As the Gulf oil disaster closes in on the 50-day mark, the Obama Administration and BP refuse to use the most effective method of oil cleanup. The top oil barons of the world--the Saudis--have used this method to avoid a mammoth oil disaster.
And the result was swift, effective, and conclusive.
(AP Photo/Dave Martin).
In 1993 and '94 the Saudis faced an oil spill of historic proportions in the Arabian Gulf as four leaking tankers and two oil gushers threatened to spur a catastrophic event that was 65 times worse than the Exxon-Valdez spill.
An American engineer, Nick Pozzi, was part of a task force charged with developing a solution to the looming disaster.
Pozzi had used various methods to clean up oil spills prior to this event. However, the time was short, and an effective solution was needed post-haste.
That's when Pozzi decided that the huge, empty oil tankers, sitting in the dock, could be used to simply vacuum up the oil right off of the top of the water.
The result was that 85% of the oil was recovered.
Pozzi believes that the tanker method is the fastest and most effective way of dealing with the Gulf Oil disaster, but no one in the Obama Administration or BP is willing to consider the idea. Instead, they have insisted on using untested techniques, one of which involves the use of chemical dispersants manufactured and sold by a company in which Obama cronies, Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, Hathaway-Berkshire, and BP, are heavily invested.
That company, NALCO, is also one of the so-called 'green' industries that Obama and the Leftwing favor due to its development of water purification systems.
In an interview with Esquire, Pozzi stated the following:
NICK POZZI: Keep in mind that what supertankers typically do is they sit in the middle of the ocean waiting for all the traders to come up with the right price. When they feel that the price is right, the tankers that are full, they take off, and they can be anywhere in the world in a few days. Right now there are probably 25 supertankers, waiting for orders, full of oil. So all they got to do is come to Texas, in the Gulf, unload the oil, and then turn around and suck up all this other stuff and pump it onto shore into on-shore storage. It's not rocket science. It's so simple. It's a Robinson Crusoe fix, but it works.
However, Esquire also reported that nearly FIFTY (50) super-tankers were sitting empty and ready to go, and on the cheap.
The Obama Administration and BP have totally ignored them.
In fact, BP has curiously skirted around the super-tanker solution when asked about it by reporters.
Esquire has clear evidence showing that the government has flat-out ignored or refused to consider the super-tanker method, in spite of its track-record of resounding success. Both Obama and the Coast Guard have been dragging their feet on this solution, although they have been made aware of it repeatedly.
Why?
Even Obama cheerleaders such as Chris Matthews are questioning the President's refusal to act, particularly in light of the fact that former Shell Oil executive John Hofmeister has insisted in numerous interviews that the super-tanker method should have been utilized at the very start.
It is also clear that BP and the Obama Administration could have not only used government equipment in the effort but recruited the help of all of the various oil companies. BP, obviously, could not handle the severity of this catastrophe alone. Yet it refused to request the help of other oil companies, refused to use the super-tankers to vacuum up the oil, and seemed to collude with Barack Obama to drag its feet on a real cleanup in lieu of testing out the chemical dispersants peddled by a company with dubious ties.
And it must not be overlooked that BP is much more than an oil company. The corporation is heavily invested in developing so-called 'green technology' that will supposedly replace the need for oil.
Increasingly it is beginning to appear that the Obama Administration and BP together deliberately closed their eyes, ears, and brains to fairly simple solutions that could have spared the Gulf coast from an historic catastrophe.
And that, to be blunt, is unconscionable.
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Comments
We are being ruled by evil idiots from The Kenyan on down.
You are incorrect, this has been employed since day 6.
I am as angry as the next guy, but the composition of the GOM Deepwater Horizon spill and the prior Arabian Gulf spill are much different, the Saudi spill naturally congealed together, while the Very Light Crude in the GOM does not, and the currents in the GOM are much greater, causing much greater dispersal of already less coherent topwater slicks.
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Keep up the cover for BO and you are seeing a catastrophe for the 'rat party. Somebody, anybody needs to step up and tell Kenya's favorite son. Eric Holder can't stop this by suing everybody. McCartney can serenade you and Manchelle, but he knows squat about oil drilling. Admit you are in over your head and cry uncle. Sending a CD of your speeches to the Coast Guard won't cut it. " Daddy, have you plugged the hole yet?"
Looks like punishment, Chicago style, for those southern states that dare to vote Republican. I have a feeling that if it were California's coast that was threatened, things would have turned out a lot different.
Well, I get the Obama administration. But I don't get BP.
Littoral Keys--No, the extra large super-tankers have NOT been used at all. 50 of them sat there, empty, at port, ready to be deployed when requested. That request never came.
