Deepwater Horizon Oil Rig Debris Washes Up On Florida Beach: Oil Oozes From Steel Tank

PANAMA CITY BEACH, Fla. — A piece of wreckage from the deepsea rig that exploded in April has washed up on a beach in Florida about 190 miles from the site of the disaster.

Bay County Sheriff Deputy Ray Maulbeck was working beach patrol Saturday morning when he came upon the stainless steel tank that had some oil oozing from it, along with barnacles and sea growth attached to it. The Coast Guard and state environmental officials were called in to investigate, and they took the piece away.

Maulbeck says the part had markings that identified it as having come from the Deepwater Horizon rig.

(This version CORRECTS that wreckage was found Saturday not Sunday.)

Comments

[mrJJ]

02:14 PM on 06/14/2010

Source: AP

MIRAMAR BEACH, Fla. -- A second storage tank believed to be from BP's Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion has washed ashore in the Florida Panhandle.

The Walton County Sheriff's Office said in a news release Monday that BP was taking the tank to New Orleans where the April rig explosion is being investigated.

The shiny metal tank with a white placard reading "Horiz" was found intact over the weekend and didn't appear to be leaking oil.

A similar tank that was oozing oil washed up Saturday at Panama City Beach about 190 miles from the rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico.

Miramar Beach is near Destin about 35 miles northwest of Panama City Beach.

http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/06/14/1679950/2nd-suspected-bp-storage-tank.html

[mrJJ]

09:48 AM on 06/14/2010

BP Well Bore/Casing Integrity Issues and Senator Nelson’s Statements

http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2010/06/14/bp-well-bore-integrity-nelson-statements/

[lboucher]

12:25 AM on 06/14/2010

I used to cover the energy business (oil, gas and alternative) here in Texas, and the few experts in the oil field -- including geologists, chemists, etc. -- able or willing to even speak of this BP event told me early on that it is likely the entire reserve will bleed out. Unfortunately none of them could say with any certainty just how much oil is in the reserve in question because, for one thing, the oil industry and secrecy have always been synonymous. According to BP data from about five years ago, there are four separate reservoirs containing a total of 2.5 billion barrels (barrels not gallons). One of the reservoirs has 1.5 billion barrels. I saw an earlier post here quoting an Anadarko Petroleum report which set the total amount at 2.3 billion barrels. One New York Times article put it at 2 billion barrels.

If the BP data correctly or honestly identified four separate reservoirs then a bleed-out might gush less than 2 to 2.5 billion barrels unless the walls -- as it were -- fracture or partially collapse. I am hearing the same dark rumors which suggest fracturing and a complete bleed-out are already underway. Rumors also suggest a massive collapse of the Gulf floor itself is in the making. They are just rumors but it is time for geologists or related experts to end their deafening silence and speak to these possibilities.

[elcerritan]

02:51 AM on 06/14/2010

Holy mackerel!

[esquilax]

10:30 AM on 06/14/2010

I don't think that's likely. These formations when "emptied" don't result in cavities that collapse necessarily because there is intrusion of seawater/groundwater from other rock formations. Extraction is sometimes "enhanced" by pumping seawater "in" to the formation to force more of the oil out. That's certainly the case in more depleted fields.

Otherwise, everywhere you see a rig you'd expect to see the sea floor dipping and the rig disappearing.

[Rockwell]

12:01 AM on 06/14/2010

Let's see. The republicans gave us the 2008 financial meltdown through deregulation of the financial services industry. And a democrat is stuck cleaning up the mess.

The republicans gave us the greatest environmental disaster in US history through deregulation of the oil industry. And a democrat is stuck cleaning up the mess.

Makes you wonder what the next deregulation fueled disaster is going to explode in our face thanks to our beloved republican fetish with unregulated industry.

My money is on nuclear.

The GOP - the gift that keeps on giving.

[Deli]

09:19 PM on 06/13/2010

Here is a link to the best article yet about the real size and extent of this disaster.

Huffpo should have this article on the front page.

http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article20207.html

[FIGI]

06:14 PM on 06/13/2010

Russia confirms 18 separate gushers. They were first at the scene back in April. Matt Simmons is right--the biggest gusher actually is coming from 7 miles away. We are so screwed.

http://www.whatdoesitmean.com/index1379.htm

"Scientists Warn Gulf Sea Floor Fractured BEYOND Repair"

[FranklinCat]

07:52 PM on 06/13/2010

Once again paranoid websites don't help when the reality is as serious as it is.

