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BP's Photo Blockade of the Gulf Oil Spill
- rjett 16y agoOn a related note, I was just remarking to a friend today about how hard this oil spill is to think about without seeing any sort of visual diagrams of the well, what the seafloor looks like, where the relief wells would be drilled, etc. These sort of visual aids have been conspicuously absent in mostly everything I've seen about this catastrophe.
- seldo 16y agoThe BBC has a fairly good diagram of what's going on: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8651333.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8651333.stm A visualization of how big the spill is relative to others: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/us_and_canada/10198201.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/us_and_canada/10198201.stm
- blantonl 16y agoBelieve it or not, the BBC has some of the best graphical representations of what has been happening over the past 40 days. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8651333.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8651333.stm As a past resident of Louisiana (attended LSU and lived in New Orleans for 3 years) I can tell you that this catastrophe will economically be on-par with Hurricane Katrina. Many of us have no idea how important (and awesome!) our seafood industry is. Our best shrimp, crabs, and oysters all directly come from the area that this spill is impacting. All I can say is, this sucks. With that said, reading the article leads me to believe that a good majority of reporters and people being turned away have been done so in good faith or simple mistakes. Let's not be mistaken - reporters can crowd an area and cause serious safety concerns for people who are working to contain the spill. And they can also irritate the crap out of workers who are more concerned with getting stuff done than answering lots of questions. Reporters will climb over themselves to get the latest scoop on a hop topic. And this is one. On on the subject of TFR's (Temporary Flight Restrictions) as mentioned in the article - Only the FAA issues TFR's, and those are issued to protect operating aircraft in a specially designated zone from outside interference (read: mostly the media). There was a complete TFR issued for most of south east Louisiana just after Katrina so that air traffic was carefully controlled for rescue operations. This is no different, there is an enormous amount of aircraft that are working in this area and TFR's are common to protect the working aircraft from non-essential related aircraft. I'm sure that BP has their corporate spin-doctors running at full steam, but I'm quite positive that there is no conspiracy to shut down access to the public regarding this tragedy.
- SandB0x 16y agoThere are many excellent diagrams here: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/05/25/us/20100525-topkill-diagram.html http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/05/25/us/20100525-to...
- gbhn 16y agoThe congressional testimony has good diagrams, and The Oil Drum has reproduced a lot of them, amidst good discussion. (Of course, other missing information has contributed to the multitude of plausible-sounding theories about what is actually going on.) http://www.theoildrum.com/ http://www.theoildrum.com/
- deleted 16y ago[deleted]
- danielnicollet 16y agoGood post - check this out for aerials of the disaster on the coast: http://healthygulf.org/201005281321/blog/bp-s-oil-drilling-disaster-in-the-gulf-of-mexico/new-photos-of-oil-in-la-marsh http://healthygulf.org/201005281321/blog/bp-s-oil-drilling-d...
- MikeCapone 16y agoBP's also denying the existence of large underwater oil plumes that have been spotted by many science vessels: http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/06/bp-denies-existence-underwater-oil-plumes-gulf-mexico.php http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/06/bp-denies-existence-...
- andreyf 16y agoSounds like a great opportunity for real reporters to dress up as fishermen to sneak out there and take some unique pictures. This kind of thing only stops the half-ass-reporters out there who will go home after running into the coast guard to complain and feel sorry about themselves. boo hoo BP is trying to control the press coverage Uh, yes, that's what a public company has to do: maximize shareholder value. Now do what real journalists are supposed to do do: break a couple of stupid rules, find a way to get out there, and take some damned pictures. What are they going to do? Shoot down your plane? Seriously. I mean, what kind of journalist decides because the coastguard stopped you, you're going to sit back and write self-pitying articles like this? Grow some balls, just hide in a fishing boat for all I care, and take some damned pictures. Then write another story of how badass you were nearly getting shot down by the BP Air Force. Reporters nowadays, sheesh.
