“Spill, baby, spill”

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

The right-wing media only cares about political narrative. Death, destruction, natural and environmental disasters are not reported from a humanitarian point of view but rather from "how can we spin this story to our political advantage?" by making as many outrageous claims as possibe in this Post-Truth Politics era.

Shortly after the devastating earthquake in Haiti, with more than 200,000 dead, the response of the right-wing media was not "what can we do to help?" but rather was the narrative "this could be President Obama's Katrina." Remember that?

Given the scope of the catastrophe, the massive devastation of a poor country without any resources and the overwhelming number of deaths, the response of the U.S. and the World in coming to Haiti's aid has been quite remarkable and a success by any reasonable measure of relief efforts. The shrill criticism of the relief effort was a direct criticism of the U.S. Armed Forces who were the first responders. Hence, the right-wing media quietly abanondoned its "Katrina" meme.

But wait! The right-wing media which daily sings the praises of a "free market economy," deregulation of business, and "drill, baby, drill" is back. The BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, directly attributable to the deregulation of the oil industry by Texas oil men George W. Bush and Dick Cheney and the "drill, baby, drill" mentality, is somehow now President Obama's fault.

The response of the right wing-media to this looming environmental disaster is not to ask "how can we help?" but rather is to blame the federal government, curiously not BP oil, and to assert the narrative once again that "this could be President Obama's Katrina." The right-wing media is desperate to get the Katrina monkey off the back of George W. Bush to rehabilitate his legacy by creating false equivalencies to President Obama. They are shameless in this "post-truth politics" era.

Environmental lawyer Michael Papantonio – who is suing BP oil on behalf of fisherman and local businesses hurt by the oil spill – matter-of-factly alleged on MSNBC's Ed Show last week that Dick Cheney is largely responsible. Eric Lewis at Daily Kos summarized (Ed Show transcript not yet available):

Mike Papantonio, an environmental lawyer on the Ed Show just now: An 'acoustic switch' would have prevented this catastrophe – it's a failsafe that shuts the flow of oil off at the source – they cost only about half a million dollars each, and are required in off-shore drilling platforms in most of the world…except for the United States. This was one of the new deregulations devised by Dick Cheney during his secret meetings with the oil industry at the beginning of Bush's first term.

Here is the video segment (Mike Papantonio inteview).

The Rupert Murdoch owned Wall Street Journal reported on Aril 28, 2010 Leaking Oil Well Lacked Safeguard Device – WSJ.com:

The oil well spewing crude into the Gulf of Mexico didn't have a remote-control shut-off switch used in two other major oil-producing nations as last-resort protection against underwater spills.

* * *

U.S. regulators don't mandate use of the remote-control device on offshore rigs, and the Deepwater Horizon, hired by oil giant BP PLC, didn't have one.

* * *

The U.S. considered requiring a remote-controlled shut-off mechanism several years ago, but drilling companies questioned its cost and effectiveness, according to the agency overseeing offshore drilling. The agency, the Interior Department's Minerals Management Service, says it decided the remote device wasn't needed because rigs had other back-up plans to cut off a well.

* * *

An acoustic trigger costs about $500,000, industry officials said. The Deepwater Horizon had a replacement cost of about $560 million, and BP says it is spending $6 million a day to battle the oil spill.

* * *

While U.S. regulators have called the acoustic switches unreliable and prone, in the past, to cause unnecessary shut-downs, Inger Anda, a spokeswoman for Norway's Petroleum Safety Authority, said the switches have a good track record in the North Sea. "It's been seen as the most successful and effective option," she said.

* * *

The Brazilian government began urging the use of the remote-control equipment in 2007, after an extensive overhaul of its safety rules following a fire aboard an oil platform killed 11 people, said Raphael Moura, head of safety division at Brazil's National Petroleum Agency. "Our concern is both safety and the environment," he said.

* * *

Industry critics cite the lack of the remote control as a sign U.S. drilling policy has been too lax. "What we see, going back two decades, is an oil industry that has had way too much sway with federal regulations," said Dan McLaughlin, a spokesman for Democratic Florida Sen. Bill Nelson. "We are seeing our worst nightmare coming true."

U.S. regulators have considered mandating the use of remote-control acoustic switches or other back-up equipment at least since 2000.

* * *

The industry argued against the acoustic systems. A 2001 report from the International Association of Drilling Contractors said "significant doubts remain in regard to the ability of this type of system to provide a reliable emergency back-up control system during an actual well flowing incident."

By 2003, U.S. regulators decided remote-controlled safeguards needed more study. A report commissioned by the Minerals Management Service said "acoustic systems are not recommended because they tend to be very costly."

The deregulation policies of the Bush-cheney regime made this possible. That $500,000 accoustic switch may have saved BP oil hundreds of millions of dollars, if not billions, for the cost of cleanup of this environmental disaster to the environmentally sensitive Gulf Coast region and the lawsuits by those affected.