[bwenston42]

08:02 PM on 06/13/2010

Normally I won’t go to links people put in their postings because the poster uses these sites to try to prove their half-baked theories. Well I allowed myself to be sucked into visiting –whatdoitmean and globalresearch. Sure enough these sites spew out half- baked theories while at the sametime trying to reassure readers that all information comes from world-renowned scientist.

[artist-53]

04:46 PM on 06/13/2010

The explosion that never ends. I live minutes from the best beaches on the West Coast of Fl, if not the world and I resent how the Bush Cheney machine created this disaster a long time ago.They provided the free for all that each and every Oil, Coal and Gas company helped to write and form the inner workings the MMS. And the realities are washing up on everyone's shores. A never ending storm of corruption and fallout will not be known for years to come. Long after the creators of this fiasco are gone.

AND, DO NOT even think any of you GOPPER'S have even a right to speak, because you are the ones that are always shouting less regulations. So I also hold you people responsible as well And no amount of PR is going to stop the truth from getting out. We've heard it all before and quite frankly, are sick of the chaos you've created over the years . Then have the audacity to blame it on WHO?

And DO NOT ever state, "Oh I think it's what America wants. NO!! YOU WANTED IT. And you do not represent America.

You represent Corporations and you've found stupid greedy misinformed people to go along with you is all. The great Con game of all time. Well you own this and many before it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4DJTFdE9dY
http://www.cafepress.com/+corporate_corruption_bumper_sticker,443564173

[starlady7]

04:59 PM on 06/13/2010

Outstanding post! I am so angery with these mental dwarfs that think the "creation of wealth" by any means and at any costs is the Alpha and Omega! What makes me just as mad is their Negative spin and lies around the clock and having americans buying into their shtick! They are bad for this country...for our earth, for the well being of people and animals alike! Their main interest is Money, Power, and gutting anything that helps the middleclass!

[artist-53]

05:16 PM on 06/13/2010

I wish I could say it louder using type. But here goes.

I AM SO PROUD THAT I AM NOT PART OF PALIN'S VERSION OF AMERIKA !!!

(And those that are part of the problem, you had better think long and hard and get your heads out of the pockets of those that control you with nothing but repetitive rhetoric and lies.You've been duped. Face up to it and do something positive for once, that is if you have the strength to face your own demons)

Anyone else? We should start a GOP BS Anonymous program....and it may not take 12 steps. Just 1 ....turn off mainstream media and stop being the target of the GOP because what have they actually given you after all these years?

A BIG FAT NOTHING WITH POLLUTION.

[maxfax]

04:34 PM on 06/13/2010

Oil rig on the beach? According to BP Command Central 'must be Exxon.'

[mrJJ]

01:32 PM on 06/13/2010

Documents Show BP Opposed New, Stricter Safety Rules"

As BP PLC defended its handling of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, documents show it argued against new, stricter safety rules proposed last year by the U.S. agency that oversees offshore drilling.

British oil giant was one of several companies that wrote to the U.S. Minerals Management Service this past September saying additional regulation of the oil industry was unnecessary. In a letter, BP said the current voluntary system of safety procedures was adequate.

* * *
As BP touted the scale of the cleanup, documents showed that it was one of several companies that opposed efforts to tighten up safety procedures offshore. Last year, the MMS studied more than 1,400 offshore incidents that led to 41 deaths and hundreds of injuries between 2001 and 2007. Many of them, the MMS found, were linked to factors such as communications failures, a lack of written procedures and the failure of supervisors to enforce existing rules, and proposed mandatory requirements to reduce the number of incidents. That would have replaced a system under which many safety procedures were voluntary.

In a letter published on the U.S. government Web site Regulations.gov, Richard Morrison, BP's vice president for Gulf of Mexico production, wrote that while BP "is supportive of companies having a system in place to reduce risk, accidents, injuries and spills, we are not supportive of the extensive, prescriptive regulations as proposed in this rule."

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704471204575209331720726738.html

[ClassicalGas]

05:08 PM on 06/13/2010

Fanned for posting this. The big corporations insist they are capable of self-regulation, yet their track records expose the absolute fallacy of their assertions.

[FIGI]

12:51 PM on 06/13/2010

"Other satellite imagery reportedly being withheld by the Obama administration, shows that what lies under the gaping chasm spewing oil at an ever-alarming rate is a cavern estimated to be the size of Mount Everest. This information has been given an almost national security-level classification to keep it from the public, according to Madsen’s sources."

