North Atlantic Right whales, named 'right' because because whaling crews found them to be the right whale to kill. They moved slowly and stayed close to the surface of the water.
The North Atlantic right whales are getting a break from some hit and run traffic at sea. Last year Canada proposed that the Roseway Bay be designated an 'Area to Be Avoided". June 1 through December, ships 300 tons and larger are voluntarily avoiding their regular routes in order to avoid hitting the right whales.
One container ship captain told CNN the 'Area to Be Avoided' only has a negligible impact on fuel consumption. It's estimated the diversion will add less than 10 minutes to a 16-hour voyage.
The idea is voluntary, but it seems like in the first month of the new program many of the ships are bypassing the right whales paths. 52 ships avoided the area, but another 35 still passed through the new 'safe zone'. Maybe this is a good idea that will catch on.
In 2003 the the Bay of Fundy became an ATBA, area to be avoided and it reduced the risk by about 90%.
No one likes to be run over while dinning, or for that matter procreating. Both are important things for the right whale to be doing as it is estimated there are only about 350 North Atlantic right whales left in the whole world.
This is a very good idea.
Fishing rope entanglement is one more reason the North Atlantic right whales are dwindling. In 2005 an estimated 72% of them experienced a run in with fishing net, lines and ropes. This evidenced by the lasting scars. The whales can have the lines embed in them causing infections and death.
The North Atlantic right whale was hunted by New England Whalers as early as the 1600's. Large amounts of oil from their blubber was used for fuel and they made whips and combs from their jaws. Once killed their carcasses float.
It's been more than 100 years since they were hunted off the coasts of New England. They never made a comeback.
Photo Thanks:
#1 Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
#2Wildlife Trust/NOAA fisheries
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The U.S. Coast Guard reports 3 tug boats are holding up the barge that was being towed by the Mel Oliver. The river is coated with oil for 100 miles from the center of New Orleans to the Gulf of Mexico.
There is confirmation that the tugboat was being operated without a properly licensed pilot at the time of the accident.
Photo thanks: Petty Officer 2nd Class Chris Lippert
Labels: Area to Be Avoided, Mississippi River, North Atlantic right whale, oil spill, U.S. Coast Guard
© 2009, Pacific Spirit Marine Institute.
www.pacificspirit.org
The 'Right Stuff' for the Right Whales.
Early reports say the Coast Guard is investigating a report that crew on the tugboat Mel Oliver was unlicensed.
Safety at Sea international is reporting DRD towing tug the Mel Oliver representatives have told the Coast Guard that one crewman aboard had an apprentice mate's license and that none of the others aboard were licensed at all.
I've found some information on tugboat crews.
A typical crew may consist of Deckhands, the number of which depends on the horsepower of the boat and the size of the tow. Deckhand is an entry level position. More experienced deckhands may pickup a tankerman certification.
Engineer. Each boat has a single, assigned engineer who is always certificated as a tnakerman. Engineer is an unlicensed position.
Tankerman. By regulation, the loading and offloading of a tankbarge with a flammable, liquid cargo must be supervised by an individual certificated by the Coast Guard as a tankerman. Some tankermen are contract employees (not a member of the crew) to load and offload a barge.
Pilot. Each boat has one pilot which IS a licensed position. The Pilot shares navigation responsibilities with the Master.
Master. Each boat has one master which IS a licensed position. The Master shares navigation responsibilities with the Pilot and has overall managerial responsibility for the boat.
On the Mississippi River there is the navigable portion of the Upper Mississippi (UMR) the Lower Mississippi (LMR) and the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway (GICW) which is approximately New Orleans to Galveston.
The maximum size of a tow is determined by the dimensions of lock chambers it must pass through. Locks limit tows, typically, to 6 barges on the Upper Mississippi.
There are no locks on the Lower Mississippi. Tows on the Lower Mississippi could be as many as 40 barges lashed together.
The GICW, Gulf Intracoastal Waterway between New Orleans and Galveston is constricted in many locations and the typical tow does not exceed 3 barges.
Labels: Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, Mississippi River, oil spill, oil tanker, tugboat, U.S. Coast Guard, video
© 2009, Pacific Spirit Marine Institute.
www.pacificspirit.org
T-boned barge on the Mississippi may have been pushed by an unlicensed apprentice.
More of that renewable resource; Irony.
