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OIL SPILL, NEW PROBLEMS

3K views 18 replies 16 participants last post by  chris a 
#1 ·
CNN speaks with a marine toxicologist who says the chemical <span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">dispersant is toxic, much like the oil its intended to clean up.
As oil spill nears Gulf Coast, experts issue dire warnings - CNN.com

The dispersant is causing a huge underwater oil ploom that is poisoning the entire water column not just the surface. Everything in the gulf is being posioned.
 
#4 ·
Naturally, the oil does not magically go away or anything, just because some soap was put on it.

It is sort of like that scene from "Big Daddy" where he just keeps on covering up the vomit and pee stains on the floor with newspaper. It was still there later, just out of sight.

If any of us were to use soap to cause oil to sink, we would be UNDER the jailhouse. If the Feds do it, somehow that is ok?????
 
#6 ·
I know that most of you have had this happen. Catch up or buy from Tony a bunch of live bait and someone washes their hands in the livewell (with soap/dispersant same thing) and all the pinfish or cigs DIE! That is what is going on.... These dumbasses would rather sink the problem than deal with it on the surface. BP is farking up big time .... I wonder how many YF and BF tuna have already floated because of this stupidity.. It just boggles the mind.
 
#7 ·
I am by no means a scientist but I did hear a representative from NOAA along with several environmental people speak first hand yesterday in Orange Beach and they specifically talked about the chemical dispersant being used. They said that these oil dispersing chemicals have been approved by the DEP, EPA and all of the strict environmental departments for use in the Gulf. They stated that the dispersants are non-toxic to the environment and help break the oil down to a molecular level where bacteria can further enhance the decomp process. There have been several samples of the broken down oil already tested and in every case, it was rendered non-toxic. I'm not saying that these chemicals are the solution to our massive problem, but they do seem to be helpingslow the spread of oil in its bad state. It was nice to hear information from actual people in the know, rather than from biassed media trying to sensationalize everything to sell stories. There is no doubt we have a huge problem on our hands, but don't believe everything you read or hear. Just my 2 cents
 
#8 ·
Jake you and the entire area are in our prayers. This is a huge problem and that is good news indeed. One other thing that needs to be remembered while this may have short terms ills effects we have seen worse..from Dec 1941 to the end of 1944, 46 ships were sunk by u-boats in the Gulf of these at least 18 were oil tankers. 16 of these were sunk in 1942 each of these ships were carrying more crude oil than the this spill has leaked up to now. If the leak can be stopped soon I doubt we are looking at the devastation the media is calling for..again Jake our prayers are with all the folks along the Gulf Coast..be sure that as soon as Joe's hip is healed and the grounds are opened we are planning on fishing with you guys..best wishes and good luck from my self and the other Old Farts!
 
#9 ·
how2fish (04/05/2010)Jake you and the entire area are in our prayers. This is a huge problem and that is good news indeed. One other thing that needs to be remembered while this may have short terms ills effects we have seen worse..from Dec 1941 to the end of 1944, 46 ships were sunk by u-boats in the Gulf of these at least 18 were oil tankers. 16 of these were sunk in 1942 each of these ships were carrying more crude oil than the this spill has leaked up to now. If the leak can be stopped soon I doubt we are looking at the devastation the media is calling for..again Jake our prayers are with all the folks along the Gulf Coast..be sure that as soon as Joe's hip is healed and the grounds are opened we are planning on fishing with you guys..best wishes and good luck from my self and the other Old Farts!

This is a very good point and I didn't even think about that. It brought to mind Pearl Harbor and how much oil and diesel must have been in that water and I wonder what effect that had.
 
#11 ·
Well it seems like they finally realized this ridiculous dispersant use. They have just reported on ABC news (1730 local 5May) that they will stop using the dispersant because it is affecting even the local waters of LA. There is a change in the water color and BP admitted they have no idea of the effect it will have on the environment and ecology. Now then,,,, about that underwater ploom they added to,, for all the fish to eat that I alerted to 2 days ago in my first post......................
 
#13 ·
bmoore (03/05/2010)Is there anything..anything at all hopeful or positive coming out from the Feds or BP?


Yeah, if you're BP the fact that the dispersal agent keeps the water off the surface and causes it to fall to the floor or stay suspended below the surface means that the damages will be spread out and hard to see from the surface. That means they won't have to pay so much for the damages even though they'll be just as bad and more widespread.

If you're not BP, it all sucks, but at least there's a whole bunch of good political cartoons with the words:

"Spill Baby, Spill"

The T-shirt companies are probably making money.
 
#14 ·
I hope that all this actually works out and we are all over-reacting. I also hope that others that get paid to do the studies are looking at everything instead of what is only in front of them. The oil eating micro-organisms sound like a great idea, but what will the side effects be. I have read and seen ecosystems get screwed up from people trying to fix things and although it solves the immediate problem it creates more. The soap in the live bait tank is a great example of what could happen. Then what will the bigger fish eat? or maybe where will they eat. Lets all just hope that the "big guy" decides to help us out on this one and guides the scientists to the correct answer.
 
#15 ·
<span id=ctl00_ctlContentPlaceHolder_ctl00_ctlTopic_ctlPanelBar_ctlTopicsRepeater_ctl07_lblFullMessage>I am by no means a scientist but I did hear a representative from NOAA along with several environmental people speak first hand yesterday in Orange Beach and they specifically talked about the chemical dispersant being used. They said that these oil dispersing chemicals have been approved by the DEP, EPA and all of the strict environmental departments for use in the Gulf. They stated that the dispersants are non-toxic to the environment and help break the oil down to a molecular level where bacteria can further enhance the decomp process.
I went to the meeting yesterday in Ft. Walton Beach with DEP Secretary Sole. He specifically noted that the dispersants ARE toxic. It seems pretty clear that folks in control at BP and the COast Guard have been making decissions try to find the lesser of the evils. No option is a good one other than travel back in time and avoid all this in the first place.

I am painfully worried that decissions get driven by the optics that the PR people want rather than the best science. Cheical dispersant means more of the oil out of sight and that may be all that matters from a PR perspective. Reality is, it may be worse for the environment in the long term, but hey, if there is no nasty brown stuff or the pretty white beaches, nobody can take a picture of it to put on the news.

Man, I hope that coffer dome they built works. and they stop this oil from ending up anywhere but in a tanker!
 
#16 ·
It's a trade off. Dispersents "bury" it in the water, and on the ocean floor, and wreck havoc there.

Not using them lets much of it hit the shoreline, and wreck havoc there.

Which one puts it out of the publics eye???

Now you know why BP is talking about how greatdispersantsare.

Speaking of cartoons Hal... Thought this one was funny

 
#17 ·
i love this place but working on the beach gives me a different viewpoint,this entire economy is about to take a hit,people are cancelling reservations everyday,its getting very ugly.i dont care what you do,if the tourist spiket gets cut off,its going to be worse than any recession or housing busts could ever be.
 
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