Despite moratorium, drilling projects continue

[AndyA]

Records show 5 new permits for drilling, and 5 environmental waivers since Obama announced a "moratorium" on permits...totals since April 20th when the explosion occurred show 17 drilling permits and 19 environmental waivers!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37309122/ns/us_news-the_new_york_times/

Clarification: According to Ken Salazar, Obama never meant to stop work already underway; just stop new wells from being started.

America, this is your government on bribes. Our government is addicted to oil, they just can't seem to stop. To allow environmental waivers at this point is to piss in our faces.

[AndyA]

1. It would seem things are getting much worse in the Gulf as well.

And the "fix" could blow the whole thing wide open, creating an even bigger problem! And we're going to allow other work to continue? Really? Anyone who allows this SHOULD BE FIRED.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=8401108&mesg_id=8401108

[WeDidIt]

2. I support this 100%

Stopping work under way would adversely affect the companies. They were permitted to begin and it would be foolish to stop work currently under way.

[AndyA]

3. Knowing that there are safety violations you would allow work to continue?

Ridiculous. Knowing what we know now is a game changer.

We cannot afford to have two or three of these things gushing in the Gulf, or anywhere else for that matter. Corporate America has done a job on you, profits over all else! The environment? Who the hell cares about that, we must make money, money, money, money, money.

Pathetic. :eyes:

[WeDidIt]

4. We don't know there are safety violations on other rigs.

But we should definitely step up inspections and tests on the other rigs to be sure. I'll give you that.

[AllentownJake]

6. Given my history in Corporate America

Generally if one company has found a way to cut a few corners, all of them are.

[AndyA]

8. Not acceptable.

The other rigs must ALL be checked. Work must stop immediately until they can be checked.

The environmental disaster in the Gulf cannot be risked in other areas. It will take decades and billions to clean it up, and even then it will never be the same again. Just look at Alaska where the Exxon Valdez dumped all that oil. Today, it's STILL A MESS! (21 years later.)

[Name removed]

5. Deleted message

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[KharmaTrain]

7. The Irony

Stop all oil from the gulf...which is what some her advocate and watch many complain when the costs of everything skyrockets as the shortages and speculation drive the price of oil through the roof.

There are some rigs that appear to be problematic...60 minutes pointed to one I think called Atlantis that experienced similar problems to Deepwater. There definitely needs to be an independent investigation into the condition of all off-shore wells in the wake of this disaster, but a wholescale ban would be a killer to the economy. The ultimate goal and lesson here is as long as we are addicted to oil, either we accept these disasters as "the price of doing business" or get very vocal to put developing alternative energy on the fast track.

Regarding further exploration, from reading the oil drum blog (very informative), there needs to be a top to bottom investigation of existing contracts...who signed them, who benefits as well as an independent audit of all companies who have drilling leases. Those who have violated laws forfeit their leases and until proven otherwise should be prevented from any further drilling.

[AndyA]

9. Congress needs to address the speculators who use situations like this to run up prices.

They need to put a stop to it. The 2008 oil price increases were largely attributed to speculators who ran the price up for their own benefit and greed, and as a result helped to cause this recession.

And a lot of them have ties to Wall Street financial institutions. See a pattern?

Congress needs to get off its corrupt ass and do something about it. What they've done so far is a disgrace.

[KharmaTrain]

10. If They Can't Reign In Derivitives And Hedge Funds...

...do you expect them to clamp down on the speculators who ping pong the price and availability of oil to their benefit? Not with this cash-hungry and lobbyist addicted Congress. Right now every Congresscriter is looking at spending a minimum of $1 million between now and November and it's gotta come from somewhere. Be assured the API (American Petroleum Institute) is very very busy these days.

I'd love to see the gambling casino in oil futures shut down...you're right about the 2008 oil rise...just in time for Junior's departure...one last big payday for his oil buddies. However our legislators are loath to act against those who write the big checks.

Cheers...

[chill_wind]

11. And yet we know this much about the ongoing safety questions (cement jobs)- 18 of 39 blowouts

An AP review of federal accident and incident reports on offshore wells shows that the cementing process has been implicated at least 34 times since 1978. Many of the reports, available from the U.S. Minerals Management Service that regulates offshore wells, identify the cause simply as "poor cement job."

-- In a November 2005 accident where the Deepwater Horizon was positioned above another well in the Gulf, faulty cement work allowed wall-supporting steel casing to come apart. Almost 15,000 gallons of drilling fluid spilled into the Gulf.

-- Just a week later in a nearby well at another platform, cement improperly seeped through drilling fluid. As a result of an additive meant to quicken setting time, the cement then failed to block a gas influx into the well. When the crew finally replaced heavy drilling fluid with lighter seawater, as they also did last month before the blowout at Deepwater Horizon, the well flowed out of control and much of the crew had to be evacuated.

-- Cementing was identified by federal investigators as a glaring cause of an August 2007 blowout, also off Louisiana. They said, "The cement quality is very poor, showing what looks like large areas of no cement."

Reports by MMS, a branch of the Interior Department, also provide evidence of the role bad cement work has played in accidents. One study named cementing as a factor in 18 of 39 well blowouts at Gulf rigs from 1992 to 2006. Another attributed five of nine out-of-control wells in the year 2000 to cementing problems.

http://www.nola.com/news/gulf-oil-spill/index.ssf/2010/05/bad_cement_jobs_plague_offshor.html