It turns out American Commercial lines Inc., that's the company that owns the barge that is hemorrhaging 420,000 gallons of tar-like No. 6 fuel oil into the Mississippi, is in a 'distinctly unique position' to deal with just such an event!
In April 2008 American Lines Inc. acquired the final 70% Summit Contracting, LLC. They already owned 30% of Summit since May 2007.
Diving into a huge helping of irony, It turns out Summit's expertise happens to be in environmental services.
What kind of 'environmental services'?
Summit offers emergency response and environmental remediation among other services. When accidents such as this one threaten the environment Summit may have been one of the companies called in to contain, and cleanup the mess.
Environmental remediation will certainly be among the services needed to clean up the accident American Commercial Lines was involved with this day. The Founder of Summit Contracting who had an environmental services and civil engineering background was to stay on and lead Summit as a subsidiary of American Commercial Lines.
In a press statement American Commercial Lines Inc. said the Acquisition of Summit "Uniquely Positions ACL to Serve Chemical and Energy Companies."
Your results may vary.
'Forward looking statements' are based on present expectations and beliefs about future events.
American Commercial Lines Inc., reported approximately $1 Billion as of December 31, 2007.
Forward looking statements are inherently susceptible to risks, uncertainty and changes in circumstance.
This gives new meaning to 'cleaning up after yourself'.
Did Dolly do it?
Weather conditions this morning at 1:30 a.m., reportedly the time of the accident between the Tintomara and the ACL barge, were a lovely and light 3 to 4 mph, gusting now and again to 7 mph. Weather had nothing to do with this accident. Maybe darkness played a part. The Tintomara can travel at a top speed of 14.2 knots fully ladened.
As the Mississippi snakes it's way to the Gulf of Mexico from this area, it would be hard to belive that the tanker was traveling at its top speed in the dark in this high traffic area. With Class Det Norske Veritas, +1A1 hull the Tintomara was loaded with both biodiesel and styrene.
Photo Thanks:
Peter Langsdale Tintomara Feb. 2008 dry docked Gothenburg.
Weather Graphs, Weatherunderground.
Labels: American Commercial Lines Inc., Environment, Mississippi River, oil spill, oil tanker, Summit Contracting
© 2009, Pacific Spirit Marine Institute.
www.pacificspirit.org
Company Cleaning Oil spill on the Mississippi also owns the barge spilling the oil!
Annell Bay, vice president of exploration for Shell in the Americas,
February 2008......"This is a tremendous opportunity, and with that comes a tremendous responsibility to Alaska and the offshore area,"......
Been there done that! Talk is so cheap.
Shell bid a record-breaking $105.3 for one of 448 tracts that went on the auction block in Alaska's Chukchi Sea.
Don Cornett, Exxon, was the guy that told the citizens of Prince William Sound in 1989 "You have had some good luck and you don't even realize it. You have Exxon and we do business straight."
Cornett must have been thinking of the straight shot he would be firing off at consumers when gas prices rose 8 cents per gallon nation wide after the spill and admitted that Exxon would add some of the cleanup costs to the price of its products. Cornett said," "If it gets to the consumer, that's where it gets. It's just like any other cost of doing business."
Exxon's profits in 1988 were $5.3 BILLION. Exxon Mobil profited a staggering $1,287.00 per second for every second of 2007, $40.61 Billion.
After 500,000 gallons, that's half a million gallons of oil shot into the Arthur Kill waterway between Jew Jersey and Staten Island from a leaking pipeline on January 1, 1990, Douglas Walt, spokesman for Exxon in Linden, N.J., acknowledged that there had been "regrettable accidents," but defended the company's overall
environmental record.
Earlier this month ConocoPhillips, Shell, Marathon, Chevron and BP about 12 oil companies that reached a settlement for knowingly contaminating the drinking water of some 153 municipal water providers in 17 states. Exxon was one of 6 companies that did not settle. The oil companies added methyl tertiary butyl ether,(MTBE) to their gasoline to reduce air pollution and hid information showing MTBE causes massive contamination when discharged into the air.
Bill Day, Valero "The settlement agreement is being reviewed by the court and is not yet final." Bill Tanner, ConocoPhillips "...there are still other issues that are outstanding, that are still subject to litigation." Don Campbell, Chevron...declined to comment. Valerie Corr, BP didn't immediately return requests for comments along with Thomas Golembeski, Sunoco and the oil companies lawyers
James Pardo, and Peter Sacripanti....Linda Casey, Marathon, 'We consider our portion of the settlement to be minor." "It's not material to the company."
