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Politics : Stockman Scott's Political Debate Porch -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: stockman_scott who wrote (81553)	6/18/2010 8:28:26 AM
From: T L Comiskey	Respond to of 89467

June 18, 2010 BP Plans to Move Ahead with Offshore Oil Drilling in Arctic This fall, BP hopes to pull off a record-setting feat: Using a high-tech drill from a gravel island in the Beaufort Sea, it plans to reach two miles deep, turn and bore another six to eight miles horizontally to tap an oil reservoir in federal waters. The moratorium imposed on new deep-water drilling and drilling in Arctic waters, imposed in the aftermath of the Gulf spill and BP's inability to contain the leak, imploded Royal Dutch Shell's plans to begin exploratory drilling in Alaska this summer. But BP still has hope of seeing its latest Alaska venture succeed. Wednesday, the U.S. government confirmed the drilling "pause" does not apply to BP's new project, called Liberty. "The deep-water moratorium does not apply to this particular project, which is based from a man-made island and would potentially be drilling directionally into formations under shallow water. If drilling permit applications are submitted for the project, the Department of the Interior will review them at the appropriate time and determine, based on safety and other considerations, whether the project should move forward with drilling under federal waters," said Kendra Barkoff, a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of the Interior. Before it drills, BP will need state and federal drilling permits -- permits for which it has not yet applied, according to the Alaska Oil and Gas Commission, the state permitting agency, and Barkoff, speaking on behalf of the U.S. Minerals Management Service, the federal permitting agency. Operators typically apply for a permit about one month in advance of the intended drilling date, according to AOGCC commissioner Cathy Foerster, adding that Liberty, which launches from state waters to reach a federal reservoir, is an unusually complex project. "If they want to start in September I'd hope they get us something pretty soon," she said. Asked to clarify Liberty's development timeline, BP spokesman Steve Rinehart said the company, which plans to begin its first development well this fall, "will apply for permits in line with that schedule." Guy Schwartz, a senior petroleum engineer with AOGCC who handles BP's permitting requests, said he hasn't seen anything yet from the company. "It appears their timetable is slipping a bit for getting a well spudded with the new rig," Schwartz said. In prior interviews BP has said it plans to start producing oil from Liberty next year. Foerster expects AOGCC to take a hard look at the entire project, including segments of the drilling operation that travel outside the state's jurisdiction, because "if something goes wrong it's going to affect state land or state water." "If we see something that they're doing outside of state waters that we don't think is safe, we're not going to approve the permit," she said. While all permitting requests are thoroughly evaluated, with the shadow of the Gulf spill still looming, BP can expect heightened scrutiny with Liberty, according to AOGCC. Gone are the days when regulators, which send inspectors to the sites and check out the drill plans, assume everything has been done top notch, Foerster said. Questions will be asked twice, and reviews will be conducted with "a different mindset" -- looking for what might be wrong instead of expecting to find that an operator -- in this case BP -- has done everything right, she said. "I think everybody trusts BP a little bit less than they did six weeks ago," Foerster said. Contact Jill Burke at jill(at)alaskadispatch.com.

To: stockman_scott who wrote (81553)	6/18/2010 9:18:30 AM
From: coug	1 Recommendation Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 89467

Yes, I think Dr. Hayward is toast as far as BP goes.. He will be thrown under the bus so then he can go back to Sussex and study the Chalk cliffs in leisure.. He has to put that PhD to work somewhere.. I really hope he doesn't find a tar ball or oil streak in them while doing so.. The slick might beat him back to merry ole England though.

To: stockman_scott who wrote (81553)	6/18/2010 10:40:54 AM
From: longnshort	Respond to of 89467

BP Oil Spill: Against Gov. Jindal's Wishes, Crude-Sucking Barges Stopped by Coast Guard 59 Days Into Oil Crisis, Gulf Coast Governors Say Feds Are Failing Them Note: A good, and terrible, example of why we don't need any more layers of Government, and need to reduce the layers we have added including ALL the Czars. No one can move without asking the next one in a line of thousands,it seems! ] By DAVID MUIR and BRADLEY BLACKBURN June 17, 2010— Eight days ago, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal ordered barges to begin vacuuming crude oil out of his state's oil-soaked waters. Today, against the governor's wishes, those barges sat idle, even as more oil flowed toward the Louisiana shore. "It's the most frustrating thing," the Republican governor said today in Buras, La. "Literally, yesterday morning we found out that they were halting all of these barges." Watch "World News" for David Muir's report from Louisiana tonight. Sixteen barges sat stationary today, although they were sucking up thousands of gallons of BP's oil as recently as Tuesday. Workers in hazmat suits and gas masks pumped the oil out of the Louisiana waters and into steel tanks. It was a homegrown idea that seemed to be effective at collecting the thick gunk. "These barges work. You've seen them work. You've seen them suck oil out of the water," said Jindal. Coast Guard Orders Barges to Stop So why stop now? "The Coast Guard came and shut them down," Jindal said. "You got men on the barges in the oil, and they have been told by the Coast Guard, 'Cease and desist. Stop sucking up that oil.'" A Coast Guard representative told ABC News today that it shares the same goal as the governor. "We are all in this together. The enemy is the oil," said Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Dan Lauer. But the Coast Guard ordered the stoppage because of reasons that Jindal found frustrating. The Coast Guard needed to confirm that there were fire extinguishers and life vests on board, and then it had trouble contacting the people who built the barges. Louisiana Governor Couldn't Overrule Coast Guard The governor said he didn't have the authority to overrule the Coast Guard's decision, though he said he tried to reach the White House to raise his concerns. "They promised us they were going to get it done as quickly as possible," he said. But "every time you talk to someone different at the Coast Guard, you get a different answer." After Jindal strenuously made his case, the barges finally got the go-ahead today to return to the Gulf and get back to work, after more than 24 hours of sitting idle. Along Gulf Coast, Governors Ask, 'Who's In Charge?' Fifty-nine days into the crisis, it still can be tough to figure out who is in charge in Louisiana, and the problem appears to be the same in other Gulf Coast states. In Alabama today, Gov. Bob Riley said that he's had problems with the Coast Guard, too. Riley, R-Ala., asked the Coast Guard to find ocean boom tall enough to handle strong waves and protect his shoreline. The Coast Guard went all the way to Bahrain to find it, but when it came time to deploy it? "It was picked up and moved to Louisiana," Riley said today. The governor said the problem is there's still no single person giving a "yes" or "no." While the Gulf Coast governors have developed plans with the Coast Guard's command center in the Gulf, things begin to shift when other agencies start weighing in, like the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. "It's like this huge committee down there," Riley said, "and every decision that we try to implement, any one person on that committee has absolute veto power." Copyright © 2010 ABC News Internet Ventures abcnews.go.com