And the expert who used this method in the Arabian Gulf believes it will work in the Gulf of Mexico as well. I would trust his judgment over the obvious bozos and deliberately-ignorant of the Obama Administration and BP.
re: Anthony G. Martin
That is the most inconsequential bio I've ever seen.
'Michael Pence'--Sounds like you've got a personal problem and an ax to grind. You can't refute the facts in the article, so you issue a veiled attack against me. Most can see right through it.
Michael Pence, I am curious if after watching Obama's performance as president you would DEEM Mr. Martin's resume more "consequential" if it included Harvard.
Are you happy with your "CHANGE YET"?
This information concerning tankers is incorrect. I worked on super tankers for years. Unfortunately, they are unable to suck oil off the ocean. They are not design for this, they are design to be loaded from loading facilities, and then discharge to discharge facilities. These ships would have to be modified with costly equipment that would take months to build and then to install in shipyards. The oil would have to be gathered on the ocean and boomed into an area close to the ships in order for the ships to then recover it. They obviously are unable to boom the oil in the gulf of Mexico presently. But, Obama can still blame Bush, he's always got that card to play.
Time line: oil spill, pending war w/No. Korea,Israeli boarding of ships w/ deaths, Turkey on it's way, Bilderberg conference, and the G-20 summit in Toronto coming up, the lack of m.s.m. interviews of the surviving 111 oil rig workers,oil rig workers being hid from everyone, the oil rig workers being briefed to maintain silence,deliberate lack of safe guards on the rig, lack of interviews of Halliburtons K.B.R.,selected (groomed?) workers in the house sub committee investigation, (groomed?) workers that did the few m.s.m. interviews, 47 trillion lien on the U.S. treasury by China,China's right to eminent domain in the U.S. because of these liens,14 trillion of sovereign funds owed by the U.S. to Great Britain ,6.2 trillion owed by the U.S. to the British Monarchical Power,Barry O.'s blocking of these settlements. It's not just about the oil spill,nor how and why it happened,or why the cleanup is going the way it is,it's all of the fore mentioned! Dorthy, don't look behind the curtain!
Folks....if you didn't already know it....we're broke, and so is Great Britain. It takes $$$$ to clean up the worlds largest oil spill !
One might also consider who is on the P.B. roster of ownership and are they at that Bilderberg meeting ?
Just like the people on the gulf, and most of the so called "free world", we have been disenfranchised by the power elitist....the same one's that are at that Bilderberg meeting. Methinks it's time to wake up world !
I would think that the super tankers (if equipped to do this) would have been infinitely more successful prior to any dispersants being put on the spill. Before dispersant the oil had a much better chance of floating on the top at a better consistency for sucking up. Not being a scientist, super-tanker worker, or knowledge holder of the appropriate viscocity for optimum suckability - I'm just guessing as are most of us at this point.
Ratfink--So, you think you know more than the engineer who cleaned up the spill in the Arabian Gulf, Mr. Pozzi? Interesting...
Oblama needs to be asked about his connection with Goldman Sachs who just before the "spill" dropped a whole bunch of BP stocks.
This smells of orchestration to not only make a mint, but to distract everyone from his treason. Remember Bidens comments before Oblama took office that "he would be tested, and soon", what did Biden know that they criminally witheld?
We know the federal government orchestrates "incidents" for geopolitical reasons like:
9/11, gulf of tonkin incident, pearl harbor, luthitania, operation northwoods and who knows what else. Go ahead, research these...ALL of them!
9/11= staged by Israel and the US government
Gulf of tonkin= a lie to get us into Viet Nam
Pearl Harbor= was not a suprise
Luthitania=(correct spelling?) WW1, we recently found the ship...with the weapons on baord.
Isnt freedom of information and declassification great? Toobad it takes 20 years.
Operation Northwoods= thanks to JFK it never went through.
Lets also not forget the oklahoma city bombing, any engineer knows that damage like that can only be achieved internally, and actually attached to support columns, plus many more bombs found...yet stories were buried.
The first WTC bombing had the FBI up to their eyeballs in complicity.
Ruby Ridge, FBI set-up and assassinations.
Waco-posse comatatis violation..kills women and children, then blames the victims...did they get that from Israeli government?
Agents Provacaters at many protests so the police can have excuse to brutalize protestors. (they did this in Canada and got caught, apparently common practice)
This Government is not for and by we the people, it has been hijacked and commits treason every day, BOTH parties are owned and opposition with a foothold gets deep sixed conveniently.
We are in a lot of trouble if we dont storm the capitol and start the hearings for treason, or vote in someone who will persue criminal charges...no accountability=no change.
They will only use the methods that enrich their friends, like Halliburton who just before the "spill" decided to create a nice sized oil clean-up group...how convenient.