The same mistakes are being made today that were made more than 20 years ago in Alaska when the oil companies 'promised to use great care to avoid a spill'. Knowing Alaska was not equipped to contain a large oil spill and that more than 8.4 million gallons couldn't be contained and would result in long term adverse consequences to the environment.
Exxon knew the icy waters of Prince William Sound were extremely treacherous to move supertankers through; and yet they knowingly allowed a known drunkard and relapsed alcoholic to operate the Valdez. Hazelwood wasn't even allowed to drive a car to the Quicky Mart for a doughnut, having lost his license for driving drunk.
The fox doesn't have a very good record when it comes to guarding the hens. A glance at the oil industry's safety record indicates there is a wolf dressed up in sheep's, or in this case a polar Bear's clothing. Did you get the polar bear memo?
Please link over to our friends at PEER and read the full details on what is really going on...Read how the Interior Department deals with it's own scientists when there is dissent.
Read internal emails
Read how scientific warnings on the dangers of the oil industry's new stampede into Arctic drilling are being disregarded.
The Whole Truth Prince William Sound, Alaska History of the Spill
Polar Bears Message
Labels: Alaska, Arctic, Department of Interior, DOI, ExxonMobil, MTBE, oil, oil spill, oil tanker, PEER, Polar Bear, Polar Bear and Dog, Shell, Valdez
© 2009, Pacific Spirit Marine Institute.
www.pacificspirit.org
Beware of wolves in sheep's clothing. Cheap talk from some expensive oil reps.
The winds weren't strong and the waves weren't high. So what caused yet another oil tanker accident in South Korean waters?
Yeosu, meaning 'beautiful waters' is the location of the latest oil tanker accident to hit South Korean waters. The collision was between Heungyang a 4,050 ton tanker and the 90 ton 801 Changnyeong, this according to chosun.com.
The spill was 'light' when comparing it to the spill late last year that took place off the coast of Mallipo. That spill contaminated the Yellow Sea with more than 12 thousand kiloliters of oil. The devestating effects of that spill still have yet to be calculated in totality. This latest accident is said to have spilled only 50 kiloliters of diesel oil. The Coast guard said the damage from the latest collision will cause only minor damage, as diesel oil evaporates easily.
The accident is being reported by ABC news that the tanker collided with a small boat.
Meanwhile residents in the Taean area may see some financial relief coming their way but, not until the middle of June. The Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs announced a special law to support residents affected by the December 7, 2007 tragedy. The rules on compensation should be finalized by late May.
The International Oil Pollution Compensation Funds have agreed to hand out up to $300.8 million dollars to those suffering in the aftermath of the Hebei Spirit Oil Spill. The government estimates about 45,000 households have been crushed under the weight of the oil spill.
Labels: Hebei Spirit, Mallipo, oil spill, oil tanker, South Korea, Taean
© 2009, Pacific Spirit Marine Institute.
www.pacificspirit.org
Another Tanker Accident. South Korea.
Nearly two months after South Korea experienced the worst oil spill in it's history the beaches around the Taean Coast still show the aftermath. Not so easily seen is the aftermath left in the souls of families that made their living there.
More than a million volunteers have braved wretched weather to help in the cleanup. Senior citizens sang as they try to clear the mudflats of nearly frozen oil sludge that has laid waste to the area. One 78 year old woman working in the freezing conditions used to make enough money to support herself and her ailing husband shucking oysters in the same mudflats she is helping to heal. She tells Kim Seong-ryong in the JoongAng Daily she feels devastated and she hopes she can shuck oysters again. Until then she sings as she cleans the mudflats.
It may be years before anyone will shuck oysters in Taean. Just two months ago Taean was a thriving and beautiful tourist destination. 20,000 households operated resorts, restaurants catering to the tourists. 10,000 households made a living from fishing in the area. Now there is nothing left but the spirit of the people. For some the blow of the oil spill was too much for the spirit. Channel NewsAsia is reporting there have been 3 suicides as a result of this horrible disaster.
The government acted swiftly to declare 6 of the affected cities and counties 'special disaster' status paving the way for aid to be distributed faster. Victims are still waiting. One man, a fish seller, set himself on at a during a protest earlier this month and later died. Unless aid comes quickly he may not be the last suicide.
