"It's an ecological Katrina"

[JCMach1]

That's the description from Al Jazeera correspondent, Sebastian Walker, just now on Al Jazeera as the first oil makes its way on-shore...

This doesn't include the quote, but here is the latest from Al Jazeera. :(

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2010/04/201043015759452829.html

The news from the BBC has been just as depressing this morning. The spill is expected to spread from LA, to MS, to AL to FL by Monday.

Here is a video of the current oil spread: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8651333.stm

Reports have included that rookeries in the estuaries of S. LA could lose a whole generation of nesting birds.

...'Mind-boggling'

"This is a very, very big thing," said David Kennedy of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

He told the Associated Press news agency that the clean-up efforts could be "mind-boggling".
Crews deploy boom to contain oil spill off coast of Louisiana - 29 April 2010
Crews are rushing to protect sensitive coastal areas

An emergency shrimping season was opened on Thursday to allow fishermen to bring in their catch before it was fouled by the advancing oil.

The US government has designated the Gulf of Mexico oil spill as an "incident of national significance". This allows it to draw on resources from across the country.

Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal has declared a state of emergency and asked for federal funds to deploy 6,000 National Guard soldiers to help with the clean-up.

The Louisiana coastline, with its rich shrimp and oyster beds, is the most threatened by the spill. There are also fears of severe damage to fisheries and wildlife in Mississippi, Alabama and Florida.

Navy vessels are helping to deploy booms to contain the spill.

President Obama has dispatched high-level administration officials, including Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, to the area.

He said they would "ensure that BP and the entire US government is doing everything possible, not just to respond to this incident, but also to determine its cause".

Speaking at the White House, Mr Obama also said: "While BP is ultimately responsible for funding the cost of response and clean-up operations, my administration will continue to use every single available resource at our disposal, including potentially the Department of Defence, to address the incident."

Meanwhile, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said there was no reason so far to reconsider the president's recent decision to support plans for increased offshore drilling... http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8653162.stm

Obama needs to get a grip on this fast.

[Art_from_Ark]

1. Looks like this is going to make the Santa Barbara spill pale by comparison

"On the afternoon of January 29, 1969, an environmental nightmare began in Santa Barbara, California. A Union Oil Co. platform stationed six miles off the coast of Summerland suffered a blowout. Oil workers had drilled a well down 3500 feet below the ocean floor. Riggers began to retrieve the pipe in order to replace a drill bit when the "mud" used to maintain pressure became dangerously low. A natural gas blowout occurred. An initial attempt to cap the hole was successful but led to a tremendous buildup of pressure. The expanding mass created five breaks in an east-west fault on the ocean floor, releasing oil and gas from deep beneath the earth."

http://www.geog.ucsb.edu/~jeff/sb_69oilspill/69oilspill_articles2.html

Incidentally, the Santa Barbara spill is credited with helping to spur the Earth Day movement. To mark the occasion of the first Earth Day, one of the Big Three news networks featured a clip of schoolkids singing "Oil Drops Keep Fallin' On My Head".

[ejpoeta]

2. i have an idea.

let's take all the proponents of off shore drilling as well as the corporate big wigs from BP and even all the other oil companies and make them stay in new orleans or right in the path of that nightmare until it's taken care of. This is crap. They make a big ass mess and don't have to live with it. Landlords have been forced to live in downtrodden buildings... make these jerks stay in new orleans and reap the rewards of their damned greed.

[Xipe Totec]

3. Emergency shrimping season was opened on Thursday?

Way too late. that shrimp is already fowl.

I certainly won't be eating any shellfish for the next several years.

[PinkFloyd]

4. I feel very sorry, especially for those who live in New Orleans.

They seem to be still in some recovery from Katrina and now this happens. My thoughts and prayers are with all those who live there.

[JCMach1]

6. +1

[The2ndWheel]

5. It's funny the reaction it gets

Pipe breaks, rig explodes, oil spills, we call it a disaster.

Pipe doesn't break, rig doesn't explode, oil is used, we call it Tuesday.

Either way, the oil isn't in the ground anymore, and it's causing problems. This explosion is a problem that must be addressed now, but our use of oil can be gradually reduced by 2050.