NOAA reported good news recently, as not only has there been no fish from the Gulf found to be contaminated, but no evidence any fished were killed from the oil spill has been found.
Fisherman confirm the fishing in the Gulf is as good as it has ever been, with more numbers of fish and larger fish. That's because during the oil spill the fishing was off limits, leaving the fish with no fishing pressure on them.
Although there are always fish kills in the ocean, none of them that have been tested have been found to be caused by Gulf oil in federal waters. The same conclusion has been drawn by those investigating state waters as well, according to NOAA spokeswoman Christine Patrick.
Testing has been done across a number of different government agencies, and all have come up with the same results for fish kills and fish not being contaminated.
Unfortunately, even with the complete clean bill of health for Gulf seafood, the public still has the perception food isn't safe from the region, when test after test proves it is safe.
Showing posts with label NOAA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label NOAA. Show all posts
Friday, October 22, 2010
Thursday, October 7, 2010
WH Takes on Response to BP (NYSE:BP) Oil Spill Report by Oil Spill Commission
The pot was stirred up Wednesday when an extremely critical report on how the Obama administration responded to the BP (NYSE:BP) oil spill was released by the Oil Spill Commission studying the matter.
Several of the more damning conclusions concerned the amount of oil left in the ocean, obstructing the release of worst case scenarios concerning the spill, and too much optimism from the White House, which may have resulted in being detrimental to the response effort by slowing down the speed and size of the operation.
Possibly the most odd of the charges were in reference to the "vast majority" of the oil from the spill having left the ocean.
Even though that may have been communicated poorly by Carole Browner, the further clarification from NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco took care of it.
She said, “The vast majority of the oil from the BP oil spill has either evaporated or been burned, skimmed, recovered from the wellhead or dispersed much of which is in the process of being degraded. A significant amount of this is the direct result of the robust federal response efforts.”
That remains the official line of the White House, and further testing and investigation hasn't disproved those assertions. As a matter of fact it's some of the so-called independent scientists who have been made to look foolish by saying some gigantic oil plume was roaming the Gulf, when in fact it can't be found by anyone searching for it, and was asserted two months after the fact, making it look like some type of agenda was behind the concept.
The worst case scenario charge that the White House or Office of Management and Budget, was attempting to hinder that from being revealed to the public, was rejected, as they said the modeling used by the NOAA in the worst-case scenario didn't include the impact of oil being collected, skimmed or burned, thus skewing the potential outcomes that would have been presented.
Also recalled was the media appearance of Thad Allen and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar saying the worst-case scenario could reach as high as 100,000 barrels a day released into the Gulf waters.
The overly optimistic charge is a strange one to me as well. How do you measure that? It almost sounds like a radical environmentalist was on the commission that was angry that the spill happened in the first place.
The report even says, that it was “not clear that this misplaced optimism affected any individual response effort.” Why even bring it up then?
Finally, the White House said the report was a draft that hadn't been signed off on by members of the Oil Spill Commission members or chairmen, suggesting why it seems somewhat sloppy in its conclusions.
Now the problem is if a revised version of the report is released that differs a lot from the "draft," most won't believe it, and will believe pressure from the White House altered the findings.
Several of the more damning conclusions concerned the amount of oil left in the ocean, obstructing the release of worst case scenarios concerning the spill, and too much optimism from the White House, which may have resulted in being detrimental to the response effort by slowing down the speed and size of the operation.
Possibly the most odd of the charges were in reference to the "vast majority" of the oil from the spill having left the ocean.
Even though that may have been communicated poorly by Carole Browner, the further clarification from NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco took care of it.
She said, “The vast majority of the oil from the BP oil spill has either evaporated or been burned, skimmed, recovered from the wellhead or dispersed much of which is in the process of being degraded. A significant amount of this is the direct result of the robust federal response efforts.”
That remains the official line of the White House, and further testing and investigation hasn't disproved those assertions. As a matter of fact it's some of the so-called independent scientists who have been made to look foolish by saying some gigantic oil plume was roaming the Gulf, when in fact it can't be found by anyone searching for it, and was asserted two months after the fact, making it look like some type of agenda was behind the concept.