Thousands of people were demanding answers to how they would be justly compensated. About 64 million dollars have been sent to the disaster areas. Half of that money has been raised by the private sector, but it so far has not been distributed to those in need. Reportedly officials cannot agree on how the money should be spent.In the mean time lives already in trouble are being ruined.
A Korean court ordered the Hebei Spirit to be seized on December 24 in an effort to make her owners pay for the cleanup costs from the disaster. Samsung No.1 struck the Hebei Spirit while it was moored.
The estimated cleanup will run over 10 billion dollars. Under Korea's maritime laws the oil tanker has the responsibility to help pay for the cleanup.
Meanwhile, Samsung Heavy Industries is saying they are sorry. "We are sorry for causing a big shock and concern to the public," Samsung Heavy Industries was charged earlier this week along with 5 individuals 2 are being held in custody and 3 more have been told not to leave the country.
Photo thanks: Lee Jin-man
Labels: Hebei Spirit, oil spill, oil tanker, Samsung Heavy Industries, Samsung No.1, South Korea, Taean
© 2009, Pacific Spirit Marine Institute.
www.pacificspirit.org
Suicides and Despair Resulting From Hebei Spirit Oil Spill. Samsung Heavy Industries apologizes.
South Korea's Government faces accusations that it acted too slowly in its response to the horrible oil spill that happened on Friday. Perhaps the slowness isn't in the time it took the government to respond to the accident on Friday, but the time it has taken to respond to the increased maritime traffic in the area.
South Korea's ports are heavily traveled with cargo vessels ladened with exports, and other ships bringing in fuel and imported goods. Traffic control in the heavily traveled Yellow Sea will no doubt undergo some heavy scrutiny.
Investigators looking into what may have gone wrong before Friday's accident that left three holes in the Hebei Spirit. The single hulled tanker lost approximately 66,000 barrels of crude oil. It's amazing that three of her 6 cargo holds were punctured.
The crane barge, the Samsung No.1 and it's tug were reportedly not where they belonged for more than an hour before the collision took place. It is also rumored today that cables and connections had not been inspected before the tug began towing the more than 11,000 ton crane back to Samsung Heavy Industries from Incheon.
The government has promised 5.9 billion won (6.4 million dollars) will be available immediately to help local fisherman and business owners cope with the economic hardships that have already begun due to the oil spill.
Beaches are being fouled and aqua-farms are wiped out. Fishermen at Uihangri village, are saying "It is a complete disaster," Tourism, which brings in more than 20 million tourists a year to the area, will be finished for quite some time putting financial hardship on hotels and restaurants. Many business owners are afraid they won't survive even with sate funds to help out.
The oil has hit destroyed more than 180 aqua-farms in the area and 14 beaches. The farms grow abalone, oysters, littleneck clams and sea cucumbers.
Photo Thanks Nytimesonline slideshow
Labels: aquaculture, Hebei Spirit, oil spill, oil tanker, South Korea
© 2009, Pacific Spirit Marine Institute.
www.pacificspirit.org
The Korean government declared a state of disaster on Saturday, Dec.8, due to the oil spill off Mallipo Beach. Taean County and 5 surrounding counites were named. South Cheongcheong Province plans to ask that Taean County be further named a "special disaster area" apparently enabling them to receive future tax breaks and more government assistance to restore the local economy. Commerce will likely be affected adversly for years to come.
Many reports say the oil has stopped spilling from the Hong Kong-registered Hebei Spirit but, Korea Net is reporting officials as saying that as of 5 p.m. December 8, 17 kilometers of coast line of South Chungcheong province has been covered by the oil slick. The oil pushed by tides and wind and the oil still leaking from the tanker.
President Roh Moo-hyun has instructed government officials to take measures to minimize the damage from the oil
spill Korean maritime police have sent 103 ships and 5 helicopters to the scene of the oil slick. They have built
4.2 km of oil trapping fence. Efforts to trap the oil before it reaches the shore line haven't stopped the oil
from coating the once beautiful white-sand beaches of Mallipo Bay, which is no wonder considering the estimate of
2.7 million gallons of crude oil floating on the water.
There are approximately 181 aqua-culture farms in the affected area which cover about 5,650 hectares. British
Lloyd P&I, the company insuring the Samsung NO.1. may be shelling out 300 billion won ($330 million) along with the International Oil Pollution Compensation Fund. Government officials are hoping affected fish and seafood farmers will be compensated quickly but have not porvided any details yet.