- deleted 16y ago[deleted]
- tshtf 16y agoIn all understanding of the laws of the United States... Uh, yes, that's what a public company has to do: maximize shareholder value. Now do what real journalists are supposed to do do: break a couple of stupid rules, find a way to get out there, and take some damned pictures. What are they going to do? Shoot down your plane? Seriously. From the article: The problem, as many members of the press see it, is that even when access is granted, it’s done so under the strict oversight of BP and Coast Guard personnel. Reporters and photographers are escorted by BP officials on BP-contracted boats and aircraft. So the company is able to determine what reporters see and when they see it. I mean, what kind of journalist decides because the coastguard stopped you, you're going to sit back and write self-pitying articles like this? Grow some balls, just hide in a fishing boat for all I care, and take some damned pictures. From the article: Local fishermen and charter boat captains are also being pressured by BP not to work with the press. Left without a source of income, most have decided to work with BP to help spread booms and ferry officials around. Their passengers used to include members of the press, but not anymore. How can you take those pictures? EDIT: I apologize for not being able to properly use the <i> tags, I am in all honesty going through the arc3 code right now and this issue will soon be addressed. EDIT^2: Many kind thanks to anigbrowl for suggesting the correct formatting!
- waivej 16y agoMaybe someone should build a site to anonymously post photos on.
- AdamGibbins 16y agoI found this very useful for portraying the actual size of the spill: http://www.beowulfe.com/oil/ http://www.beowulfe.com/oil/
- orangecat 16y agoOf course, the blockade is actually being run by government and military entities. BP can't arrest journalists, but the Coast Guard can.
- jbooth 16y agoThey can threaten journalists with arrest pretty easily. Tresspassing. They've got lawyers and you don't.
- bobo418 16y agoIn case there was any doubt about the feasibility of coordinating a large-scale conspiracy involving large numbers of personel, here it is. In plain view yet we may never see it.
- yellowbkpk 16y agoHere's the actual TFR: http://tfr.faa.gov/save_pages/detail_0_2957.html http://tfr.faa.gov/save_pages/detail_0_2957.html "Pilots requesting flights under this exception must contact the houma deepwater horizon incident air operations center at 985-493-7804 between the hours of 0600-1800 cst, a minimum of 24 hours prior to desired flight time. Operators should be prepared to provide precise details of their requested flight including: pilots name and contact information, company/organization, purpose of flight, type aircraft, callsign, ingress/egress points and times, Requested altitude and route of flight. Pilots will then be provided with additional instructions for obtaining final approval and beacon code assignment."
- asmithmd1 16y agoKickstarter - Grassroots mapping the Gulf oil spill with balloons and kites: http://kck.st/cj3Anh http://kck.st/cj3Anh
- ynniv 16y agoIf you're going to do it, DO IT! Stop raising money for everything: it's a waste of time.
- yellowbkpk 16y agoThey are doing it: http://grassrootsmapping.org/gulf-oil-spill/ http://grassrootsmapping.org/gulf-oil-spill/
- ynniv 16y agoSo they are... clearly I didn't get past the fold on Kickstarter. Maybe this is why? $750 PLEDGED OF $5,000 GOAL 19 DAYS TO GO THIS PROJECT WILL ONLY BE FUNDED IF AT LEAST $5,000 IS PLEDGED BY MONDAY JUN 21, 6:18PM EDT Why use kickstarter instead of PayPal/traditional payment gateway? The theme of the site suggests that a project will not begin until it has achieved a funding goal. Will grassrootsmapping see any of the $750 they have raised so far before the 21st? And do they get anything if they don't reach $5k?
- rrhyne 16y agoThanks, I just contributed.
- anigbrowl 16y agoIt's pretty sad how strongly the desire to share information inversely correlates with naked financial interest.
- mmphosis 16y agoBlowout: The Deepwater Horizon Disaster (cbsnews.com) http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1393992 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1393992
- schwit 16y agoFirst off BP has an overriding obligation to its stockholders. Second, BP has a PR playbook for this scenario that is based upon decades of experience. For the moment BP's money is making the rules.
