedness for a parish that lies on the southwestern banks of Lake Pontchartrain. “The simple fact is, I wasn’t elected to take care of BP’s equipment.”

Once again a statement by BP about the oil spill plumes does not turn out to be correct.

Researchers link undersea oil plumes to BP spill. LA Times. July 24.

“… two studies confirm what in the early days of the spill was denied by BP and viewed skeptically by NOAA’s chief — that much of the crude that gushed from the Deepwater Horizon well stayed beneath the surface of the water.

Oil Spill Disaster – July 23

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For Oil Spill Victims, Fair Compensation Requires a Crystal Ball; Gulf Residents Will Need to Predict Future Damages, in The Washington Independent. July 22.

According to a colleague who is doing field work in coastal LA, the incidents of stress and mental health problems are at a very high level. The needs of the local people are huge. I hope Mr. Feinberg can work out something equitable for those hardest hit.

Oil Spill Disaster- July 11- Update on Perspectives

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Segmant of a post by Bill Cumming on his blog (7/11) federal management of the Oill spill disaster:

We are now witnessing  …the totally inadequate response offered under the National Contingency Plan wherein with the US Coast Guard as Incident Commander it is now increasing faced with issues of on-shore impacts of the BP catastrophe including economic impacts and social and psychological impacts. The NCP is totally inadequate for these concerns and …has already demonstrated that fact as the Administration relies on a BP fund that will really only be fully implemented by the end of 2013 to fund damage and loss claims arising from their negligence. Yet both the Administration and Congress are betting their will be a BP around and that organizations other than FEMA can gear up for this largest environmental disaster in world history other than drought and that reliance is totally appropriate and adquate. I respectfully disagree.

The Gulf Oil Disaster: Three Steps to Federal Leadership; 3 pp. Commentary from the GWU Homeland Security Policy Institute, July 7, 2010. The authors argue for the involvement of DHS and the use of the National Response Framework.

See the Hazards Observer, July 2010, for new article titled The Long, Long Road from Exxon Valdez to Deepwater Horizon; pp. 7-10. This thoughtful article makes many useful points about the similarities and differences of the two events; I suggest you read it all.  One quote worth remembering:

The overarching lesson we can share from our Exxon Valdez research is that the potential for negative, long-term community impacts must not be underestimated.”

Gulf Oil Spill: Scientists Beg For A Chance To Take Basic Measurements, Huffington Post, July 7.

A group of independent scientists, frustrated and dumbfounded by the continued lack of the most basic data about the 77-day-old BP oil disaster, has put together a crash project intended to definitively measure how much oil has spilled and where and how it is spreading throughout the waters of the Gulf of Mexico.

Oil Spill Disaster – July 6 – conflicts re regulation

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To say “It’s complicated” is an understatement when it comes to how to regulate offshore oil drilling.  Obama Decried, Then Used, Some Bush Drilling Policies, WSJ July 5.

The Obama administration’s actions in the court case exemplify the dilemma the White House faced in developing its energy policy. In his presidential campaign, President Obama criticized the Bush administration for being too soft on the oil industry and vowed to support greener energy forms.  But, once in office, President Obama ended up backing offshore drilling, bowing to political and fiscal realities, even as his administration’s own scientists and Democratic lawmakers warned about its risks.

The dimensions of the problem seem almost endless.  See this less-than-cheerful bit of information about the size of the oil reservoir. Relief well is last best hope to contain gusher. AP, July 5.

Chief Executive Tony Hayward said in June that the reservoir of oil is believed to hold about 2.1 billion gallons  of oil. If the problem was never fixed, it could mean another two years of oil spilling based on the current flow rate until the reservoir is drained.

Oil Spill Disaster – July 5 – Restoration Support Plan and comments

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Readers are encouraged to check out the comments connected with this post, since they provide a variety of perspectives on the role of military in disasters.

Yet another new element to the long-term recovery plans and processes for the oil spill outcome.  On June 30th, President issued a Memorandum from the President on the Long-Term Gulf Coast Restoration Support Plan.  As published in the Federal Register , July 6. Some key aspects of the plan include:

(a) Led by Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus; (b) Aimed at helping the affected residents to recover from the BP oil spill and to ensure that a similar crisis does not occur again; (c) Result in ensuring economic recovery, community planning, science-based restoration of the ecosystem and environment, public health and safety efforts, and support to affected third parties; and(d) Include a comprehensive assessment of post spill needs, short and long-term objectives and support to individuals and businesses who suffered losses due to the oil spill. Also, the plan should  consider the resources currently available to respond to the disaster and to use them to complement the ongoing oil spill efforts. Finally, Secretary Mabus would have to coordinate state, federal and other agencies.

First time the Navy has been involved in major civilian oil spill or any other disaster recovery. Should be an interesting study in public administration to see how he coordinates state and other agencies, not to mention the private and non-profit sector organizations involved. Note to Researchers:  great material for a study!

