Gulf Update

The current administration's attempts to continue the news blackout on the Gulf have been quite successful. Despite what will most likely be the biggest disaster that the U.S. has ever experienced, there is barely any news in the MSM. But with a little digging one can discover what is happening in the Gulf and it isn't pretty:

"Senior EPA Analyst: 'Government [Agencies] Have Been Sock Puppets for BP In This Cover UP'"

I have previously noted that dispersants are being used to cover up the amount of oil spilled, and that they are making the effects of the oil spill worse. I have also pointed out that dispersant Corexit is extremely toxic to people. See this and this

Corexit is one of a number of dispersants, that are toxic, that are used to atomize the oil and force it down the water column so that it’s invisible to the eye. In this case, these dispersants were used in massive quantities, almost two million gallons so far, to hide the magnitude of the spill and save BP money. And the government—both EPA, NOAA, etc.—have been sock puppets for BP in this cover-up. Now, by hiding the amount of spill, BP is saving hundreds of millions, if not billions, of dollars in fines, and so, from day one, there was tremendous economic incentive to use these dispersants to hide the magnitude of the gusher that’s been going on for almost three months.

The sole purpose in the Gulf for dispersants is to keep a cover-up going for BP to try to hide the volume of oil that has been released and save them hundreds of millions, if not billions, of dollars of fines. That’s the purpose of using the dispersants, not to protect the public health or environment. Quite the opposite.

University of California Berkeley engineering professor Robert Bea is one of the world's top experts on oil drilling disasters. Bea is an expert in offshore drilling and a high-level governmental adviser concerning disasters. He is also a member of the Deepwater Horizon Study Group.

As the Times-Picayune reported yesterday:

Scientists have discovered four gas "seeps" at or near BP's blown-out Macondo well since Saturday ...

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Berkeley engineering professor Bob Bea has very little confidence in what’s been said publicly about the seeps.

He’s troubled that we’re just now hearing about seeps three kilometers away, because a survey of the seabed conducted before BP drilled its well didn’t indicate anything like that.

“There was nothing that indicated the presence of such a seep,” Bea said. “I wonder why we’re just now finding that out?”

The following are links that have been providing useful information, and thus far, have been more accurate than the MSM.

"Methane Plumes 'flowing upslope' into shallow water"

This link (below) has a couple of interesting video links worth watching:

"Matt Simmons latest: Cap test a 'total diversion'; 'Biggest environmental coverup ever"

I am speculating here, but it almost appears that this whole Gulf crisis is in a "holding pattern" - waiting for one of two options: a) time - time for the natural processes to disperse this oil and somehow, the spewing volcano will be stopped, hopefully by the relief well, or b) waiting to explode - including a literal explosion of trapped methane gas, and/or a hurricane which, in the worst case scenario would require massive evacuations.

There are already many questions about toxic rain along the Gulf Coast see here and here.

If a hurricane hits this region, there is no telling what could happen and it would seem that we're almost guaranteed some kind of hurricane in the Gulf this year.

This story is far from being over, despite this ongoing effort to keep it from the front pages.