The following is an OPINION based on my own experience and involvement for the past 2 1/2 months regarding the Deepwater Horizon disaster. Anyone is free to accept or reject it as they see fit.
You guys who have known me for a while know that my job involves supporting the offshore oil and gas industry in the Gulf of Mexico. And it so happens that the company I work for, Petroleum Helicopters, contracts with BP to provide air transport for their offshore workers, not just for the drilling and exploration side, but also for the production locations (fixed platforms). I have been assigned to fly on various contracts we have with BP off and on since the late 1990s, and BP is one of our three biggest customers...Shell and Exxon being the others.
It is pretty much agreed upon among our pilots that of all the oil companies we support, BP is among the very best to work for, and this is for a variety of reasons. The most common reason being that BP imposes rules upon us which, in some cases, may seem very overbearing for a non-aviation company, but they are specifically geared for operational safety and they DO NOT stray from them no matter what. They NEVER push us to fly when the weather might be questionable, and their philosophy has always been that if we can make it out, but are not sure if we can make it back, then we simply do not fly and take a chance. BP is about the only oil company I have ever flown for which has this approach...everyone else usually gets pissed if you even suggest you're not willing to fly for ANY reason.
Ok, I have said all of that because I am of the opinion that, in spite of the horrible things which have resulted from the ACCIDENT on the Deepwater Horizon about 70-some-odd days ago, BP has really been demonized. And the really sad part about that is that it's coming from people who are either totally clueless, or they are totally full of themselves...or maybe a little of both. There is no doubt that whenever you have a spill offshore that things will not bode very well for anyone, and nobody knows this better than the oil companies themselves. People have been harping on the BP thing as if they did it intentionally.
When you consider the number of offshore wells which have been drilled in the Gulf (literally tens of thousands) versus the number of drilling disasters such as this one (I only know of 2 in the last 3 decades), the oil companies have a pretty stellar record. However, this has not been considered when decisions are being made to STOP offshore drilling, which has already had a significant impact on jobs and the local economy. This was a complete knee-jerk reaction by someone who is so pitifully uninformed...I mean, how many fatal auto accidents take place on the roads every day? How many moratoriums against driving have been imposed? I know, apples and oranges on that one in terms of environmental issues, but still.
Throughout my involvement in this operation I have learned 2 significant things which should have everyone in the country totally pissed-off, but most people are ignorant of due to the way things are being presented in the mainstream media and by certain talking heads across the country:
1. You cannot believe half of what you hear on the news regarding this disaster, and hardly anything of what you see. My personal involvement in this began in May, a couple of weeks after the rig exploded. By this time we were already seeing images of giant orange-brown oil slicks in the water on the front pages, magazines, and on TV. I have no idea where these images came from, either. For 2 solid weeks during the month of May I was out at the site of the "source" almost every day, and some days as many as 3 times. In addition to that, I was tasked to fly all around the coastlines of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida several times...and all points in between...and I NEVER saw any oil slicks on the water like we were seeing in the news. I made a video with my iPhone on a motor vessel located directly over the leaking wellhead...here is a download link (it's about 30mb) if you'd like to watch it:
http://www.mediafire.com/?nkzyydzwdno
2. Our government, from the president on down, is rife with morons who have been "massaging" this disaster for all their worth for some demented political agenda and to somehow bolster their images.
During the initial phase of this disaster, EPA-approved dispersants were being utilized to help keep the oil leaking from the busted wellhead from reaching the coastlines. With the volume of oil flowing from the well, this could only be likened to placing a bandaid on a massive arterial rip, but these dispersants WERE effective. They were being employed two ways...1) below the surface at the wellhead, and 2) they were being sprayed by airplanes on visible oil slicks and sheens on the water. The last day I worked in May you could see more signs of oil making it's way to the coastlines due to 2 days of the spray planes being unable to fly due to low cloud cover, but as long as they were able to fly there was very little oil visible on the surface, if any at all. However, it was only a few days after I went on break in May that the government forced BP to STOP using these EPA-approved dispersants because they were suddenly deemed "TOO TOXIC" for use by the EPA. I knew THEN that it would only be a few days before we began seeing images of oil-covered wildlife in the news.
Now, here is where I will substantiate the #2 thing I've learned from this...the one where I said our government is rife with morons. For all the oil that has been flowing from that wellhead, I am of the opinion that there was NO REASON for it to have reached the coastline...at least in the volume it has. From the onset, Kevin Costner has been trying (in vain) to get 30 centrifugal skimmers out to the site to skim the oil out of the water. It was reported that his skimmers could process as much as 200,000 gallons per day, separating the oil from the sea water. The government has not permitted this citing that there has been "no environmental impact study" on these skimmers. WELL, LA-DEE-DA! There WAS an EIS on the EPA-approved dispersants long before they were approved for use, and now they are TOXIC? Now we have someone who has technology to skim the oil out of the water which would significantly reduce, if not totally stop, the oil from reaching the coastline. GREAT MOVE, huh?
I have also learned that there have been at least 13 other nations with this technology, and the expertise to use it, who have offered assistance in controlling the oil...but our illustrious government has declined their help. Now, please understand that I am NOT a conspiracy hack, and I generally believe that most conspiracy hacks are delusional people, but I am finding it more difficult as time goes by not to believe that our government actually WANTED this oil to reach the shores. The technology has always been there to help prevent it, but they just don't seem to care, and now it is too late. And the six-month moratorium on offshore drilling will have a more far-reaching affect on jobs in this region than simply punishing the oil companies. Many drilling projects have been cancelled and people have lost jobs...and this will impact local economies severely. Most of the communities in south Louisiana rely on 2 things for their livelihoods...fish and wildlife, and oil and gas. It's a real sad state of affairs.
Oh well. I just wanted to share this bit of great news...and as I posted at the top, this is opinion-based info and you can accept or reject it. As for me, I am PISSED at the way this whole thing has been handled. NEVER take anything you hear in the news at face value, and don't believe for one second that the people in charge have our best interests at heart...and that's just my opinion as well.
I have not been getting as much time off from work, due to this mess. It has been cutting into my "ME" time, and yea, I'm a little grumpy because of it. LOL.
The Deepwater Horizon Oil Disaster
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