It looks more and more every day when more information is leaked or found out, that everyone knew this was going to happen, but the ones that knew are in a special club and we the people are not in this club.
The Persian Gulf spill was a surface spill. The oil is easy to track and to gather. The Gulf of Mexico spill is 5,000 feet below. The oil comes randomly in different places and spreads out. That is why they are using smaller vessels that are more agile and can travel more quickly. 25 large supertanker bumbling around, or worse running into each other, would not solve the problem.
As for the reasoning. I could PERHAPS grasp the reasoning of the Obama administration ignoring a solution. Under that theory they are letting the disaster get worse so they can pass cap-and-trade. Let me be clear I DO NOT think this is true, but I can see how someone might think it. The problem with your theory here is why would BP let the disaster fester by ignoring an "obvious" solution? They have every interest in cleaning it up as quickly as possible.
Actually allow me to take that back, I don't see how anyone could think Obama is purposefully ignoring a perfectly good solution. I believe Bush messed up Katrina big time, but I never thought he purposefully ignored the crisis because he "hates black people." He was just negligent. One could argue that the federal government response has not been what it should be (a debatable question), but I don't think you can reasonably argue someone is purposefully messing up anymore than you could argue Bush purposefully ignored New Orleans. If there are errors being made they are errors of negligence, not malice.
What the hell is the "Arabian Gulf". Please don't use the made up Arab name for the Persian Gulf. The historical and internationally recognized name is 'Persian Gulf'. Arabian Gulf is made up just to forward Arab nationalism. Don't butcher history for the sake of ethno-nationalism.
Anthony G. Martin - yes, I think Pozzi is flat out exaggerating the effectiveness of the method he describes using oil tankers to suck the oil off of the water of open ocean. I have researched this claim and I can find no information so far concerning the feat. As a master mariner for many years working exclusively on tankers, and being highly trained in the field, I had never heard of this, the greatest environmental cleanup of oil in our history. One would think that all the training material concerning oil spill cleanups would reference this amazing event. I have uncovered information that the spill in the Persian Gulf was estimated at more that 10 million bbls, and that only 1 million bbls were verified as recovered by clean up operations. That would be 10% total of all methods of cleaning. So, yeah, maybe I don't know as much as Pozzi, but I don't believe the story he's selling.
President Bail Out's Gulf Crisis performance, presently rates F-/Goose-egg ++ .
Question #1 for our commander-in-chief: why did you not immediately execute the national security response plan for the destruction of an off-shore oil rig due to hostile action by a foreign power or terrorist group? The spreading oil spill after-effect would be the same whether the destruction occurred due to deliberate sabotage/attack or unfortunate industrial accident. And we KNOW that there is a such plan in place & ready to execute on day1 - right, Mr. Commander-in-chief?
Newt Gingrich's admission that the USSR's economy was deliberately sabotaged in part by defective drill/rig equipment supplied by US firms, demands that payback sabotage masked as industrial accident MUST top the list of possible/probable causes.
As for a BP motive for foot-dragging or deliberate rig sabotage, google "catastrophe bond" - a type of financial derivative & "borderline" insurance fraud. Then, who shorted what & w
Ratfink--The reason you didn't hear about it is because Saudi Arabia is a CLOSED Islamic society. Rarely ANY news comes out of there and even what little news we do get is long after the fact.
No matter which way you cut it, this President and BP have refused to use any number of methods to prevent the oil from reaching the shore. Instead they focused on chemical dispersants. That is a pretty sorry manner of handling a disaster of this magnitude.
Ryan--One big factor you are ignoring--this is the single most ideologically-driven Administration in U.S. History. EVERYTHING is about the ultimate goal, no matter what the means. This is straight out the Alinsky playbook, and Obama has been following it letter for letter.
I have absolutely no doubt that even if there were no sabotage whatsoever, this President and the Leftwing extremist ideologues in his Administration would use this disaster, milk it for all it is worth, in order to advance their agenda. BP is part of the mix. They are in the hip pocket of Obama and the Democrats. They helped get them elected. They are also at the forefront of 'green' alternatives. So, they are well set to get a boatload of taxpayer funds since Obama wishes for us to fund green initiatives. Plus, if gov't takes over the company as some Dems are now suggesting, they are going to be sitting pretty no matter what.
And the vast majority disapprove of both Obama AND BP on this issue.
I'd be keeping my eye on B.P.'s lobbying efforts in Washington these days, and possible special envoys into the Oval office for clandestine meetings with Barry O.!All is not what it appears to be with the Wizard of Odd. Be sure to make special notes on those from our country both in business and government who attended the Bilderberg meeting, and lets do likewise for the up and coming G-20!
