

Boston's Big Picture - Oil Spill in Gulf of Mexico - jashmenn
http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/05/disaster_unfolds_slowly_in_the.html

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MikeCapone
Apparently, BP has had underwater videos of the leaks form the start but won't
release them despite the fact that they could help independent scientists and
engineers better assess the situation and help to find solutions. Only a
couple still images have been released so far:

[http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/05/first-underwater-
ima...](http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/05/first-underwater-images-of-bp-
oil-spill-wont-show-video.php)

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iag
If US had any balls left whatsoever, it should seize all BP owned properties
in this country and use it to pay for the damages it had caused.

Realistically, BP is going to get off with a slap on the wrist. Taxpayers will
pay for the cleanup, and Gulf people will suffer for the decades to come.

Oh... life... you're so cruel sometimes.

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tmsh
I just wish Obama were down there leading the effort to clean this all up.
There shouldn't be unemployed fishermen standing in line for handouts from the
Catholic Charities. Everyone available there should be full tilt on cleanup.
If I think there's anything the government should fund, it should be that (and
then sue BP or whomever later).

~~~
whyenot
In at least one picture, there is a shrimp boat towing booms.

Going full tilt on cleanup is probably not a good idea.

For instance cleaning up oiled birds may seem like the right thing to do, but
the unfortunate reality is that even if you remove the oil from their
feathers, the vast majority will die from shock and organ failure. Most
experts believe the most humane course is actually to euthanize oiled birds.
[http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,693359,00.h...](http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,693359,00.html)

The same goes for other forms of cleanup, for instance aggressively cleaning
fragile areas such as marshes may cause additional damage for little if any
benefit. Dispersants are themselves toxic, and overuse may cause more harm
than good.

 _THE best thing to do in response to the Gulf spill’s landfall is ...
nothing. Sure, larger oil concentrations can be sopped up, and large animals
can be cleaned. But cleanup efforts can do only so much: evidence suggests
that they reduce hydrocarbon concentrations only over the short term. And many
responses have harmful side effects. Controlled burning spreads toxic
materials and kills plants that retard erosion, thus hurting the very lands
we’re trying to protect. Nutrient-rich detergents or active bioremediation —
which encourages the growth of bacteria that can break down oil — can
fundamentally disturb the ecological balance for decades.

Instead, we should recognize that nature can do many things far better than we
can, and with less collateral damage. Oil is a natural byproduct of biological
and geological processes; if left alone in coastal environments, wave action,
the sun and microbes in the sediment will naturally break down hydrocarbons.
Meanwhile, money saved can go to helping local economies deal with the loss of
income, improving safety regulations and enforcement and developing a clean
energy policy._ — KEVIN M. YEAGER, assistant professor of marine sciences at
the University of Southern Mississippi
<http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/11/opinion/11oped2.html>

~~~
tmsh
Surely, setting up booms to contain the oil (which is still flowing, and
apparently will be for another couple of months until this relief well is
done) would do much to limit the expanse of the spill.

This is not a completed oil spill. It is one growing by the day. Surely,
containing the oil from spreading is at least something that should be
attempted.

You say:

'In at least one picture, there is a shrimp boat towing booms.'

That is precisely my point. If that works, there should be more of it.

