Effort to Clean Up Gulf Spill Seriously Thwarted by Safety Patrol
**Written by guest-blogger Doug Powers
This is unbelievable, in a governmentally believable kind of way. We have a serious emergency in the Gulf requiring the help of every available resource, and yet the government entities in charge just can’t put down their rules, regs & safety manuals as if they’re on harbor patrol during spring break:
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.
Louisiana Governor Jindal frustrated over decision-making red tape. “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.”
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.
Why were the oil-sucking barges that were having a positive effect idled? Because… oh, just read it and weep:
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.
What? No checking to make sure the barge workers were applying the proper SPF sunscreen and wearing hardhats? Plus, the barges might be smuggling in some Dutch skimmers that haven’t yet received EPA approval — you can’t be too careful when you’re dealing with a disaster where every minute counts!
The frustrating thing about almost any government response to an emergency is that it’s hard to tell if their incompetence is deliberate or intentional — they’re so good at both.
**Written by guest-blogger Doug Powers
Twitter @ThePowersThatBe
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Categories: Gulf Oil Spill,Politics
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He shouldn’t because no good deed goes unpunished? Or was that a rhetorical question?
If that is the law then the law is an @ss
Anyone want to bet they were using non-union labor, so the unions called the coast guard and reported them for inspections?
Apparently in Okaloosa County, the Coast Guard has been overrunning booms that the County has placed without CG approval.
http://dailycaller.com/2010/06/15/floridas-okaloosa-county-goes-rogue-on-oil-spill-as-jindal-orders-national-guard-to-build-protections-off-louisiana/
http://dailycaller.com/2010/06/18/coast-guard-defends-grounding-oil-sucking-barges-in-gulf/
Many millions of gallons of oil are devastating our southern waters and coastline, changing the way of life down there forever. And ziggy trivializes it with calling the Governor of Luisiana by his childhood nickname. Such pettiness in the face of a major catastophe is stunning if not delusional.
And yet, it perfectly illustrates the point of the story. Thanks ziggy.
I guess my friend zyzzyg isn’t going to help me out, and tell me what is wrong with the name “Piyush”. I guess I’ll just have to go with it.
At least I won’t name her something really stupid and insulting, like zyzzyg…
Sounds like we are at war with the Coast Guard, doesn’t it? Yikes!!
http://hindenblog1.blogspot.com/2010/06/crash-stuck-on-stupid-government.html
My effort thus far today.
BIG GOVERNMENT mandates disaster.
It will follow as night follows day.
Gov. Jindal should start ordering any Air National Guard units in Louisiana to start making runs on any Coast Guard vessels damaging protective booms. This is insane. Like I said, the feds don’t want this spill stopped and they don’t want to prevent or clean up the mess down there. It can’t be any more clear.
The federal government is actively preventing states and localities from protecting their residents from this disaster.
Does anyone doubt that OBambi & Crew are purposely disrupting and hindering damage control efforts in the Gulf? Can you imagine what they intend to do if/when we have another terrorist attacked? What would our country look like today if Obama & associates had been in office September 11, 2001? Can we survive it with them in charge now?
Great column, Rags! And I will say it again…this is the same government that plans to RUN OUR HEALTH CARE! God help us.
Right, Scrappy, they will bring disaster into our individual lives, and in myriad ways. They can’t help it.
Nobody is going to do that to my health. I will not submit myself to them, which is what I think all of us have a duty to do. ObamaCare has to be the most disobeyed law in history.
$7-a-gallon gas?
The folly of O’s oil-spill ‘fix’
Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/gallon_gas_9GlF3o1xIcIBelOV3k0RsK#ixzz0rDvf9J9i
Bambi did tell us we can not drive our SUVs without permission now didn’t he? Millions of barrels of that oil could have been recovered w/o Bambi’s interference.
If the price does jump a lot the first week in November would be a good time.
I seriously doubt that ANYONE with a brain will vote democrat in Louisiana this Nov. The democrats are destroying that state. If there was a democrat Governor, would this be happening? Of course, we will never know, but I don’t think so.
As for not obeying the HealthCare mandate…how do we not obey it? If we want health care, don’t we have to fall in line? This is truly scary. I am getting up in years…will be 68 this November…and take various medications. I have had a couple health scares just this year. How do I disobey the mandate?? I guess I just need to stock up on those “pills” Obama was talking about. But just between you and me, I suspect I will outlive that jerk. He is going under the bus very very soon and will be expendable to the hand that holds the sock puppet. Just wait.
