Gulf Oil Spill: Marshall Islands, Not U.S., Had Main Responsibility For Safety Inspections

Los Angeles Times:

The Deepwater Horizon oil rig that exploded in the Gulf of Mexico was built in South Korea. It was operated by a Swiss company under contract to a British oil firm. Primary responsibility for safety and other inspections rested not with the U.S. government but with the Republic of the Marshall Islands -- a tiny, impoverished nation in the Pacific Ocean.

And the Marshall Islands, a maze of tiny atolls, many smaller than the ill-fated oil rig, outsourced many of its responsibilities to private companies.

Now, as the government tries to figure out what went wrong in the worst environmental catastrophe in U.S. history, this international patchwork of divided authority and sometimes conflicting priorities is emerging as a crucial underlying factor in the explosion of the rig.

Read the whole story: Los Angeles Times

Comments

[elfish]

07:12 AM on 06/20/2010

Bush spent 35% of his time on vacation while he was in the White House.

He was on Vacation for 1017 days:

487 days at Camp David
490 days at his Ranch in Texas.
40 days to Kennebunkport, Maine

Obama had 26 days of vacation in his first year, only: 7%

Bush had 5 times more vacation per year than Obama.

http://wordpress.asc.upenn.edu/2010/01/president-obamas-vacation-days/
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-4728085-503544.html
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=George_W._Bush:_The_War_President_is_Missing_in_Action

[elfish]

07:19 PM on 06/19/2010

Perfect Sense Wrote:

> Yep, you are unable to list one mile of new roadway.

These are just a few county level projects. There are Hundreds more in other counties, plus the Colorado Depart of Transportation, CDOT, is doing hundreds more.

$8,000,000 - Grant to resurface 14 miles of I-70 between Vail Pass and Silverthorne as well as the right lane of eastbound I-70 between milepost 180 and 190.

$5,064,720 - Grant to resurface 12.5 miles of US 24/US 285 in asphalt.

$9,667,646 - Grant to reconstruct five miles of State Highway 92 in asphalt and adds passing lanes and shoulders.

$4,190,706 Grant to resurface about 3 miles of I-25 in asphalt between 6th Avenue and 23rd Avenue

$1,309,807 - US Army Corps of Engineers funds to Asphalt Constructors Inc. for the overlay of John Martin D.am roads.

$665,530 - Grant to resurface about one mile of SH 88 (Belleview Avenue) in asphalt between Federal Boulevard and US 85 (Santa Fe Drive)

$1,941,271 - Grant to resurface about 1.5 miles of SH 177 (University Boulevard) between C-470 and Arapahoe East

$13,688,257 - Grant to reconstruct US 287 in concrete and improve drainage and shoulder embankments. (Ports to Plains Corridor)

$1,652,586 - Grant to improve the roadway surface condition of US 36 by chip sealing 22 miles

http://www.colorado.gov/cs/Satellite/OIT-2/OIT2/1251566970483

This does not include State CDOT Projects From Stimulus:

http://www.coloradodot.info/projects/arra/cdotprojectmap

[elfish]

07:18 PM on 06/19/2010

These are just a few county level projects. There are Hundreds more in other counties, plus the Colorado Depart of Transportation, CDOT, is doing hundreds more.

[elfish]

07:18 PM on 06/19/2010

These are just a few county level projects. There are Hundreds more in other counties, plus the Colorado Depart of Trans, CDOT, is doing hundreds more.

[elfish]

07:17 PM on 06/19/2010

Perfect Sense Wrote:

> Yep, you are unable to list one mile of new roadway.

These are just a few county level projects. There are Hundreds more in other counties, plus the Colorado Depart of Trans, CDOT, is doing hundreds more.

[elfish]

07:17 PM on 06/19/2010

$8,000,000 - Grant to resurface 14 miles of I-70 between Vail Pass and Silverthorne as well as the right lane of eastbound I-70 between milepost 180 and 190.

[elfish]

07:16 PM on 06/19/2010

Perfect Sense Wrote:

> Yep, you are unable to list one mile of new roadway.

These are just a few county level projects. There are Hundreds more in other counties, plus the Colorado Depart of Trans, CDOT, is doing hundreds more.

$8,000,000 - Grant to resurface 14 miles of I-70 between Vail Pass and Silverthorne as well as the right lane of eastbound I-70 between milepost 180 and 190.