Nearly 8,000 workers are working at a fever pitch to clear the beaches of the gloopy oil as it comes ashore. Samsung Heavy industires has sent hundreds of its employees to the affected area to help in the clean up efforts.
Apparently Samsung Group is under investigation regarding a 'slush fund scandal'. Bad luck usually comes in threes so Samsung's bad luck may be nearing an end.
Investigators looking into what may have happened causing the largest oil spill in South Korea's history suspect the towing vessel failed to get warnings from the control tower giving them instructions on how to avoid the supertanker Hebei Spirit. There may have been a communications breakdown. Whether or not this was an equipment or a human breakdown has not been made clear. Still others investigating the accident believe the tow lines from the barge to the tow may have been broken during strong winds and high waves.
Photo Thanks cnn.com
Labels: Hebei Spirit, Mallipo, oil spill, South Korea, Yellow Sea
© 2009, Pacific Spirit Marine Institute.
www.pacificspirit.org
State of Disaster Declared After Oil Spill in Yellow Sea
This is a dead dunlin simply fallen from the sky exhausted. The Saemangeum land reclamation project, said to be the world's largest, has been spilling hard feelings, dead birds and a vast array of wildlife upon the edge of the Yellow Sea for years.
The project covers an area 7 times the size of Manhattan, somewhere in the neighborhood of 155 sq. miles. The Saemangeum land reclamation project is only a few miles south of Friday's oil spill,as the migratory "crow flies".
South Korea hatched the reclamation project after the Korean War. Originally the reclaimed land was slated for agriculture. Once the tidal flats, vital to the migratory birds of the East Asian-Australasian Flyway, were filled the land would increase arable land for rice paddies.
What seemed like a good idea in 1953,for a nation trying to rise up from the turmoil war, turned out to be unnecessary. South Korea was able to produce a massive rice surplus in the face of inefficient agricultural methods. The reclamation project went forward in spite of there being no real agricultural need providing construction work and much needed employment.
The allure of sea side tourism and the prospect of generating perhaps more than 1 billion dollars a year from tourists the Saemangeum project moved ever forward. There was also an enticing prospect of building the worlds largest golf course with more than 500 holes. Countries across the globe have been developing sea side resorts for as long as humans have sought the surf and sand. Forever?
Nearly 80% of the Mediterranean Sea has been developed for tourism. Some places like Valencia in Spain, realized some 20 years ago, it was critical to the environment to reverse the damage that has been done their coastal areas.
More than 1,600 species of life call the Korean Yellow Sea Home. Life in, along, and passing through the Yellow sea range from 70 types of phytoplankton to 500 marine invertebrates, 150 types of fishes, 230 water birds and at least 10 kinds of marine mammals. The reclamation project has resulted in the loss of at least 25% of the total tidal flats in Korea have been lost. Just one of the arguments to continue the project was; more than 300,000 birds that stop at the tidal flats will find another place to refuel. Mallipo perhaps?
"Mallipo is finished" said Choi Kyung-hwan a local fisherman who had come out to help with the cleanup.
Photo thanks www.birdskorea.org
Labels: Hebei Spirit, migratory birds, oil spill, oil tanker, Saemangeum
© 2009, Pacific Spirit Marine Institute.
www.pacificspirit.org
Hebei Spirit Oil Spill May Have Dealt Final Blow After Saemangeum to Migratory Birds.
The Taipei Times is reporting loose ropes linking the Samsung No.1, owned by Samsung Heavy Industries, to it's tow may have been a contributing factor in Friday's oil spill off the coast of South Korea. The crane barge, Samsung No.1 and the Hebei Spirit collided causing the worst oil spill in South Korea's history.
The barge which had a crane onboard was on it's way to build a bridge in the western port city of Incheon, it was being towed by another vessel.
An Official with the ministry of maritime affairs and fisheries says initial investigations showed loose ropes linked to the towing vessel might have caused the accident. YonHap news is reporting the tow ropes broke in strong winds and high waves. Waves as high as 13 feet were being reported at the time of the collision.
3 small tankers have been dispatched to the listing Hebei Spirit to pump some of the remaining oil from her before it has a chance to spill. Oil is still spilling from the 3 holes on her port side the spill is threatening the white-sand beaches of one of Asia's largest wetlands. Officials fear the oil spilled could reach the coast of the Taean Maritime National Park by Sunday.