The worst case scenario charge that the White House or Office of Management and Budget, was attempting to hinder that from being revealed to the public, was rejected, as they said the modeling used by the NOAA in the worst-case scenario didn't include the impact of oil being collected, skimmed or burned, thus skewing the potential outcomes that would have been presented.
Also recalled was the media appearance of Thad Allen and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar saying the worst-case scenario could reach as high as 100,000 barrels a day released into the Gulf waters.
The overly optimistic charge is a strange one to me as well. How do you measure that? It almost sounds like a radical environmentalist was on the commission that was angry that the spill happened in the first place.
The report even says, that it was “not clear that this misplaced optimism affected any individual response effort.” Why even bring it up then?
Finally, the White House said the report was a draft that hadn't been signed off on by members of the Oil Spill Commission members or chairmen, suggesting why it seems somewhat sloppy in its conclusions.
Now the problem is if a revised version of the report is released that differs a lot from the "draft," most won't believe it, and will believe pressure from the White House altered the findings.
Friday, August 27, 2010
No BP (NYSE:BP) Oil Allows Reopening of More Federal Waters
With no BP (NYSE:BP) oil being seen in about a month, and with finfish and shrimp were examined by scientists determined to have no oil or dispersants on them, more federal waters were reopened for fishing, this time about 4,281 square miles off the coast of western Louisiana, according to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration head Jane Lubchenco.
"We're sort of nibbling at the edges if you will, areas that have been free of oil for the longest time and were oiled the least," Lubchenco said.
After this announcement, about 20 percent of the waters in the Gulf now remain closed to fishing.
Authorities are working now to ensure the seafood from the Gulf is safe to eat, as fisherman resume their businesses.
This confirms the ability of the Gulf of Mexico to heal itself from this, with about 75 percent or more of the oil no longer in the ocean, as evaporation and microbes have removed the bulk of it.
"We're sort of nibbling at the edges if you will, areas that have been free of oil for the longest time and were oiled the least," Lubchenco said.
After this announcement, about 20 percent of the waters in the Gulf now remain closed to fishing.
Authorities are working now to ensure the seafood from the Gulf is safe to eat, as fisherman resume their businesses.
This confirms the ability of the Gulf of Mexico to heal itself from this, with about 75 percent or more of the oil no longer in the ocean, as evaporation and microbes have removed the bulk of it.
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
BP (NYSE:BP) Shrinks South Florida Cleanup as Oil is No-Show
BP (NYSE:BP) had set up a command center in Miami, Florida, on the possibility oil would be caught in underwater currents and spread to the Florida Panhandle and ultimately up to the eastern coast of the United States.
Concerns were based on NOAA scientists saying in a report there was an 80 percent chance oil would eventually reach Miami and head up the eastern coast. That never materialized, and in the latter part of July, Thad Allen, the point man for the government for the crisis, said the chances of it affecting the South Florida or the Keys area was "very,very low."
Right after that NOAA revised their findings in saying oil from the spill wasn't a threat to the area, although they used the term "surface oil" when making the assertion.
The oil threat really never materialized in this region, and the issue was more the perception than anything else which hurt the area.
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission spokesman Lee Schlesinger said "We never had the big oil problems that everybody thinks we had. It's just been a perception that's really hurt the industry."
As a result, the size of the force set up in the area to help coordinate efforts if the oil did come has been reduced from about 120, to approximately 45 at this time.
Concerns were based on NOAA scientists saying in a report there was an 80 percent chance oil would eventually reach Miami and head up the eastern coast. That never materialized, and in the latter part of July, Thad Allen, the point man for the government for the crisis, said the chances of it affecting the South Florida or the Keys area was "very,very low."
Right after that NOAA revised their findings in saying oil from the spill wasn't a threat to the area, although they used the term "surface oil" when making the assertion.
The oil threat really never materialized in this region, and the issue was more the perception than anything else which hurt the area.
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission spokesman Lee Schlesinger said "We never had the big oil problems that everybody thinks we had. It's just been a perception that's really hurt the industry."
As a result, the size of the force set up in the area to help coordinate efforts if the oil did come has been reduced from about 120, to approximately 45 at this time.
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