THE Oil Spill

[StlSluggers]

So why isn't there a thread here on this?

Are we all just too afraid to talk about it?

[woodson_28]

I've been on it since Day 1... I just haven't told anybody.

[Art Vandelay]

Link? I've heard some people talking about this, but I have to claim ignorance...what are you guys talking about?

[StlSluggers]

I read today that there are some in Congress calling for punitive fines of $100B or more designed to purposely bankrupt BP.

[The Artful Dodger]

Did said oil spill happen recently (<5 years)?

[RedHopeful]

I'm not in the mood to talk about it since it's my backyard (live in Mobile). Jokes don't bother me either, but I still feel most people don't understand how bad it is. Over in Pensacola, it's really washing up on the beach and it was closed earlier this week for 3 days. Heavy machinary and BP workers currently dominate the scene, not tourists. Ripple effect is hotels are recording a ton of cancellations. As you can imagine the rest of the local economy gets hurt as well such as restaurants, stores, etc. Don't even want to get into all those that depend on the water such as fishermen for their immediate livelihood.

Environmentally, it is really wrecking havoc too. In talking to a guy who I randomly met at blockbuster (he's responsible for setting up BP's computer network in Mobile) it's alot worse than the public knows. Boats out in the ocean are running into all sorts of dead wildlife such as a number of dead dolphins. Oysters won't likely be edible for at least 4 years in contaminated areas. They still aren't sure how long fish and other sources of food will be N/A.

Most of the allure that is the Gulf Shores won't likely be the same for a really long time for most residents down here.

EDIT: Forgot to mention that many have put their last bit of hope into Kevin Costner's Miracle Healing Powers.

[jfg]

The only thing I could say is that people should boycott BP but in reality every other oil company could have the same thing happen tomorrow because of bad management somewhere down the line or on top. It's a dirty business, one that we should be trying to get away from but efforts are always futile because of lobbyists, money or sometimes even the companies coming up with the alternatives.

[Metroid]

...but I still feel most people don't understand how bad it is.

Oh I think we do, at least I do. I'm just about as far as you can get from the region in the U.S. and I fully understand just how bad it is. When you hear, "worst oil leak in history" and "worst environmental disaster in history" you kinda know it's REALLY bad.

It's leaking between 1.47 million and 2.52 million gallons a day of oil......maybe the world really is going to end in 2012.

[Grounded Polo]

It's just too bad that this was caused by a company so indestructible like BP. These articles keep coming out about how much oil is spilling out and all of these solutions but we're still no farther than we were when this happened. No one has a clue how to stop this or how much is coming out. This is far from over and will only get worse in another month when the hurricanes start coming to the gulf coast. It's pretty much destroying the entire economy that's left in the South and relief won't come soon enough. Too many people are losing their livelihoods and once they lose it, they'll never get it back.

I work in Oil and Gas and it makes me sick to my stomach that I set up payments for millions of dollars to BP on a weekly basis.

[Metroid]

They have a clue how to stop it, it's just not gonna happen quick. Relief wells are the only thing that's ever worked in the past and that's what BP is doing right now. They began drilling the relief wells May 2, at that time the best case scenario had them being completed in 3 months. That's not to say the leak will be stopped in 3 months, but that's the timetable for the completion of the only fix that's ever worked....keep your fingers crossed that it does.