RED WATERS - RED TAPE

Oil skimmers try to clean up oil, released from the Deepwater Horizon leak in the Gulf of Mexico, before it reaches wetlands Ted Jackson - The Times Picayune

From NOLA:

Just weeks after the oil spill crisis began to unfold in the Gulf of Mexico, the French foreign minister volunteered a fleet of oil skimming boats from a French company, Ecoceane. A month later, in early June, Ecoceane Chief Executive Eric Vial met with BP and Coast Guard officials to present the idea.

But after that meeting, weeks went by with little contact as oil continued gushing into the Gulf. A frustrated Vial was only able to get around the bureaucracy last week when his company sold nine of the oil collection boats to a private contractor in Florida, who could then put the boats to work.

Oil giant Shell was in negotiations to let BP use the Nanuq, a 300-foot oil recovery boat sitting idle in Seward, Alaska. But in recent weeks, BP declined to bring it to the Gulf.

So. What's going on? Bureaucratic tangles? Delaying tactics? Ill will?

As oil oozes inland, tainting marshes and fouling beaches, local response officials from Florida to Grand Isle for weeks have been begging for the oil-fighting tool that everyone wants but no one can get enough of: skimmers. They're the primary means for attacking oil head-on and collecting it before it hits land, yet local government agencies complain that the number of specialized skimming vessels out on the water is woefully lacking.

"We want all the skimming vessels in the world deployed," said Plaquemines Parish President Billy Nungesser. "This is an oil spill bigger than anything we've ever seen. It's a national disaster. We're at war. If you were at war and in charge, would you deploy everything you had to win the war?"

Well, we all know that the acronym SNAFU originated during World War II, so even in that war....

On the Senate floor last week, Sen. George LeMieux, R-Fla., pointed to a Coast Guard map detailing more than 850 skimmers available in the southeastern United States -- and more than 1,600 available in the continental United States.

"We are literally talking about more than a thousand skimmers that are available, but we only have 400 - if this number is correct -- at work," LeMieux said. "It is hard to believe that the response is this anemic; it is hard to believe that there is this lack of urgency or sense of purpose in getting this done."

US law requires that a minimum number of skimming vessels must remain in place wherever there is drilling in the water.

As for the use of foreign vessels, the Jones Act, a maritime law passed in 1920, regulates the use of vessels from other countries in US waters.

The law prevents foreign crews and foreign ships from transporting goods between U.S. ports; in the Deepwater Horizon case, the "port" would be where the oil is collected offshore. Allen has said that many of the foreign-flagged boats are working the spill more than three miles offshore, meaning they would not be carrying oil to a separate port on shore.

"While we have not seen any need to waive the Jones Act as part of this historic response, we continue to prepare for all possible scenarios," Allen said. "Should any waivers be needed, we are prepared to process them as quickly as possible to allow vital spill response activities being undertaken by foreign-flagged vessels to continue without delay."

The statement by Thad Allen that "we continue to prepare for all possible scenarios" took my breath away. While we probably have not yet reached the worst-case scenario, the present scenario is pretty damned awful.

The enterprising Ecoceane Chief Executive, Eric Vial, who took matters into his own hands and sold nine of his boats to a Florida company, making them American boats which could be deployed quickly without the bureaucratic red tape, looks like a genius.

As of last week, no Jones Act waivers had been granted. According to the joint information center for the response, six vessels involved in oil containment have applied for Jones Act waivers that are still pending.

I've heard comments to the effect that Billy Nunguesser, the president of Plaquemines Parish, is a nut, but when you watch the oil flowing into the wetlands of your parish, and you know that all possible resources are not being deployed to stop further intrusion, your desperate pleas for help begin to sound crazy to those who are not on the scene. What I read and see on TV is enough to send me close to the edge, and I'm not directly affected.

I've concluded that our trip to Grand Isle last week was pretty much a waste of time, since we were permitted to see only the cosmeticized areas of the island.

STORY OF THE DAY - WHEN I GROW UP

When I grow up, I want to remember
that I always wanted to be about a
thousand different things & one lifetime
didn't seem nearly enough. When I
grow up, I hope it's at the very end
when it doesn't matter anymore anyway


From StoryPeople.

JESUS AND MO - UNITE

From Jesus and Mo.

EPISCOPAL DIOCESE OF LOUISIANA

Gulf Oil Spill

The oil spill tragedy unfolding along our coastline has been weighing heavily on many hearts in this Diocese. Even as we brace for the long-term impact, Episcopal Community Services of Louisiana has begun to step in to support families in Terrebonne Parish whose livelihoods and businesses have already been hurt by the spill’s impact on fishing communities. Working in partnership with Bayou Grace Community Services, a faith-based organization serving the 5-bayou area south of Houma — and with support anticipated from Episcopal Relief & Development and from Oxfam America — ECSLA will provide assistance with groceries and gas cards to help families make ends meet, as well as provide referrals, legal assistance, and pastoral care to residents trying to navigate the assistance channels.

