Boat accident. And a lot of oil

[Aurielius]

I think that Fifoo's comments are valid concerning the ever increasing requirements of industrial societies for petroleum, which will force ever more risky collection methods. Unless we consider the use of Fission as an alternative or preferably Fusion (when available) this is going to be an event that occurs with distressing regularity in the future. BP is taking considerable and increasing heat on this side of the Atlantic and rightly so. How can a company that has so successfully extracted oil from one of the worst seas (North Sea) be so incompetent when drilling abroad? There is already a movement to boycott BP gaining momentum in the states, maybe if BP is hit in it's balance sheet they will learn some degree of prudence.

[hoshi23]

With the least drop of responsibility such a catastrophic event would not have happened. America wake up.

 

You, the whole world, is being fooled on so many level.

 

So much violence against nature.

 

Needlessly.

 

Everbody suffer from it.

Not only the enviroment, but poeple polute themself while still paying for it.

 

The whole mentality associated with this nonsense has to die or there gonna be more crashes.

 

Like has been said elsewhere. Greed eats brain and brings nothing but far greater pain aswell as complexity to the situation.

 

A complexity which cannot be managed and understood without applying ethical value.

 

If people cannot see this they are easy prey to criminal organisations with the reputations.

 

You need not be like sheep.

 

Be like lions.

[ginnyfizz]

Deepwater Horizon is several times deeper than the deepest well in the North Sea, so conditions are not directly comparable. What has emerged is that BP have not strategically planned properly in this case, their "risk assessment/disaster recovery plan" that was to be applied to Deepwater Horizon has been found to be a "Cut and paste" job from an operation in the Antarctic, rather than a detailed study and assessment of the specific local conditions. For example they mention risk to the sort of marine life that doesn't exist in the Gulf Of Mexico. This is very grave indeed, and further strong evidence of negligence. I certainly hold no brief for BP, they are caught red-handed and they know it. That's why they are already paying compensation to the people affected. However, as I have said before, if BP and their board are to be held truly to account, caution needs to be exercised. Far better for them to have profits to be garnished in order to pay and to keep paying. And, if individuals are to stand trial, we don't want to create the sort of atmosphere where their lawyers can argue it would be impossible for them to receive a fair hearing, thus preventing extradition.

[Fifoo]

However, as I have said before, if BP and their board are to be held truly to account, caution needs to be exercised. Far better for them to have profits to be garnished in order to pay and to keep paying. And, if individuals are to stand trial, we don't want to create the sort of atmosphere where their lawyers can argue it would be impossible for them to receive a fair hearing, thus preventing extradition.

As usual in such cases, it always ends with an incessant and infernal legal battle, which lawyers, experts, plaintiffs, and judges are passing the buck - if I may use that expression - by dint of arguments legal, applications expertise and cons of second opinions, only to find anything to circumvent those laws through their complexities, especially in the field of International Law, and thus hope to avoid harsher sanctions, or even most of the time, to get by very cheaply.

 

I do not criticize the work done by the men of law and lawyers, they know very well how to do their job, and they are paid for it, but ultimately, it was the cat who will eat the mouse, and not vice versa, if the slightest false-legal maneuvering will come to them...

[kidwitthafro]

was there a profit to be made from this? like a bustling oil cleanup industry?

[Dark0ne]

Not content with oil seeping on to the American shores British media is reporting that some workers have drilled through a gas line. /facepalm

[Pyrosocial]

It sucks for those of use who are seeing tar blobs on our white sand beaches. i hope BP gets bankrupt, and criminal action is taken against them for this.

[Aurielius]

It sucks for those of use who are seeing tar blobs on our white sand beaches. i hope BP gets bankrupt, and criminal action is taken against them for this.

If BP is bankrupt, where will the required restitution come from...the American taxpayer. I want BP to remain viable so they can pay for the mess that they are responsible for. I am just as angry as you, but I want this fiasco cleaned up first, after that we can search for the responsible culprits and prosecute them accordingly.

[ginnyfizz]

Exactly my point too. The hang 'em high attitude will do NOTHING for the communities that have been affected. At the moment, BP are paying compensation to people, if they weren't around having been sent bankrupt out of sheer rashness or after a punitive damages award, they could not do that. And like I said, if the sabre rattling (including by President Obama) gets much more strident, the BP board could well fight extradition on the grounds that it would be impossible for them to receive a fair trial. Tony Hayward may well be culpable, but his wife and family are also receiving hate mail and threats, that cannot be right. Let's bear in mind that this is all going to be sub judice fairly soon.

[species5478]

This is just another example of why we need to switch to green energy. I don't understand the fascination with oil...what's the goal here? Why burn up something that took hundreds of millions to years to make? Are we going to use up EVERY single drop of oil before moving on to other forms of energy? And will we destroy all coastal life, and or the atmosphere in the process? It took hundreds of thousands of years to for life to develop along the gulf. Certain species of marine life may go extinct because of this. Will anyone care? Not to mention the air we breathe is finite, sustained primarily by South American rain forests. Polluting it with CFC's from oil products can't be good. We have a garbage island floating about in the Pacific because our country dumps trash into the sea. It's the size of a state, and it's primarily made of petroleum based, non-biodegradable products, and it's only getting bigger. We can't keep destroying the sea, and expect to reap the rewards from it much longer. And this isn't the first oil spill, either. Aside from the Exon tanker spill, there's been a number of massive spills made by different countries all over the world. About 13,000 oil spills happen each year. Of course, not all are major ones like this current spill in the gulf, but it's adding up. But because we're consumers...we're going to keep using oil, no matter the costs. I feel sorry for future generations...