If people could control the price of oil, as some believe, that would be an EXCELLENT time to control it UP.
I think that we should pay our taxes in November, too….
Scrappy, speaking only for misef, I have a very salty old doc who is also off the reservation on ObamaCare. He does not take Medi-whatever now. I pay him actual money, and he provides me actual care.
A great system.
He’s signaled that he will practice the way he has been. There are others like him, too.
The environmentalists must have some deal with this administration because they are silent about this administration deliberately blocking progress in the clean-up process.
Of course, most yellow-dog welfare democrats were “flushed” to Houston after Katrina.
Why do you think we have a lesbian mayor and the largest abortion clinic in the nation???
That works great for normal health care. But what about illnesses like cancer? Or even a 4-day hospital stay for pneumonia like I had in January? Without good insurance, we would have been in real trouble. I had three CT scans, for example. My husband and I are stuck with Medicare ( mandated by the Government!), plus a BlueCross/BlueShield supplement which pretty much covers everything. It is a bit expensive, but worth it!! I love my Doctor and don’t want to lose him. The health care issue is one of the biggest threats to this country I can think of. It affects absolutely EVERYONE and we will be at the mercy of Big Brother. Sorry for going off-topic. I am a bit emotional about this subject.
http://hindenblog1.blogspot.com/2010/06/burn-caption-of-day-contest.html
The subject of my first “Caption Of The Day Contest”? Harry Reid.
Scrappy, each of us has to do what circumstances allow. Nobody…least of all me…feels like one size fits all here. I hope you are blessed with lots of years of fine health, you and Mr. Scrappy.
Here’s a theory (tin-foil hat time):
Obambi sees Bobby Jindal as a potential threat in 2012, so he is deliberately stalling the Federal response to overwhelm Jindal by the crisis.
If so, his plan is backfiring, because Gov Jindal is looking like the only real leader in this incident.
There are alternatives to health insurance. Just as there are alternatives to waiting on the feds to do something. Jindal should have thumbed his nose at these bureaucratic morons weeks ago. Let’s see Obama try and arrest Jindal for doing Obama’s job!
Somebody, somewhere needs to stand up and just say “enough is enough.” Going “John Galt” is a good first step but simply telling the feds “no” has got to happen some time or we lose…
Second War’s comments.
Thanks, Rags! We are doing our best to stay healthy. Good diet, exercise, etc. Can’t do much more than that. The rest is up to God. Not even Obama can overrule HIM!
Saw on Drudge – Hayward has been relieved of managerial duties @ BP.
I am sure that “I WON” is proud of that.
Hot Air is reporting that the MSM pretty much confirms the Hildabeast’s statement about the DOJ suing Arizona.
This will be fun…
ANOTHER Obama disaster.
No duh… bring.it.on.
Don’t expect Holder to play by the rules. What you can expect is Chicago Thug-like arm twisting and brass knuckles.
Gov. Brewer should fight dirty right out of the gate.
And re: Louisiana, Gov. Jindal should publicly state that Obama should stay out of Louisiana since he is of little no use in this situation.
I certainly wasn’t expecting that response, Arizona! But thank you.
Obama did not know himself, before Hillary said so on Ecquador TV.
He was still in his Dither Mode Do Loop (Whoa, quoting the FORTRAN and showing my age…). After Hillary made her statement, he had to go along, otherwise the perception that he was weak would be politically damaging.
The White House is completely reactive, now. Jindal is so far inside their OODA loop, they don’t have a clue what is going to happen next. They don’t know what to do, and Obama is just trying to remember the Safe Word…(I think it’s “PALAMINO”…)
Obama not JAEL after all epic FAEL Obama’s Crypt-o-nite.
If they have to count the fire extinguishers and life vests on board, couldn’t they do it one barge at a time while the other 15 barges continued to work? There’s no way they would be doing this to Louisiana if Gov. Bobby Jindal was a democrat.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gfnmDGk0KM&feature=related
Watch that.
Thanks for the vid link Rags……awesome.
oooRAH, Rags. Thanks.
There is nothing wrong with the name Piyush. That is his name. You are like so many liberals who get aggitated when someone says, Barrack Hussein Obama. That is the President’s name.
Calling someone by their should not detract from any point, however the name appears to bother you. Does it? What do you have against the name Piyush?
And, exactly how am I making the problem worse? How far away is what I said from what was said in post #4?
