Sanity restored...
We cannot deal with oil spill, admits U.S. military
By Toby Harnden, The Daily Telegraph May 31, 2010
The U.S. armed forces do not have the technology or know-how to deal with the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, its highest ranking military officer admitted Monday.
Adml Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said they had no more tactics left in their arsenal after BP's latest failure to plug the leak.
Responding to calls for the armed forces to take control, Adml Mullen said: "We've looked at it continuously since the leak started - whether or not we would have submersibles that could do it. The fact is the best technology in the world, with respect to that, exists in the oil industry."
President Barack Obama is facing increasing criticism over his handling of the environmental catastrophe, which happened when BP's Deep-water Horizon ocean rig exploded on April 20, causing a well more than a mile under the surface to rupture, pumping millions of gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico.
More than 1,400 members of the U.S. coastguard have been mobilized to help with the clean-up, but Adml Mullen said there was little the armed forces could do to stop the leak and the best chance remained with BP.
He added: "We actually have been involved, but we have not been the lead. Any change with respect to the lead would be a decision the president would have to make."
Environmentalists have expressed concern over the potential spread of the oil as today marks the first day of the region's hurricane season. With at least 23 tropical storms and seven major hurricanes forecast over the coming months, it is feared high winds could hamper efforts to cap the well and push the oil further inshore across a wider region. Some have suggested that the oil could reach the coasts of Florida, Texas, Cuba and Mexico, devastating wildlife and crippling tourism.
Government-backed scientists claim to have discovered plumes of toxic oil 22 miles long suspended under the surface of the water and drifting across wide areas, threatening the marine ecosystem. Prosanta Chakrabarty, a biologist based at Louisiana State University said: "Every fish and invertebrate contacting the oil is probably dying."
However, Tony Hayward BP's chief executive officer, insists that rigorous testing by the company showed no evidence of oil being suspended in large masses underwater.
The White House has accused BP of playing down estimates of the leaked oil to limit the compensation for which it will be liable.
BP's fourth attempt to plug the leak by pouring debris into the well failed at the weekend. The company will now try to fit a containment cap on the well, but that could take more than a week.
The best chance of stopping the leak is the completion of two relief wells which are under construction. But the earliest this will be completed could be the end of August by which time millions more gallons of oil will have escaped.
montrealgazette.com
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Iran well blaze 'may take 6 months to douse'
A fire at an Iranian oil rig near the Iraq border has killed three people and left at least 10 injured, with officials saying it could take up to six months to extinguish the blaze.
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