GULF OIL DISASTER
Static kill of BP well could begin over weekend
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/29/AR2010072906105.html
Also see: BP May Attempt ‘Static Kill’ of Well Before Aug. 1
Salazar: Producers are working in gulf under new regulations
US House Set To Vote On Offshore-Drilling Overhaul
http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20100729-725482.html
Gulf oil spill: 100 days, 10 lessons
http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/07/28/1751283/the-10-lessons-in-the-100-days.html
ASSAULT ON AMERICA: A Decade of Petroleum Company Disaster, Pollution, and Profit (National Wildlife Federation report) (5.19 MB PDF)
http://www.eenews.net/assets/2010/07/29/document_pm_05.pdf
Oil Industry Rethinks Cost, Risk Of Drilling In U.S. (NPR)
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128831285
Return of the Slick/Sheen? (Skytruth.org)
http://blog.skytruth.org/2010/07/bp-gulf-oil-spill-curb-your-enthusiasm_29.html
“Yesterday's MODIS and RADARSAT images show something we didn't expect: slicks and sheen spanning nearly 12,000 square miles.”
WILDLIFE, HUMAN AND ECOSYSTEM IMPACTS
Oil dispersants a threat to Gulf breeding grounds, fishery experts say
“Scientists are reporting early signs that the Gulf of Mexico oil spill is altering the marine food web by killing or tainting some creatures and spurring the growth of others more suited to a fouled environment.”
Deception by dispersal; the great Gulf oil tragedy (NRDC)
http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/rkistner/the_pictures_below_were_all.html
“Several fishermen involved in BP’s cleanup operation have told me that crews who’ve spotted oil on the water and have tried to skim it up but were waived off by BP and told to evacuate the area. They say BP then flew in dispersant planes to spray it so it sank. […] As we cruised along we came upon sheens of oil, patches of red, crusty orange globs of crude mixed with dispersants that looked like spongy orange cake batter floating in the saltwater. Some patches were milky white, the color of dispersants, and some bright orange. Some areas were green, where it appeared droplets of oil stretched down to the murky bottom. The smell was overpowering, like being stuck in a gas station with all the pumps nozzles pointing at your face. It gave you a headache just being there. I had one the next day. But probably the most disturbing thing was the sea life, or lack of it. We would see occasional fish dart around in the water, some of them doing circles at the surface before dropping to the bottom in a death spiral. A few pelicans flew by, and some porpoise swam in the cleaner patches of water. But the sea life was not abundant, and it seemed more like the Dead Sea than the most vibrant fishing ground in the world. Along the shore, oil was everywhere.”
NOAA: Gulf’s Surface Oil Not a Threat to Southern Florida, Keys and East Coast
http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2010/20100730_threat.html
Perhaps the key word here is “surface.”
MICHIGAN
Estimate Rises of Oil Spill in Michigan
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/30/us/30michigan.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