"One big factor you are ignoring--this is the single most ideologically-driven Administration in U.S. History. "
Compared to Bush II? FDR? TR? Jackson? You really need to avoid the hyperbole.
As for Ratfink... did you miss that he's a Master Mariner with decades in tankers? Even IF Saudi was so closed - it's not, by the way; news gets out of there rather well, actually - anyone in the tanker business would be familiar with such an incident IF it actually happened.
But it didn't - it's a 'net myth, taking a few facts from the massive 1991 spill during the First Gulf War - in which less than about half the oil evaporated, a million barrels were recovered and 2 million to 3 million barrels washed ashore, mainly in Saudi Arabia - marshlands and mud tidal flats still contain large quantities of oil; full recovery is considered to be decades away.
AGM - your right, using dispersants is a weak response to a spill of this magnitude. It's akin to putting butter on a patient who is covered in 3rd degree burns. As for Pozzi, I think they should let him in the room and make his case. All sides should be heard from. Sometime a crazy idea can spark another idea and a solution found. Booming and collecting oil at sea is the most effective way to diminish the long term effects of the spill. Unfortunately it is not an easy task. From what I've heard, this oil is being push around by currents and coming up to the surface all over the place.
Snark--I am not engaging in hyperbole when I make that statement. Every single thing this Administration does is pure ideologically driven, as is true with ALL Marxists. NOTHING is to EVER get in the way of their reaching their goal, using whatever means possible, even the inflicting of pain on the public.
Ratfink--Agreed!
allowing this to continue is setting the stage for votes on "cap and trade" and making the BEST of a crisis situation. You and I and the Gulf Coast and the rest of the American people be damned....
"Every single thing this Administration does is pure ideologically driven, as is true with ALL Marxists..."
And that was NOT true of Dubya Bush? Or FDR? Or Teddy Roosevelt? Or Andrew Jackson? Or several other administrations?
The hype is in claiming the Obama administration is somehow unique.
Snark--That IS precisely what I am saying. This Administration is worse than ANY of those you mentioned!
Then I'll put together a list of history books you should read, Martin.
Heck, so far, Obama's administration has been less ideologically driven than Dubya's was the first two years. Now, that may be a matter of competence rather than design - Biden and Rahm-E are not Cheney and Rove - but claiming otherwise requires a heavy dose of selective amnesia.
Snark--No sir, I disagree with you 100%. Even Bush Jr. 'reached across the aisle' early on and came up with a terrible bill on education, working in tandem with TED KENNEDY, no less. This President refuses to do any such thing with ANY conservative, period. He talks a good game about it, but invariably every 'Republican' he solicits to help with things is a RINO...he has effectively barred, and even ridiculed, conservatives at every point along the way. And if you can't see the difference, then you are simply being an idiot on this issue.
Aw, c'mon, Martin - the health care bill is a perfect example: in the earliest stages, Obama left it to the Congress-critters to write up the bill and the Republicans offered nothing except "you can't do THAT."
So we ended up with the debacle that got passed.
Dubya didn't 'reach across the aisle' - that education bill was already part of the Dubya ideology via school teacher Laura Bush.
And nothing Obama has done so far holds a candle to Dubya's and Cheney's obsession with taking out Saddam - at the cost of NOT finishing the job with al Qaeda.
Obama hates this country.............
BP is a terrorist for attacking 4 states and killing American workers because of negligence and corruption. Obama and BP are in this together because the Obama administration ignored the rules that caused the disaster. Even today Obama has the workers trying to cleanup the oil spill work unsafely with no respirators and hazmat suits.
i like others i am sure are starting to hate the poeople that run this country
"...simply vacuum up the oil right off of the top of the water"?
The vast majority of the "leaked" oil is deep below the surface anyway. No one knows exactly where. One more pot-shot by a crack-pot.
Matt, the reason the oil is in the water rather than on top of it is the massive use of dispersants, essentially industrial-strength emulsifiers. They keep the oil in the water.
Without the use of dispersants, the oil would float to the surface where it can be captured by the supertanker method.
of course, without the dispersant, those supertankers might get hit by a methane bubble and sink.
but hey, gotta take a little risk, right?
Without the oil spill the carbon tax, and Cap and trade would be lost..
Again which Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, Hathaway-Berkshire, and BP, are also heavily invested
When is obama gonna stop blaming Bush and everybody else for anything that goes wrong?
Doesn't he know it's all Reagan's fault!!!!
Seriously-obama, carter and fdr are the three worst presidents this country has ever had!!!
One other thing-if Joe McCarthy (my hero from Wisconsin) would have been listened to and not blaclisted, we wouldn't be in this messnn
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