From: Gulf Oil Spill "Could Go on Years and Years" ...
by F. William Engdahl

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=19660

[guntotinganglion]

01:08 PM on 06/13/2010

I wonder if BP has bought and copyrighted the name "Gulf Of Petroleum"?

[sards]

05:17 PM on 06/13/2010

Excellent, Gulf Of Petroleum, and the acronyms for that is, “GOP”

[X C I T I Z E N]

01:13 PM on 06/13/2010

Thank you FIGI - Global Research is always an excellent site. Fanned.

[tjconkster]

12:00 PM on 06/13/2010

I'm going to go to my happy place now...Boom Di Yada...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5BxymuiAxQ&feature=related

[guntotinganglion]

01:47 PM on 06/13/2010

Please check this one...it brings tears to my eyes. It always did, but more so now...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1Y2zdyRin8&feature=fvst

[tjconkster]

05:16 PM on 06/13/2010

Thanks...I would have to agree.....

Fanned....

[T Pol]

10:53 PM on 06/13/2010

Okay, I think the two of you have just blown my heart away with those two videos.

[lynettema]

07:19 PM on 06/13/2010

I know. It's so hard to keep on reading about this tragedy.

[mrJJ]

11:38 AM on 06/13/2010

BP Flacks' Guide: Do Not Promise 'Property, Ecology, Or Anything Else Will Be Restored To Normal'

...: "No statement shall be made containing ... Promises that property, ecology, or anything else will be restored to normal."

The passage comes from BP's June 2009 Gulf of Mexico Regional Oil Spill Response Plan, made available by the Minerals Management Service

(the flacks' guide is in Appendix X, page 528).

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/news/2010/06/bp_gulf_of_mexico_regional_oil_spill_response_plan.php

..."We will make this right" -- not, say, "we will restore the Gulf to its full former glory."

Here's the full what-not-to-say section of the BP flacks' guide:

No statement shall be made containing any of the following: a) Speculations concerning liability for the spill or its legal consequences. b) Speculations regarding the cause of the spill. An extended inquiry may be needed to determine the actual cause, and legal liability could be affected by what is said. c) Estimates of damage and/or value expressed in dollars, production statistics, sales volume, or insurance coverage. d) Estimates of how long cleanup will take or cleanup costs. e) Promises that property, ecology, or anything else will be restored to normal. f) Do not release the name of injured or dead until next of kin have been notified.

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/06/bp_flacks_guide_do_not_promise_property_ecology_or.php

[mrJJ]

11:14 AM on 06/13/2010

Transocean Stonewalls Congress On 'I'm Not Hurt' Forms Signed By Rig Workers

Snip

As TPMmuckraker has previously explained, some rig workers have said they felt coerced into signing the forms that were presented to them at a hotel after they were brought ashore following the explosion. Lawyers say that such forms could later be used in court against workers filing claims or acting as witnesses.

After a contentious exchange with Transocean's president at a hearing in May, Braley asked the company for more information on the forms -- including who specifically gave them to workers, and if workers were informed what they were being asked to sign.

Transocean's response to Braley is here. In it, Acting Co-General Counsel Rachel Clingman writes: "As part of efforts to assist crewmembers, to preserve relevant information, and to start an investigation into the cause of the event, third-party representatives retained by Transocean (claims management personnel and attorneys) interviewed crewmembers if they were willing and available and asked the questions noted above."

more:

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/06/transocean_stonewalls_congress_on_im_not_hurt_form.php

[blood1]

11:03 AM on 06/13/2010

I am saddened to observe many bloggers who say that this is all President Obama's fault. HUH? The contract was awarded in 2008. So are you saying that each Administration needs to go back and review all contracts awarded before their adminstration?

Now I agree that MMS bears responsibility for accepting the BP plan, but at some point in time, we all need quit politicizing this BP Disaster. If there are disagreement to that, then the question of look-backs and blame should not be selective and we should be urging the Gov't to look at the Torture that occurred during the past administration. How about the overspending and budget deficits that were accumulated prior to 2009? How about outsourcing WAR contracts?

Although it provides bloggers an avenue for political outrage, this selective blame mentality gets us nowhere.

[Kassandra]

10:49 AM on 06/13/2010

http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2010/06/guest-post-bp-official-admits-to-damage-beneath-the-sea-floor.html