Offshore Oil Drilling and the Oil Rig Disaster in the Gulf

[apvbguy]

Well I guess it turns out that the off shore drilling DOES lead to environmental spills and ruin the beaches.

Who woulda thunk it?

I'm sorry.  Where does it say that the storm caused off shore drilling platforms to leak oil in this article?

head...meet sand!

move over and make room for the rest of us

[BridgeTroll]

The oil industry has been touting their safe rigs. Even if we take the oil industry at it's word, where the heck do you think the oil goes to shore? Oil pipelines along the Gulf coast bottom create a network coming ashore to storage and refineries. If we have east coast oil wells off Florida and Georgia those pipelines will come ashore somewhere near us. Storage tanks and industrial facilites are needed. Where will they be put?



This is the Murphy Oil spill at Chalmette, LA. About 1600 homes were affected by this spill.

http://www.uscg.mil/npfc/docs/PDFs/osltf_report_hurricanes.pdf
Less than one year after Katrina, the Coast Guard's report to Congress showed -

OIL SPILL LIABILITY TRUST FUND HURRICANE IMP ACT
Appendix
--
Summary of Hurricane Katrina & Rita Related Spills
As of January 24, 2006 there have been over 9 million gallons of oil released from six major
and five medium spills. Inaddition there have been over 5,000 minor spill responses. New
minor spills are being identified and responded to daily.
Summary of 6 major incidents:
.
The Bass Enterprises, South Cox Bay facility at Cox Bay, LA, suffered two tank
failures. 3,800,000 gallons were discharged; 1,900,000 gallons recovered to date.
Efforts to identify and remove lingering pollution continue.
.
The Bass Enterprises North facility at MM 36 LMR suffered shifted and leaking
tanks. 460,000 gallons were discharged; 116,000 gallons recovered to date. Efforts to
identify and remove lingering pollution continue.
.
The Shell Nairn facility in Port Sulphur, LA, suffered a ruptured pipeline. 140,000
gallons were discharged; 11,000 gallons recovered to date. Additional cleanup pends
due to private property access issues.
.
The Murphy Oil facility in Mereaux, LA, suffered a ruptured tank. 1,100,000 gallons
discharged; 750,000 gallons recovered to date. Coast Guard responders conducted
initial gross oil containment; EPA retains lead for overall sitejurisdiction. Hundreds
of homes in the adjacent areas were saturated by oil. Household cleanup continues.
Media reports that many homeowners have accepted a settlement with Murphy Oil,
while other homeowners have initiated a class action lawsuit.
.
The Chevron Pipeline Empire facility in Port Sulphur, LA, suffered a pipeline
rupture. 1,400,000 gallons discharged; 75,000 gallons were recovered. Efforts to
identify and remove lingering pollution continue.
.
The Shell Pilot Town facility in Pilot Town, LA, suffered a breached pipeline.
1,100,000 gallons discharged; 950,000 gallons were recovered. Efforts to identify
and remove lingering pollution continue.
Summary of 5 medium incidents:
.
The Sundown East facility in Potash, LA, suffered ruptured tanks and piping. 52,000
gallons were discharged; 16,000 gallons recovered to date. Response efforts to
identify and address the sources of persistent sheening are ongoing.
.
The Sundown West facility in Potash, LA, suffered ruptured tanks and piping. 13,000
gallons were discharged; 8,000 gallons recovered to date. Efforts to identify and
remove lingering pollution on private property continue.
.
At the Chevron Port Fourchon Pipeline facility, in Port Fourchon, LA, a potable water
tank was lifted by the hurricane and impacted valves and pipelines in the facility tank
farm. 54,000 gallons were discharged; approximately 45,000 gallons of diesel/water
mix recovered to date.

Page 8
OIL SPILL LIABILITY TRUST FUND HURRICANE IMPACT
.
At the Texas Point
-
Sabine Services facility near Sabine, TX, one 504,OOO-gallon
capacity tank was lifted and moved 3 miles into a marsh by Hurricane Rita. 34,000
gallons were discharged; approximately 12,000gallons of#2 diesel was removed
:£Tomthe tank and surrounding area. Removal operations were conducted by
constructing a temporary pipeline to a tank barge. Efforts to identify and remove
lingering pollution continue.
.
At the Dynergy Venice facility in Venice, LA two tanks ruptured. 25,000 gallons
discharged; 19,000gallons were recovered. Efforts to identify and remove lingering
pollution continue.

Other Significant Incidents:
.
-
An integrated tug and barge struck a submerged oil platform
that was sunk by Hurricane Rita. Unknown amount of oil discharged (possibly up to
3 million gallons). 1,400,000gallons has been recovered. Another approximately 2
million gallons have been lightered :£Tomthe damaged vessel. The barge has been
towed to a shipyard and is undergoing inspection prior to disposal. The responsible
party reports response expenditures to date of approximately $36 million. CG
OSLTF funding ceiling currently at $450K with $360,000 expended against the
ceiling to date. The responsible party's limit of liability is $11.7 million. They have
contacted the National Pollution Funds Center regarding the submission of an excess
ofliability claim against the OSLTF

So what are you proposing??  Because pipelines and rigs might leak oil we should not drill for it?  Coal mines might kill miners... no more coal?  Iron mines might scar the earth... No more iron mines?  Cell phones might cause cancer... no more cell phones?  Trains might collide... no more trains?  Airplanes might crash... no more airplanes??  The stock market might fall... no more stocks??

We can try to reduce the risk of these things happening but we cannot eliminate them.  Accidents happen... this arguments is no reason to not drill for our own oil.

[will]

It is the enormity of the consequences of the accident that is the issue. If a coal mine collapses, a handful of miners will tragically die. If a large oil spill occurs, hundreds of miles of shoreline are devastated for years.

