BP- Can We Believe Them?
The massive Gulf oil spill disaster, has triggered strong reactions from people around the nation, and world.
Most people are saddened by the situation. The pollution, oil-slicked wildlife, and how it is devastating the livelihood for people in the area, is the main concern. It still remains the all consuming, top story in the news. We are NOW in day 85 , and we really do want to believe, that this new cap will do the job, of finally, plugging the leak. There has, as you know, been much said, and not much good news or luck , if you will, since the onset, of this horrific mess.
After securing a new, tight-fitting cap on top of the leaking well in the Gulf of Mexico, BP has begun testing today (Tuesday), to see if it will hold and stop, fresh oil from polluting the waters for the first time in nearly three months.
The oil giant expects to know within 48 hours if the new cap, which landed Monday, after almost three days of painstaking, around-the-clock work a mile below the Gulf’s surface, can put an end to the flow. The solution is only temporary, but, for now, it offers the best hope yet, for cutting off the never-ending gush, of billowing brown oil.
The cap’s installation was good news to weary Gulf Coast residents, who have warily waited for BP, to make good on its promise to clean up the mess. Still, they warned that even if the oil is stopped, the consequences are far from over.
“I think we’re going to see oil out in the Gulf of Mexico, roaming around, taking shots at us, for the next year, maybe two,” Billy Nungesser, president of Louisiana’s oil-stained Plaquemines Parish, said Monday. “If you told me today no more oil was coming ashore, we’ve still got a massive cleanup ahead.”
For now, BP expects no oil will be released into the ocean during the tests, but remained cautious about the success of the system. Pipes can be hooked to the cap to funnel oil to collection ships if BP ,decides the cap can’t take the pressure of the gusher, or if low pressure readings indicate oil is leaking from elsewhere in the well.
“The sealing cap system never before, has been deployed at these depths or under these conditions, and its efficiency and ability to contain the oil and gas cannot be assured,” the company said in a statement.
It is hard to believe much of anything BP says. Just last week, they were expecting Anadarko to pay for damages, related to the spill. The reply was this, “Spill’s your problem,the oil producer says. Anadarko, will not pay any money on the Gulf spill cleanup. BP, caused the spill, and should be made to pay all the expenses, the company says.”
To make matters worse, thus far, 99,508 people have filed claims according to BP, of which nearly half will be adjusted downward, if paid at all. This is not the first time ‘paperwork problems’ have been used, as what many believe is an ‘EXCUSE’ for not paying out damages, as recent news reports have made clear.
“This action is irresponsible, and in complete contrast to BP’s, repeated PROMISE, that they will ‘make things right,'” Louisiana’s Department of Children and Family Services secretary, Kristy Nichols, wrote in a letter sent Friday to federal oil spill claims administrator Kenneth Feinberg.
What this means is, that those who have filed for assistance, will get far less money, than they may have asked for. It will prove to be, devastating to those families struggling to get by, since their livelihoods were destroyed by the spill, and BP’s negligence.
Most of the citizens who live along the Gulf, naturally, make their living by fishing the waters that are now not fit for man nor beast. The pollution, and devastation to wildlife, and ways of life, is tragically scared for many years to come. Will, this NIGHTMARE ever end?Clearly, someone needs to be put in charge of the situation, to put some guidelines in place, and make some REAL progress, instead of more of the BLAME GAME!