[elfish]

07:16 PM on 06/19/2010

$5,064,720 - Grant to resurface 12.5 miles of US 24/US 285 in asphalt.

$9,667,646 - Grant to reconstruct five miles of State Highway 92 in asphalt and adds passing lanes and shoulders.

$4,190,706 Grant to resurface about 3 miles of I-25 in asphalt between 6th Avenue and 23rd Avenue

[elfish]

07:16 PM on 06/19/2010

Perfect Sense Wrote:

> Yep, you are unable to list one mile of new roadway.

These are just a few county level projects. There are Hundreds more in other counties, plus the Colorado Depart of Trans, CDOT, is doing hundreds more.

$8,000,000 - Grant to resurface 14 miles of I-70 between Vail Pass and Silverthorne as well as the right lane of eastbound I-70 between milepost 180 and 190.

$5,064,720 - Grant to resurface 12.5 miles of US 24/US 285 in asphalt.

$9,667,646 - Grant to reconstruct five miles of State Highway 92 in asphalt and adds passing lanes and shoulders.

$4,190,706 Grant to resurface about 3 miles of I-25 in asphalt between 6th Avenue and 23rd Avenue

[elfish]

07:15 PM on 06/19/2010

Perfect Sense Wrote:

> Yep, you are unable to list one mile of new roadway.

These are just a few county level projects. There are Hundreds more in other counties, plus the Colorado Depart of Trans, CDOT, is doing hundreds more.

$8,000,000 - Grant to resurface 14 miles of I-70 between Vail Pass and Silverthorne as well as the right lane of eastbound I-70 between milepost 180 and 190.

$5,064,720 - Grant to resurface 12.5 miles of US 24/US 285 in asphalt.

$9,667,646 - Grant to reconstruct five miles of State Highway 92 in asphalt and adds passing lanes and shoulders.

$4,190,706 Grant to resurface about 3 miles of I-25 in asphalt between 6th Avenue and 23rd Avenue

$1,309,807 - US Army Corps of Engineers funds to Asphalt Constructors Inc. for the overlay of John Martin D.am roads.

$665,530 - Grant to resurface about one mile of SH 88 (Belleview Avenue) in asphalt between Federal Boulevard and US 85 (Santa Fe Drive)

$1,941,271 - Grant to resurface about 1.5 miles of SH 177 (University Boulevard) between C-470 and Arapahoe East

$13,688,257 - Grant to reconstruct US 287 in concrete and improve drainage and shoulder embankments. (Ports to Plains Corridor)

$1,652,586 - Grant to improve the roadway surface condition of US 36 by chip sealing 22 miles

http://www.colorado.gov/cs/Satellite/OIT-2/OIT2/1251566970483

This does not include State CDOT Projects From Stimulus:

http://www.coloradodot.info/projects/arra/cdotprojectmap

[elfish]

06:55 PM on 06/18/2010

D.ick Army, head tea bagger, thinks Rand Paul was ambushed by Rachel Madow when she asked why he didn't support the "Public Accommodation" part of the Civil Rights act.

Sarah Palin thinks Katie Couric ambushed her when Katie asked her "What do you Read?"

These are the people the Tea Baggers want to lead the country?

What do you think that Vladamir Putin or Ahmadinejad would do to them?

The real world doesn't ask Faux News, softball questions?

[elfish]

06:55 PM on 06/18/2010

D.ick Army, head tea ba.gger, thinks Rand Paul was am.bushed by Rachel Madow when she asked why he didn't support the "Public Accommodation" part of the Civil Rights act.

[elfish]

06:54 PM on 06/18/2010

Dick Army, head tea ba.gger, thinks Rand Paul was am.bushed by Rachel Madow when she asked why he didn't support the "Public Accommodation" part of the Civil Rights act.

[elfish]

06:54 PM on 06/18/2010

Sarah Palin thinks Katie Couric ambushed her when Katie asked her "What do you Read?"

[elfish]

06:53 PM on 06/18/2010

Dick Army, head tea ba.gger, thinks Rand Paul was ambushed by Rachel Madow when she asked why he didn't support the "Public Accommodation" part of the Civil Rights act.

Sarah Palin thinks Katie Couric ambushed her when Katie asked her "What do you Read?"