BP's next big problem in Alaska?

The link for our blog is http://gulfofmexicooilspillblog.com/2010/11/04/gulf-of-mexico-oil-spill-blog-bp-alaska/

This blog discusses corroded BP pipelines in Alaska. According to the blog, 148 piplines earned an "F- rank", which means that they are corroded and could rupture any second. The blog finds interviews from former BP employees in Alaska who once again say BP is sacrificing safety in order to save themselves money. But the blog does a very good job at also bringing up BP's side of the case as well, making it seem very academic and credible.

I found this blog very interesting because it discusses BP's Alaskan pipelines in great depth and what they are doing or not doing to fix them. All of the information in the blog seems very credible and they draw from many sources. With everyones attention on the Gulf oil spill right now, the blog raises the question that maybe some of this attention should shift toward Alaska to prevent another major disaster. It seems as though this is another example of BP just being a fundamentally flawed company, more interested in making a few extra dollars rather than protecting the environment.

Gulf Corals Blog Post

The blog is located at http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/environment/Gulf_corals_in_oil_spill_zone_appear_healthy_106285848.html?c=y&page=2#storytop

This blog talks about monitoring and research which is being conducted on corals located in the Gulf of Mexico, around the sight of the deep water horizon geyser. The research is intended to find out if there is any harm befalling the coral from the oil. Surprisingly, there is no harm that anyone can notice. one theory is that oil will prevent the reproduction of coral, but leaves the adult organisms unharmed, but continued monitoring will need to be carried out in order to know for sure.

I found this whole blog very interesting and thought that it was cool that so little was known about these corals. I guess that if the oil does harm the coral, we may not be able to notice since there really is no baseline data about them.

Hope you enjoy the blog.

Group 4 blog post

Website http://www.emergencymgmt.com/emergency-blogs/crisis-comm/The-Oil-Commission-Report-100810.html

This blog focuses on how even though years of careful planning and methods of oil spill prevention have taken place that the Gulf Oil Spill occurred and how it was not handled properly by the federal government by the standards that they themselves created. It goes into how after the Exxon Valdez accident happened, the EPA created plans in 1990 and 1994 for response teams that were to be trained to combat events such as oil spills and other environmental disasters. According to this blog, the teams that were supposed to assist in the Deepwater Horizon spill were hardly used due to errors on both state and federal levels.

I think that the Oil Spill has revealed many things that are wrong within our system of government. The lack of organization and prevention that should have been set in place before hand is disappointing. I think that we need to look at both changing environmental protection and establishing better methods of communication between state and federal officials for when disasters like this one occur.

If the federal government had these plans in place before the Gulf Oil Spill occurred then what happened that they did not use them properly? How do you think the government has handled the situation? What should they have done differently? Was it right to use the resources of BP rather than our own governments?

GROUP 3

Our blog can be found by accessing the following link http://www.bpoilspilllawyersblog.com/2010/09/bp_oil_spill_jeopardizes_fishi.html. This blog by the Bernaird Law Firm talks about the consequences the oil spill had on the fishing industry. Many references are made to NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) and process they use when inspecting the fish. It is a process that's not only slow but it makes work for the fishermen a hassle. Unfortunately, NOAA talks about how they are not sure how the effects will play out in the short or long term. With that being said, they still are trying to analyze the chemical intake of petroleum by the fish at labs in Seattle. They say that the problem is they do not know what is a safe dispersant chemical consumption level. Not only do they not know the safe dose, but when they send the fish to the lab in Seattle, they don't measure for the 8 other chemicals BP utilized throughout the spill.

When reading this blog it made me think not only about my health when consuming fish or any seafood for that matter, but more importantly the huge impact it has had on the fishing industry. Fisherman have taken a devastating blow from the spill that will leave them helpless until the Gulf is cleaned. This brings up the question, how do you feel about consuming fish or other seafood after the spill? Also what effects from the fishing industry can transfer to other parts of the economy?

Group 2's Blog

Our blog (http://gulfblog.uga.edu) is written by the University of Georgia’s Marine Sciences Department, so the blog mostly describes the state of the water in the Gulf. In the latest post titled “Focusing in on Oil”, the writer describes how her “team” captured oil in various places about 20 miles or so off of the Mississippi Coast. Then, they analyzed the oil and determined that the oil found in the water was not from a “natural seep”, which means the oil came from the oil spill. Now, in a sample taken from the bottom a wellhead, it was found that “normal invertebrate fauna you’d expect to see in these sediments were not present”. Could this possibly be a sole good sign for the ecosystem, or is it insignificant?

Now, in the article titled “Where has the oil gone”, the writer describes how some of the oil found on the surface of the water has “disappeared”. Possible explanations for this include evaporation, dissolved gasses, and oil ingestion due to microbes. Out of the various possibilities listed in the blog, which do you think could potentially be the most dangerous to the ecosystem as a whole, let alone humans?

Group 1 Blog

Our selected blog can be found by accessing http://magblog.audubon.org/oil-spill and it pertains to updates on the oil spill and the general public's feelings. The first link entitled "Poll Shows Environmental Restoration High Priority in Gulf States and Voters Want BP to Pay" references a poll taken across Alabama, Louisiana, Texas, Florida and Mississippi. 87% of the 2,061 voters felt as though the Gulf's health was a direct correlation to their state's economy. Also, it was concluded that 78% of the voters agreed that a separate fund should be created for the Gulf region and the Mississippi river delta that would include payments from BP. Do agree with the voters that BP violated the Clean Air Act and the Oil Pollution Act?

The blog mentions the CLEAR act passed by the House of Representatives that will hopefully improve planning for offshore drilling and, among other things, will increase land and ocean conservation funding. What other actions need to be taken by the government in order to ensure this disaster will not be repeated? If the Senate does not put the CLEAR act into action and does not support the increase in funding for the Gulf, what type of response do you think the public will have?

For my post to this to our 110 class blog, I've selected http://gulfoilspill.blogspot.com . Search this blog for potential primary and secondary sources, and please comment upon what links and information you found useful to our class. Detail why they were helpful and connect them to some aspect of our course theme.