If you truly believe in the righteousness of your position then you should be willing to accept the consequences of your actions. The Founders did it against the legal authority of the time. Civil Rights protesters did it against the standing practices, and in some cases the laws, of the time. Should Piyush do it?
Yep, the Coast Guard has jurisdiction, as did the British, and our Founders broke the law because they truly believed in their positions. The Founders were prepared to suffer the consequences of their actions, because they believed they were doing the right thing. History proved them correct.
Yep, an excellant example of when you should take an alternative track and avoid dealing with knuckleheads, like Blanco.
Pres Bush could have Nationalized the State Guard, as has happened in the past. Yes, during the Civil Rights era. But, Pres Bush did not have the inclination in implementing an option that was available to him.
Piyush is his given name. I have not made fun of his name, but have respected the will of his parents, who gave him that name.
By using the name his parents gave him?
Nope. Other posters do far worse.
I used the man’s actual given name. I did not make fun of it. I did not twist it into something demeaning. Piyush is his name and I used it.
You are getting bent out of shape because I used his given name. It says more about you than it does about the respect I have for his parents naming him Piyush and my using it.
Cut and paste exactly where I made fun of the name Piyush.
On June 18th, 2010 at 9:21 pm, zyzzyg said:
You’ll claim that you didn’t “make fun of the name Piyush”, but you communicated disrespect for the Governor by not calling him Governor. You didn’t even call him by the name he calls himself. If your intent was not to disrespect him, and not to “make fun” of him, then what was your intent?
You are comparing and contratsing my use of the man’s actual given, Piyush, to made-up sobriquets.
You are welcome to use Barry Sotero and Odumbo. I have never taken anyone to task over that. But, you are taking me to task for using Piyush? Jindal’s given name.
It says more about you than it does about me.
Go back to ignoring me.
Piyush is his name. If you see something wrong with that, then it is on you.
Sounds like the Obama administration wants to keep us dependent on Communist and Islamic countries to supply our oil needs.
I officially repent for feeding the troll.
Nope. People like you are making it a big deal. Piyush is his given name. Why do you have a problem when it is used?
Piyush is his legal given name. You do not have to like it.
This is the only time in all of your posts that you have ever gone out of your way to call a person involved in a posted story in this manner.
No Barack, Bill, Van, Ray, Hillary, Al, George, Dick, John, Harry, Nancy, Charlie, Barney, Sarah, Barbara, Kay, Mark, Rudy, et. all. Never happened.
I can’t speculate on your motivation for singling out Governor Jindahl as it is likely irrational.
I plan to clean the cat box as my act of contrition….
Seeing as how “Piyush” is a traditional name in Louisiana, I don’t know why zyzzyg finds it at all remarkable that Bob and Jenny Jindal, long time residents of the Bayou and members of respected and ancient Louisiana families, would choose this name for their son.
and yet Newsweek writes an article about what the Tea Parties supposedly would do ending with the “lay off BO, he’s trying” theory.
One thing the Tea Party would do (not mentioned of course at Newsweek) is USE THE HELP OFFERED!
Not sure about fire extinguishers and life jackets? BUY THEM. The cost of these items can’t equate to the cost of 16 skimmers sitting empty.
Piyush? Is that more unusual than Barack Hussein?
http://hindenblog1.blogspot.com/2010/06/crash-deepwater-horizon-known-problem.html
Interesting story out today that clears up a lot about the Deepwater Horizon.
The account is interesting but doesn’t explain a couple of things. Tony Hayword could/should have been able to answer the moronic congressman with a simple: The blow-out occured during the plug-and-abandon operation. Question 2; What was the argument (between rig boss & BP’s company rep) about just prior to the blow-out?
Yep. We still have lots to know. Did my piece help with your understanding, though?
But I guess getting in some rounds of golf, flying around on AF-1 to ‘celebrate’ some road project in Ohio are OK? Not that I agree with what Hayward did (I think he should be nominated for Clueless of the Year, though he would have tough competition from Napalitanio(sp?)).
Rags, the piece was helpful, I am retired PE, formerly known as “Oilfield Trash”. Never worked offshore, primarily TX, OK,CA,IL……As to BP’s actions, too many unknown factors in drilling exploratory wells at that depth. I suspect that they and all of the “Big Sisters” are doing what they can. The Obama administration is another story, they are either the most clueless group of people on earth or they are purposely exascerbating the problem. I think the latter.
Liar. I didn’t make it a big deal. And it certainly was your intent from the start.
The southern states did it in mid-19th century. That worked out great for them.