- pyre 16y agoHow many of those stockholders are going to affected by the local impact to Louisiana and the possible National/Global economic impact as it radiates outward? It's short-sighted to talk about BP's obligations to their stockholders just in terms of raw stock prices. [ You also fail to mention that many BP employees as well as executives and board members probably have stock options, meaning that they are also looking after their own interests in this matter too. It's not like they want to be altruistic, but these pesky investors are holding them back. And it's not like these 'stockholders' are some external entity to the company with a hard line between investors and employees with no grey area in between. ] {edit} AIG also had an obligation to their investors to keep the stock price up and up and up... until it came crashing down. Saying, 'they have an obligation to their investors,' is really just a cop out. It's a way of pushing responsibility away (i.e. "Don't blame me! I have a responsibility to the investors, my hands are tied! I'm compelled to this course of action.").
- jrwoodruff 16y agoHere's the most graphic images I've seen, but they're over a week old and pretty tame compared to Valdez. http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/05/oil_reaches_louisiana_shores.html http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/05/oil_reaches_louisia...
- guns 16y agoI hope you mean the images are pretty tame in comparison, and not the spill itself. Not only has the BP leak massively surpassed Valdez in volume (2-10x), it took place a mile underwater, which multiplies it's danger. Exxon Valdez was a surface spill, so most of the oil that was spilled stayed on the surface of the water and began to have dramatic effects on the coastal environment. This disaster is leaking millions of gallons per day (Valdez was 10 million gallons) from the sea floor, much of which is rising slowly to the top through a mile of water, dispersing on its way up, and some percentage of the oil is clumping at the bottom, or simply not rising [1]. The polluted area should thus be measured in cubic feet, and not simply in visibly affected surface area. The implications of this event are quite staggering, and BP will get away with paying a slim fraction of the true cost to society. [1] unless I am misinformed and 100% of crude oil rises to the surface
- btilly 16y agoNote that not all of the oil that gets to the top, stays there. They have been pouring dispersants on the oil. That makes the oil bind to water and go back into the water column. The oil industry likes it because it hides the oil. Fish in the water column don't like it so much. The fisheries hit by the Valdez spill have still not recovered.
- ars 16y agoAh, but the more dilute the spill the better things are. Bacteria do a wonderful job to biodegrading oil - but only if they have enough oxygen, which is in limited supply. By spreading things out they have enough oxygen to work with. And yes, 100% of the oil should rise to the surface, but some will rise slowly. I think the reason we are not seeing a lot of oil is simply that the bacteria ate it.
- jcromartie 16y agoHow can BP block anything? They are a private corporation with no particular rights to the public beaches they are making a fuss over. This is so wrong...
- jrockway 16y agoThey donate to politicians, who have passed laws allowing them to do whatever they feel like doing. Balance of power? Hahahaha.
- jrockway 16y agoThe comments here scare me. Why is everyone afraid of the government or breaking some rules? The worst that could happen to you is a few days in prison. Suck it up, serve the sentence, and know that you've changed the world in a positive way. I'm glad that everyone is not so spineless, otherwise we wouldn't even know there was an oil spill...
- rrhyne 16y agoFinding a pilot willing to loose his $6k+ pilots license to the FAA, no matter how farked the FAA is would be tough. Easier to get a $300 RC plane setup, lightweight camera and a boat. The Slowstick by GWS makes an easy to fly, inexpensive camera platform. If I was anywhere near the gulf, I'd be doing this myself.
- jrockway 16y agoBest idea I've heard yet. I, for one, welcome our new sticking-it-to-the-man robot overlords.
- ck2 16y agoCops are being complicit because they know long after the press is gone, BP will still be there handing out the cash to those that helped them cover this up. Remember BP has other rigs running in the area which made them $3 Billion this year alone. They probably won't even bother renaming themselves and just spend the money on lawyers and their PR machine instead. As a corporation they've also been handed unlimited votes via unlimited advertising, hence politicians working with them.