It's still unknown exactly how much crude oil has been leaked out so far.
Labels: Hebei Spirit, oil spill, oil tanker, Samsung Heavy Industries, Samsung No.1, Taean Maritime National Park
© 2009, Pacific Spirit Marine Institute.
www.pacificspirit.org
Samsung No.1 May Have Broken Tow Ropes Before Crashing Into Hebei Spirit.
Waves were too high to use floating booms to contain the oil already leaking from the Hong Kong registered Hebei Spirit. The Hebei Spirit says it had a collision with a crane barge owned by Samsung Heavy Industries.
The tanker was said to be enroute to a Daesan refinery. It is now being reported that the Hebei Spirit was approximatly 5 miles out of port waiting to unload 260,000 tons of crude oil. According to South Korea's maritime ministry "A barge ship being towed...collided with the oil tanker at anchor."
Officials are saying the spill could reach shore in less than 48 hours. The Taean Peninsula is home to Taean Maritime National Park. 530 Km of silvery white-sand beaches. The Maritime and Fisheries Ministry is reporting 40 vessels fighting the oil spill. "Much will depend on how the sea currents move in coming hours."
The oil spill is already more than 5 km long and is approaching wildlife habitats and oyster beds. This area is also an important stop to migratory birds.
The last oil spilled from a tanker in this part of the world was in 1995 when nearly 31,000 barrels of crude oil were spilled off the southern coast.
Labels: Hebei Spirit, oil spill, oil tanker, Taean Maritime National Park
© 2009, Pacific Spirit Marine Institute.
www.pacificspirit.org
13 Foot Waves May Have Contributed To Tanker Accident and Hamper Containment of Oil Spill
The South China morning press is reporting a crane-carrying vessel slammed into a Hong Kong-registered oil tanker causing it to lose 66,000 barrels of crude oil.
The cause of the accident at this time is as varied as the location of the. Yonhap News Agency has the tanker hitting a piece of loading equipment on a dock in the port of Taenan south of Seoul and has leaked 15,000 tonnes of crude oil. Bloomberg is reporting the tanker, Hebei Spirit as actually 'at anchor' when the accident happened.
The Hebei Spirit is a single hull oil tanker. A law requiring all tankers have double hulls will go into effect in 2010.
In the mean time the debate rages on over the real value of double hulled vessels as opposed to single hulled, just as the debate over the 'real' cause of global warming rages on. One has to wonder how an additional layer of protection would be deleterious in any case. Just as abstaining is safer than having protection during sex, the absences of accidents would be safer for our environment. Realistically neither is ever going to happen so for now another layer of protection seems to definetely in order.
There are 3 holes in the side of the Hebei Spirit. At this time we don't know if the crane was on a barge or on a dock, but the tanker has leaked a tremendous amount of crude oil causing yet another environmental tragedy.
If the 66,000 barrel spill is a correct amount and no more oil will be lost, this is about 1/3 the size of the Exxon Valdez spill of 1989.
Labels: Hebei Spirit, oil spill, oil tanker
© 2009, Pacific Spirit Marine Institute.
www.pacificspirit.org
Hebei Spirit; Another Oil Tanker Accident!
Lief Toudal Pedersen, at the Danish National Space Center is saying we have lost about 1/2 million square miles of Arctic ice since 2005. He is feeling we will loose more ice faster than expected.
The Arctic ice is the at its lowest level since images were first taken in 1978.
Now a lip-smacking development seems to be placed upon the plates of nearly the entire world of commerce. An open Northwest Passage would cut the trip from the eastern Atlantic to the western Pacific in 1/2.
At this point it is believed that the route will not be open all year, but many scientists do believe that will not be the case in the future. There are still vast amounts of sea ice, multi-year ice packs, that remain even throughout the summer. At the rate we are seeing ice disappear this may not be the case in the near future.
Will less miles traveled by ships mean less pollution? This is naturally the case that will be made by commerce. Anyone that has ever passed by the smoking lounge in an airport when the door is being opened can't agree with that notion.
Ships rolling through the small Passage, in large numbers will no doubt have the same effect on the environment as placing 15 smokers in a contained room.