ECSLA is proud to support the resilient and hard-working residents of our fishing communities, and we welcome your help. If you have qualifications to assist with legal aid or pastoral care, and can commit to regular days and times in specific communities, please contact Nell Bolton, Executive Director of ECSLA, at nbolton@edola.org. Donations to support this effort can be made through the secure donation site at www.ecsla.org or by clicking here.

Thank you.

A LETTER OF CHALLENGE AND HOPE

June 28, 2010

Sisters and brothers in Christ,

The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is both heartbreaking and infuriating. It causes deep sorrow, both for the initial loss of human life and for the deep and lasting damage to an ecology that provides life and livelihoods for so many of God's creatures. At the same time we grieve that the natural beauty of this region, a sign of God's marvelous creativity, has been defiled.

Moving to indignation and anger over the neglect and carelessness that led to this disaster, both in private industry and in government regulation, is understandable. However, to do so without recognizing the responsibility we all share -- as consumers of petroleum products, as investors in an economy that makes intensive and insistent energy demands, and as citizens responsible for the care of creation -- lacks credibility and integrity. An honest accounting of what happened (and what failed to happen) must include our own repentance. (My emphasis)

Nonetheless, God remains faithful in restoring the creation and human community. Among the voices that despair and condemn, we have a witness of hope to proclaim.

First, God, who made the creation and made it good, has not abandoned it. Day after day God sustains life in this world, and the powerful vitality of God's creation, though defiled, is not destroyed. The life-giving power of God's creative goodness remains at work, even in the Gulf of Mexico. The Spirit will continue to renew the face of the earth (Psalm 104:30, as we just sang at Pentecost). All who care for the earth and work for the restoration of its vitality can be confident that they are not pursuing a lost cause. They serve in concert with God's own creative and renewing power.

Moreover, the human family need not drown in a flood of suspicion and recrimination that is more toxic and more lasting than the oil that floods the Gulf can ever be. The cleansing waters of baptism in Christ -- who died not for the righteous, but for the unrighteous -- bring forgiveness and reconciliation with God. In this reconciled life with God we have the freedom to move beyond mutual condemnations and hostility to give a powerful witness of a reconciled community that lives in service of the creation and the neighbor. By refusing to surrender to the toxicity of recrimination, we can convince others that they can join us safely in the life and service of this community.

Responding to a challenge of this size and complexity will call upon countless insights and skills, embodied in hundreds of occupations and trades, and upon the collective strength and will of us all. God's Holy Spirit has abundantly blessed the human community with the gifts needed to do this work. We can do it with sober confidence, good will and even joy.

There are times for mourning and for repentance, as well as for reconciliation and commitment to the creation's care. They come at different moments for different people. As you serve in your communities, I commend to you resources for worship, study and action that express the hope of Christians who see God's creative goodness, Jesus' forgiving reconciliation and the Spirit's abundant gifts for service. This is a moment when the human community needs to hear a word of true hope, and we have one to speak.

In God's grace,
The Rev. Mark S. Hanson
Presiding Bishop, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

FACEBOOK AND TWITTER RULE - FOR NOW

Get ready for the next new thing. Tumblr is moving up.

From The Economist:

ONLINE archaeology can yield surprising results. When John Kelly of Morningside Analytics, a market-research firm, recently pored over data from websites in Indonesia he discovered a “vast field of dead blogs”. Numbering several thousand, they had not been updated since May 2009. Like hastily abandoned cities, they mark the arrival of the Indonesian version of Facebook, the online social network.

Such swathes of digital desert are still rare in the blogosphere. And they should certainly not be taken as evidence that it has started to die. But signs are multiplying that the rate of growth of blogs has slowed in many parts of the world. In some countries growth has even stalled.

Blogs are a confection of several things that do not necessarily have to go together: easy-to-use publishing tools, reverse-chronological ordering, a breezy writing style and the ability to comment. But for maintaining an online journal or sharing links and photos with friends, services such as Facebook and Twitter (which broadcasts short messages) are quicker and simpler.

No more bitching and moaning about the death of blogging from me. What is, is.

H/T to Andrew Sullivan at The Daily Dish.

YOU JUST GOTTA LOVE GOLF

A 75-year-old woman went to the doctor for a checkup. The doctor told her she needed more cardiovascular activity and recommended that she engage in sexual activity three times a week.

A bit embarrassed, she said to the doctor, "Please tell my husband."

The doctor went out into the waiting room and told the husband that his wife needed sex three times a week.

The 78-year-old husband replied, "Which days?"

The doctor answered, "Monday, Tuesday, and Friday would be ideal."

The husband said, "I can bring her in on Monday, no problem. But on Tuesdays and Friday I golf, so she'll have to take the bus."


Don't blame me. Blame Doug.

"DEPLORABLE...SERIOUS AND UNBELIEVABLE"

From the BBC:

Pope Benedict has joined mounting Vatican criticism of raids by Belgian police investigating alleged child sex abuse, calling them "deplorable".