However, the main reason not to drill is global warming. Burning fossil fuels is ruining the world - why on earth would you want to drill for more of the stuff? We need a radical move off fossil fuels entirely. We've only been large consumers of the stuff for about a hundred years. Surely we can wean ourselves off such a short term habit if we think long term.

[BridgeTroll]

It is the enormity of the consequences of the accident that is the issue. If a coal mine collapses, a handful of miners will tragically die. If a large oil spill occurs, hundreds of miles of shoreline are devastated for years.

However, the main reason not to drill is global warming. Burning fossil fuels is ruining the world - why on earth would you want to drill for more of the stuff? We need a radical move off fossil fuels entirely. We've only been large consumers of the stuff for about a hundred years. Surely we can wean ourselves off such a short term habit if we think long term.

Sorry if I have a different perspective.  The deaths of "a handful of miners" is much more tragic than the shoreline.  Why drill for it??? Um... because we need it and there is no alternative at this time or the forseeable future.  Please begin "weaning" all you want.  I welcome it.  We also do not "need" a radical move off fossil fuels.  We need a well planned well thought out comprehensive long term change.  A radical change will merely cause chaos...

[apvbguy]

It is the enormity of the consequences of the accident that is the issue. If a coal mine collapses, a handful of miners will tragically die. If a large oil spill occurs, hundreds of miles of shoreline are devastated for years.

However, the main reason not to drill is global warming. Burning fossil fuels is ruining the world - why on earth would you want to drill for more of the stuff? We need a radical move off fossil fuels entirely. We've only been large consumers of the stuff for about a hundred years. Surely we can wean ourselves off such a short term habit if we think long term.

agreed, we need to move away from fossil fuels but right now there are no decent viable alternatives, so we need to keep using oil. Your wanting to wean ourselves from oil is unrealistic at this point in time, it will be a long process.

some of the consequences of not having an adequate supply of fuel to create energy would be that those who live in the northern climes to freeze in winter, people in the south to forgo A/C, nobody being able to drive to work, starvation because food will be grown in lesser quantities and won't be able to get transported to markets, a complete collapse of the economies of the world. So until viable alternatives are found we need to exploit the resources available to us now.

Yes I agree with you, we need to find alternatives but short term thinking will not solve anything, it will take years if not decades to recast the world that has evolved to where it is today.

[RiversideGator]

Well I guess it turns out that the off shore drilling DOES lead to environmental spills and ruin the beaches.

Who woulda thunk it?

I'm sorry.  Where does it say that the storm caused off shore drilling platforms to leak oil in this article?

head...meet sand!

move over and make room for the rest of us

While the head in sand comment was mildly amusing when you first uttered it, tufsu, it really isnt funny the second and third time around and also isnt an argument.  My point was that there was no evidence presented that the leaks were related to offshore drilling which is the topic of this thread.  The leaks could have been from boats, cars, holding tanks, etc.  That is the point.

[RiversideGator]

It is the enormity of the consequences of the accident that is the issue. If a coal mine collapses, a handful of miners will tragically die. If a large oil spill occurs, hundreds of miles of shoreline are devastated for years.

However, the main reason not to drill is global warming. Burning fossil fuels is ruining the world - why on earth would you want to drill for more of the stuff? We need a radical move off fossil fuels entirely. We've only been large consumers of the stuff for about a hundred years. Surely we can wean ourselves off such a short term habit if we think long term.

We can get off of it long term.  But in the long term we are all dead.  We must deal with our energy needs now with what is available now and work towards a better future instead of hoping that the tooth fairy will drop some amazing new solution in our laps tomorrow.

[will]

No one seems to be willing to give up anything to address the climate issue. The immediate, short term answer to the problem is to reduce demand for energy - but so far as I can tell, very few are willing to alter their habits at all. We're faced with a difficult problem here: we need to get off oil asap but we don't have a viable large scale alternative. Some times we are required to make sacrifices in order to succeed. World War II would not have been won without the self-sacrifice of millions who rationed and worked long hours in the war effort. I think something similar is needed here. To continue with business as usual, to continue to drill and consume as we always have, would be as selfish and short-sighted a path as possible.

[BridgeTroll]

I disagree.  While I am all for reducing demand and conservation we will not conserve ourselves out of the need for new oil sources.  We will need new resources until we have new power sources available... in the future.

[RiversideGator]

No one seems to be willing to give up anything to address the climate issue. The immediate, short term answer to the problem is to reduce demand for energy - but so far as I can tell, very few are willing to alter their habits at all. We're faced with a difficult problem here: we need to get off oil asap but we don't have a viable large scale alternative. Some times we are required to make sacrifices in order to succeed. World War II would not have been won without the self-sacrifice of millions who rationed and worked long hours in the war effort. I think something similar is needed here. To continue with business as usual, to continue to drill and consume as we always have, would be as selfish and short-sighted a path as possible.

What climate problem?

[lindab]

Tomorrow morning the state House of Representatives will vote to allow oil drilling rigs within view of shore off Florida's beaches. The legislation would not allow local governments to refuse the rigs off their coastline. Pipelines, storage facilities, and refining facilities would be near the drill sites also along the coasts.
Florida's sport fishing and billion dollar tourist economy could be adversely impacted by spills from catastrophic storm events. 

Please make an immediate call to your representative today or email your concerns.

[Tripoli1711]

I thought they would be up to 10 miles offshore?

[lindab]

Nope, just inside the federal limits. Getting around the federal ban.

[ChriswUfGator]

What isn't for sale anymore?

Sad........

[lindab]

call your darn representative - it's only sad if we kvetch and don't do.
Sorry, don't mean to sound harsh - just determined.