Without having any science to back up my assertions I see a world of problems that will open up when the Northwest Passage is opened up to regular, reliable shipping schedules. In my mind, it isn't a far reach to compare Italian Granita to the Arctic ice. In a granita liquid is poured into a container and placed in the freezer. When ice crystals begin to form a fork is run through the crystals before they have a chance to freeze solid. Running a fork over an ice cube that is already frozen certainly has a very different affect on that ice. The constant scraping and agitation never allows the granita to freeze into a solid hunk of ice.
Would not constant shipping through the Northwest passage produce the same result? Now consider constantly stirring the granita with a hot fork.
Beyond not letting the ice rest so that if it can refreeze it might refreeze; what about the dangers of oil spills, accidents and waste being dropped by ships along the way?
There is no question that the hole in the earths protective Ozone layer is in the same neighborhood as well. Burdening the already weakened Ozone layer in that area will have profound and incalculable results. How could there be any doubt that ship after ship spewing pollutants directly under our already weakened protective Ozone layer will only create more problems?
Good for business, bad for the environment and the entire world. It shouldn't take the worlds scientific community to figure this one out.
Labels: Bisphenol, Environment, Global Warming, Northwest Passage, oil spill
© 2009, Pacific Spirit Marine Institute.
www.pacificspirit.org
Kinder Morgan has a facinating past, but not such a facinating present. The pipe that was broken in Burnaby Tuesday is exposing the corrosive underbelly that lies 3 feet below Kinder Morgans tender underbelly.
Reported in The Tyee.ca back in September 2005, Kinder Morgan had been hit with a corrective action order from the US Department of Transportation's Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, PHMSA.
What was being reported as 'A widespread failure' to address adequately, outside force damage could lead us to the conclusion that when Kinder Morgan blames Burnaby road crews for rupturing its pipe they may be right.
On the flip side of this greasy coin the road crew believes the pipeline was improperly marked. Finding the truth may be more difficult than catching a greased pig at the county fair.
In an explosion November 9, 2004 that killed 5 people and seriously injured 4 others Kinder Morgan was found to have not marked the pipeline properly and was fined $140,000 for their part in the accident. Cal/OSHA found the accident to have been completely preventable.
Indeed if history is repeating itself the pipe broken in Burnaby may not have been properly marked. Interestingly enough one of the arguments for Kinder Morgan to be approved to take over Terasen Inc. inspite of a less than stellar safety record was that the same people maintaining the pipes would still be maintaining them after the sale.
Terasen pipes were transporting natural gas, and propane to about 900,000 customers in British Columbia when in February the company announced it would sell Terasen Inc. to Fortis Inc. for 3.2 billion US, and assumed debt taking Kinder Morgan out of the retail business.
If all of this is putting you to sleep here is where you'll want to get an extra cup of coffee.
In an interview by Martin Rosenberg, EnergyBizOnline, Scott Parker of Kinder Morgan "Kinder Morgans Pipe" Scott Parker gets it done we learn that 1 week after Enron's Key Ley was convicted of fraud and conspiracy Richard Kinder announced that he would take Kinder Morgan private in a 13.5 billion dollar deal.
Richard Kinder formed Kinder Morgan in 1997 with $40 million worth of pipeline assets that Ken Lay had unloaded. Kinder jumped the Enron ship's CEO position in 1996.
Parker says in the interview "Rich Kinder is a very smart individual...our company was in a position to be on very sound footing when Enron's problems surfaced and the trouble occurred in the industry."
Very smart indeed. However the pipe that was ruptured by a work crew in Burnaby on tuesday has been in operation since 1953, long before it was a Kinder Morgan pipe.
It's current capacity prior to the break was 225,000 barrels of crude oil per day and is Morgan's Trans Mountain pipeline. That's some pretty old pipe. The records as to where that pipe was buried may certainly have been lost or corrupted over that many years. It would have seemed prudent for Kinder Morgan to aquire accurate maps and records at the time of purchasing the pipe though.
Mother Jones reports Richard Kinder and his wife Nancy served as regional co-chairs for George Bush's Presidential Exploratory Committee and that Kinder pledged to give the Bush campaign at least $100,000.00. WHOOwah!
Scott Parker says in the EnergyBizOnline interview "Everything we do is buried. It, (The Rockies Express) will have a minimum of a 3-foot cover, so agriculture can occur over the pipe.
As far as I know most places require that a dead human body must be buried at a 6 foot depth. The big question today may be:
Who decided a dead body was 2 times more dangerous to the environment than a pipe traveling thousands of miles across a nation, carrying thousands of barrels of crude oil per day to the environment?