See additional commentary on the blog exchange  www.hlswatch.com, dated July 3.

Oil Spill Disaster – July 1- now a record event

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BP spill nears a somber record as Gulf’s biggest, AP, July 1.

The oil that’s spewed for two and a half months from a blown-out well a mile under the sea is expected to surpass the 140 million gallon mark, eclipsing the record-setting Ixtoc I spill off Mexico’s coast from 1979 to 1980. Even by the lower end of the government’s estimates, at least 71.2 million gallons are in the Gulf.

“It’s an important number to know because it has an impact on restoration and recovery,” ….

On a positive note, the US has finally figured out how to accept international assistance re the oil spill cleanup. AP, June 30th story: US accepts international assistance for Gulf spill Arrangements for accepting help from a dozen countries are close to settled.

But one more negative note:  The AP wire story on  June 30 provides one more reason the BP Oil Spill response plans were inadequate. BP Oil Spill Cleanup Did Not Consider Hurricanes

Rep. Edward Markey says BP’s disaster response plan for an oil spill doesn’t mention hurricanes or tropical storms. Markey says the omission is yet another example of what the oil giant was not prepared to handle.

It is truly disgraceful that the oil spill emergency plan mentioned walruses in the Gulf but neglected to mention hurricanes was approved by the Minerals Management Service of the Dept. of Interior.  Reform in the successor agency cannot come soon enough!

BP Oil Spill- June 30- Marine Spill Response Corp.

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Yesterday I mentioned an organization that most of us had never heard of before — the Marine Spill Response Corp. Details about that organization and how overwhelmed and inadequately prepared  it is for  the BP oil spill were published in the Washington Post today, 6/29. See Oil industry cleanup organization swamped by BP spill.

“There is no asset MSRC has that is designed to collect oil 5,000 feet under the seas,” said Brett G. Drewry, chief executive of the industry-backed organization that funds MSRC.

That fact did not stop BP and other companies from citing MSRC, alone or alongside for-profit cleanup companies, as their first responder for massive spills. Oil companies, Congress and regulators point to MSRC as evidence of lessons learned from Valdez. *** safeguarding the coasts should not be left to private industry.

“It seems to me there is a real significant conflict of interest here,” he said. “When you are dealing with an issue that has such enormous stakes for public health and safety, it should be in the government’s hands.”

Oil Spill Disaster Recovery – June 29 – Deja Vu all over again

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Since both crisis response and consequence management for the BP Oil Spill Disaster are being handled under the National Contingency Plan (NCP), rather than under the under the Stafford Act and the Presidential Disaster Declaration process, the Coast Guard, EPA, and NOAA are the lead actors.  DHS/FEMA do not have a lead role, but do have a supporting role.

Now that we are in the recovery phases, neither the NCP nor the lead agencies have any experience, nor much regulatory guidance, in how to do consequence management. As a result, they are inventing the recovery process as they go along. Some of us have been wondering why the Administration has chosen not to involve FEMA, which does in fact have experience and guidelines for dealing with affected citizens, businesses, and municipalities.

One more manifestation of the problem of inexperience is how to deal with the convergence of volunteers wanting to help.  See the article titled Extended hands left idle in gulf recovery; gung-ho but untrained, volunteers hit a wall in helping mitigation oil spill. [Wash. Post, June 29.] Once again,  experienced disaster hands know a convergence of volunteers is an expected activity in the aftermath of a disaster.  They are not easy to manage, but there are techniques and precedents for doing so. (Similarly, one can expect a convergence of media and of researchers.)

In short — why are we not using the federal response and recovery frameworks now in place for a Presidential Disaster Declaration (used for post-Katrina recovery) and instead put agencies with
no experience in charge of recovery?

Oil Spill – June 17- new people and systems for consequence mgmt.

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Yesterday, I noted the two new personnel changes (see below) that were announced by the President in his major address to the nation. Although both are experienced leaders/managers,  they do not have experience with oil spill disaster recovery.  I think that  Mr. Mabus will have to create procedures and systems for the consequences of the oil spill, since the oil spill event is being managed under the National Contingency Plan. In my opinion there is no specific guidance under the NCP  nor is there a precedent for dealing with the aftermath of such a large spill.  The pertinent section of the NCP is titled: Criteria for State, Local and Regional Oil Removal Contingency Plans Overview. I would like to hear from readers on this topic.

Obama chooses Navy secretary to lead Gulf recovery; CNN June 16.

Mabus was selected by President Obama on Tuesday to help draw up the government’s plan for recovery efforts in conjunction with officials in the Gulf Coast states.

President Obama taps Michael Bromwich as watchdog for offshore oil drilling, Wash Post 6/16

The man appointed Tuesday by President Obama to oversee offshore oil drilling has no experience with oil and gas issues, but he has a reputation for cleaning up embattled organizations.

Bromwich’s assignment… “is to build an organization that acts as the oil industry’s watchdog — not its partner.”