Last year, BP oil was fined a record $87 million for "outstanding life-threatening safety problems" at its Texas City refinery where an explosion killed 15 workers and injured 170 in 2005. BP fined record $87m for 'life-threatening' safety failings

But wait! There's another Dick Cheney connection to this story. Once again, the Rupert Murdoch owned Wall Street Journal reported on April 30, 2010 that Haliburton, the company Dick Cheney headed before becoming Vice President (and for which he is still richly rewarded in stock ownership), is implicated in the possible cause of the well blowout. Drilling Process Attracts Scrutiny in Rig Explosion – WSJ.com:

An oil-drilling procedure called cementing is coming under scrutiny as a possible cause of the explosion on the Deepwater Horizon rig in the Gulf of Mexico that has led to one of the biggest oil spills in U.S. history, drilling experts said Thursday.

The process is supposed to prevent oil and natural gas from escaping by filling gaps between the outside of the well pipe and the inside of the hole bored into the ocean floor. Cement, pumped down the well from the drilling rig, is also used to plug wells after they have been abandoned or when drilling has finished but production hasn't begun.

In the case of the Deepwater Horizon, workers had finished pumping cement to fill the space between the pipe and the sides of the hole and had begun temporarily plugging the well with cement; it isn't known whether they had completed the plugging process before the blast.

Regulators have previously identified problems in the cementing process as a leading cause of well blowouts, in which oil and natural gas surge out of a well with explosive force. When cement develops cracks or doesn't set properly, oil and gas can escape, ultimately flowing out of control. The gas is highly combustible and prone to ignite, as it appears to have done aboard the Deepwater Horizon, which was leased by BP PLC, the British oil giant.

Concerns about the cementing process—and about whether rigs have enough safeguards to prevent blowouts—raise questions about whether the industry can safely drill in deep water and whether regulators are up to the task of monitoring them.

The scrutiny on cementing will focus attention on Halliburton Co., the oilfield-services firm that was handling the cementing process on the rig, which burned and sank last week. The disaster, which killed 11, has left a gusher of oil streaming into the Gulf from a mile under the surface.

Federal officials declined to comment on their investigation, and Halliburton didn't respond to questions from The Wall Street Journal.

According to Transocean Ltd., the operator of the drilling rig, Halliburton had finished cementing the 18,000-foot well shortly before the explosion. Houston-based Halliburton is the largest company in the global cementing business, which accounted for $1.7 billion, or about 11%, of the company's revenue in 2009, according to consultant Spears & Associates.

* * *

The timing of the cementing in relation to the blast—and the procedure's history of causing problems—point to it as a possible culprit in the Deepwater Horizon disaster, experts said.

* * *

A 2007 study by three U.S. Minerals Management Service officials found that cementing was a factor in 18 of 39 well blowouts in the Gulf of Mexico over a 14-year period. That was the single largest factor, ahead of equipment failure and pipe failure.

* * *

Halliburton also was the cementer on a well that suffered a big blowout last August in the Timor Sea, off Australia. The rig there caught fire and a well leaked tens of thousands of barrels of oil over 10 weeks before it was shut down. The investigation is continuing; Halliburton declined to comment on it.

Elmer P. Danenberger, who had recently retired as head of regulatory affairs for the U.S. Minerals Management Service, told the Australian commission looking into the blowout that a poor cement job was probably the reason oil and natural gas gushed out of control.

The conservative Los Angeles Times also reports Gulf oil spill: The Halliburton connection:

Investigators delving into the possible cause of the massive gulf oil spill are focusing on the role of Houston-based Halliburton Co, the giant energy services company, which was responsible for cementing the drill into place below the water. The company acknowledged Friday that it had completed the final cementing of the oil well and pipe just 20 hours before the blowout last week.

In a letter to to Halliburton Chief Executive David J. Lesar on Friday, Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Beverly Hills) chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, and Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.), chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, called on Halliburton officials to provide all documents relating to "the possibility or risk of an explosion or blowout at the Deepwater Horizon rig and the status, adequacy, quality, monitoring, and inspection of the cementing work" by May 7.

As Heather at crooksandliars.com said Papantonio: Thank Dick Cheney and His Meetings With Oil Industry Execs for Lack of Safeguards on Oil Rigs:

Papantonio laid the blame squarely in Dick Cheney's lap and said this was one of the deregulations of the energy industry that was negotiated during his secret meetings with oil industry and other energy executives during George Bush's first term in office and called this the biggest under-reported aspect of this disaster. It would be nice if the media would look into this and start asking some more questions about why these companies were allowed not to have this last resort safeguard.

* * *

In the meantime most of the media is busy repeating the GOP talking point that this is "Obama's Katrina"…

The correct question the media should be asking is: Deepwater Horizon oil spill: Is this Halliburton's Katrina?

Dave Neiwert at crooksandliars.com sums it up best:

Indeed, this oil spill is a clear product of Republican "small government" philosophy: the belief that you could and should "free the market" to drill anywhere at any time, and with as little regulatory oversight, including both environmental and safety standards. That's how BP talked the government into letting it drill at such great depths with as little surety that a blowout would not occur as it did, nor with any reckoning of the potential consequences of a blowout.

Consequences that are just about to hit our shores. Quite literally.

NASA satellite image of the spill

H/t Daily Kos.