Labels: Burnaby, Canada, Kinder Morgan, oil spill, Pipeline
© 2009, Pacific Spirit Marine Institute.
www.pacificspirit.org
Breaking news: Kinder Morgan Pipe Breaks, Again.
Overseas Shipholding Group Inc., Donates $9.2 Million to Marine Environmental Projects!
Okay, no they didn't. Donate is the wrong word. Overseas Shipholding was fined $37million for criminal activities; $9.2 million was ordered community service payments to fund community marine environmental projects. Wilmington; Boston; Portland Maine; Los Angeles; San Francisco and Beaumont Texas all of which were harmed by the illegal dumping of waste oil by Overseas Shipholding Group Inc.
The US Coast Guard says Overseas Shipholding Group was deliberately polluting by dumping waste oils in the above ports. The Department of Justice agreed.
Let's cut to the chase here and make a long story short. OSG's management failed to stop this dumping after allegations were brought to them several times. They in fact failed to stop this activity even after the government started its investigation.
Acting on a tip from Canadian Officials an investigation was launched and it was discovered that Overseas Shipholding Group Inc. had offloaded more than 150,000 gallons of oil-contaminated waste in the waters between only Maine and Massachusetts. Adding insult to injury they falsified log records to cover-up their dirty deeds.
OSG company officials admitted in court that its "motive for the crimes was financial" "OSG was saving the cost of offloading waste oil in port and the time it would take to comply with the law,"
There is no way to read anything other than it was cheaper to pay any fines than it would be to comply with environmental regulations.
This tells me, the fines being brought are vastly too low. If this penalty is supposed to serve as a deterrent for other companies attempting to circumvent the law, it's not going to work.
Overseas Shipholding Group Inc. is one of the largest publicly traded tanker firms in the world and according to William Mercer, Acting Associated Attorney General, Overseas Shipholding Group "has engaged in repeated and deliberate pollution of our oceans,"
In April 2007, the Company completed the acquisition of Heidmar lightering business from Heidmar, Inc. which is a subsidiary of 'Morgan Stanley Capital Group, Inc. OSG (Overseas Shipholding Group) completed the acquisition of Maritrans Inc., a US Flag crude oil and petroleum product shipping company.
On August 6, 2006 OSG announced a strategic partnership with TransCanada CNG Technologies Ltd.
Are you investing in publicly traded corperations that are commiting evil acts? If while you are planning your future and your childrens future, your investments are assuring your future demise, wittingly or not, you are contributing to global warming, and distrution of ocean habitat.
Please take a hard look at your investments and see where you stand.
It's interesting to note; OSG's address is listed as 666 Third Ave. New York, NY.
Kick save and a beauty, you can't make this stuff up!
Labels: Canada, Fined, Global Warming, illegal dumping, Ocean, Ocean Habitat, oil, oil spill, oil tanker, OSG, Overseas Shipholding Group Inc., ports, US Coast Guard, waste oil
© 2009, Pacific Spirit Marine Institute.
www.pacificspirit.org
What Color is Your Money? Are you unknowingly funding lawless 'brown pirates' or 'green jeannies'?
Video shot from helicopter as Kirki burned. Be sure to stay for the entire clip.
Millions of gallons of oil have been spilled into our oceans in accidents just like these. Tankers simply falling apart at the seams, rusting away in their bowels, and running each other over in collisions.
Many oil spills are never owned-up to like this mystery spill in the Firth of Forth Estuary in Scotland. Scotland has had a tough week overall.
Monday's entry was going to be more on the Poison products pouring out of China, but something else has caught my attention. How eco-friendly is your 401K or other retirement investments? Is your stock portfolio packed with companies that are polluting our oceans? Isn't it time you took an honest look?
Labels: accident at sea, big waves, China, Ocean, Ocean Habitat, oil, oil spill, oil tanker, Sea Mammals, Sea Otter, video
© 2009, Pacific Spirit Marine Institute.
www.pacificspirit.org
Comedy and Tragedy: Film of 'the front falling off'
You will laugh until you cry.
See the official Kirki Report here.
Labels: accident at sea, Ocean, Ocean Habitat, oil, oil spill, oil tanker, Poison, video
© 2009, Pacific Spirit Marine Institute.
www.pacificspirit.org