In a message to Belgian bishops, the pope expressed solidarity "in this moment of sadness".

Several buildings were searched in raids targeting a retired archbishop and the graves of two prelates.

Belgium's justice minister has responded to the criticism robustly, saying normal procedures were followed.
....

On Saturday Vatican officials compared the raids and investigation into allegations of child sex abuse with the treatment of the Church under communist rule.

Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican Secretary of State, described the detention of priests "serious and unbelievable".

"There are no precedents, not even under the old communist regimes," he said.
....

The Vatican has summoned the Belgian ambassador to the Holy See to voice its anger at the incident.
....

The church was rocked in April when the Bishop of Bruges, Roger Vangheluwe, resigned and admitted to sexual abuse before and after becoming a bishop.

Cardinal Bertone is at it again. Perhaps there are no precedents for the police authorities to use normal procedures with bishops, but I say, "Welcome to the human race, Your Graces." And the comparison with communist regimes is so decades ago, Your Eminence.

Thanks to John.


UPDATE: From Mark Silk at Beliefnet:

I grant you that it isn't every day that the authorities hold a country's bishops for questioning for nine hours, confiscate their computers and cell phones, and drill into the sarcophagi of a couple of their deceased number. But when Vatican Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone protests that the Belgian bishops had been held without food and water when they haven't, and the Belgian bishops have to issue a correction, that's tells you the wheels are coming off the popemobile.

Read more....

H/T to Ann Fontaine at The Lead for the link to the info in the update.

POWER TO YOU THROUGH PORT FOURCHON?

From Port Fourchon's website:

Port Fourchon was developed as a multi-use facility. It has historically been a land base for offshore oil support services as well as a land base for the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port (LOOP). In addition, Port Fourchon has served as a commercial and recreational fishing mecca, foreign cargo shipping terminal, and a unique area for recreation and tourism.

The overwhelming majority (over 95%) of tonnage handled at the Port is oil and gas related. Every widget and gadget needed to support the oil and gas industry is handled as cargo. It moves through container, bulk, breakbulk, and just about every method imaginable. Approximately 30% of total tonnage travels to and from the port by inland barge before being transferred to or from an offshore supply vessel, and 70% travels to and from the port by vehicle before being transferred to or from an offshore supply vessel or helicopter.

 

Grandpère insisted that I take a picture of the water tower at Port Fourchon to prove we'd been there - as if my word is not enough.

 

Storage tanks at the port

 

Chouest boats, painted in their distinctive yellow and red color.

North American Shipbuilding, in Larose, Louisiana, is known locally as Chouest after the name of the founders of the company.

 

I'll bet you didn't know that we had the Infant Jesus of Prague just southeast of us.

 

Shrimpboats outfitted for skimming oil

 

Fancy camps at Port Fourchon

President Obama picked up tarballs on Fourchon Beach.

We wanted to continue on to Elmer's Island, but the bridge was blocked.

Just so you'll know, the oil and gas that are produced from the wells in the Gulf and serviced through Port Fourchon is not for the exclusive use of the people of Louisiana. It's shipped or piped all over the country, maybe even to the utility company which supplies your power.

"IT'LL NEVER BE THE SAME"

Twenty Years After the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill

Scott Threlkeld - The Times Picayune

From NOLA:

CORDOVA, Alaska

On a recent chilly, drizzly June afternoon, the fisherfolk of Cordova gathered for an announcement.

An official from Alaska Department of Fish and Game emerged with a flier and tacked it to a bulletin board. The news was good: Sockeye salmon were plentiful enough to be harvested for a 12-hour period.

Soon, boats were chugging toward the Copper River delta against a backdrop of snow-covered mountains. By the next morning, Cordova Harbor was nearly empty. At an evening softball game, a gaggle of small boys chased every foul ball but few parents were present: many were out on the water.
....

But mention the word "Exxon" to anyone here, and the idyll evaporates. Men break down in tears describing what they lost when 11 million gallons of crude oil spilled into Prince William Sound in 1989 from a grounded tanker named Exxon Valdez. Twenty-one years later, the herring that once signaled the start of the summer season are largely gone, rendering $300,000 permits worthless. Losses are tallied in divorces, suicides, repossessed boats, depleted college funds, friends who moved away. Cynicism has lodged permanently in people's craws, receiving a fresh injection two years ago when the U.S. Supreme Court whittled down to $500 million a punitive-damages judgment against Exxon that started out at $5 billion.
....

"Don't believe anything the oil company says. They have huge PR departments whose job it is to minimize the collateral damage," said Mike Lytle, a Cordova fisherman. "I hope you have better luck than we did with the oil companies."

An Alabama charter boat captain, William Allen Kruse committed suicide.

Here in Louisiana, members of families who have worked for generations catching fish, shrimp, and crabs and in the seafood processing business are sick at heart to see their way of life disappear. The consequences of the oil gushing from the Horizon well are likely to be felt for generations, and no one knows if the waters of the Gulf of Mexico will ever be the same.