Author Topic: Refugio Oil Spill  (Read 22119 times)

SlatchJim

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Re: Refugio Oil Spill
« Reply #15 on: May 21, 2015, 03:12:00 PM »
It's like saying, "I'm 5-6 and have a 5 inch vertical jump, I'm more than qualified to play NBA power forward.

There is a lot of industry buzz around this case and how few people are out there.  Some real basic mistakes are being made, and could easily be avoided.  I'll keep everyone up to date if I hear more.
« Last Edit: May 21, 2015, 03:40:56 PM by SlatchJim »

starman

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Re: Refugio Oil Spill
« Reply #16 on: May 21, 2015, 04:59:45 PM »
The response to the cleanup should be no surprise to anyone. The oil and gas industry has managed make sure all the risk of exploration, transportation and refining is passed on the the taxpayer. Why bother trying to clean the spill right away when it makes the biggest difference. If you wait long enough the birds will soak up some of it, the wind and tides will disperse the oil slick and the rest will eventually sink to the bottom only to return as tar on the beach. Any patches you see later will be passed off "natural seepage". Just make sure you have people walking the beach looking busy in hazmat suits and a few boats looking like they are busy skimming the water for the news crews to televise on the news. Nothing to see here folks so move along.

SlatchJim

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Re: Refugio Oil Spill
« Reply #17 on: May 22, 2015, 10:43:03 AM »
I've spent time at 5 refineries in the bay area and a couple down in so Cal, and in the interest of fairness, not all oil companies are the same. The former Tosco refinery in Martinez (current Tesoro) was a nightmare and scared me just to be there.  The Chevron Richmond refinery was very systematic and organized and probably the best run, but they still had issues. Oil is a dirty business, but if you drive a car or are hooked up to the grid, you're a user.  I am, though I wish I had other options.  Dealers gonna deal, Users gonna use. 

Ed Begley Jr. almost has a leg to stand on but even he'll admit to having to dip his toes into the pool of crude from time to time, whether it's taking a flight, or the power supply for filming... it's just everywhere.  You can't just ban it from California, you have to engineer safe extraction, transportation, dispensing, and have a better plan in place when the guano hits the turbine.  Developing alternatives is great but we're 20 to 50 years from a full switch away from oil as the main source of energy.

The Refugio spill response is just a result of a weak plan and a weaker implementation, compounded by very poor governmental and industry leadership and responsibility.

TallDude

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Re: Refugio Oil Spill
« Reply #18 on: May 22, 2015, 11:16:18 AM »
I wonder what the ratio of actual white suit laborers to white collar suits will be involved in this clean-up effort. I'm sure the attorneys hours will out number the cleanup hours tenfold. 
It's not overhead to me!
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southwesterly

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Re: Refugio Oil Spill
« Reply #19 on: May 22, 2015, 01:16:14 PM »
It's a shame that in happened at all let alone at such a pretty place.

supthecreek

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Re: Refugio Oil Spill
« Reply #20 on: May 22, 2015, 05:18:55 PM »
Well.... on that beach, all you'd have to do is airbrush out the oil.... piece of pie!

southwesterly

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Re: Refugio Oil Spill
« Reply #21 on: May 23, 2015, 10:18:51 AM »
  What a shame.

starman

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Re: Refugio Oil Spill
« Reply #22 on: May 25, 2015, 12:07:23 PM »
I was very naive to think that little of this oil spill would make it 20 miles down the coast. After all the spill seems small in scale compared to some of the other disasters. But crude oil is the devils blood and a little goes a long way. I paddled up to Coal Oil Point yesterday and it was clear and clean until I reached the point. Just North of the point there were about 6 boats dragging booms but the technology is as crude as the oil they are trying to collect and it's apparent that just a fraction of the spill is being captured. One would think that after the BP spill the industry would have spent big money on developing better processes to collect the oil. Clearly it's far cheaper to pay the lawyers, the PR firms, the lobbyists and then find some couch change for cleanup efforts. The full cost of the damage is never paid. The oil companies can drag damage claims through the courts for decades as they wait for claimants to die.



SlatchJim

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Re: Refugio Oil Spill
« Reply #23 on: May 26, 2015, 09:03:06 AM »
We're revving up a team for the spill ....now...nearly a week after we could have been out there.  We expect a call as supplemental assistance to one of our competitor's teams.  If we go I'll have pictures and stories to tell.

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Re: Refugio Oil Spill
« Reply #24 on: May 26, 2015, 10:05:14 AM »
Better late than never...;-)
They were skimming yesterday off of one of our hangouts...

The NOAA resource protection coordinator said that the offshore situation is much improved..."night and day" over last week at this time...

Beachside...scores of local volunteers have had some prerequisite training and are now being allowed to help...sounds like the beach rocks are a real mess...good luck...
Mahalos...{:~)

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SlatchJim

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Re: Refugio Oil Spill
« Reply #25 on: August 14, 2015, 03:11:20 PM »
Update.  I sat behind the Patriot Env. Serv. team that did the spill at a recent bid walk at So Cal Gas.  They still have about 60 guys working it, down from 300.  They really needed a thousand or more. 

The ultimate outcome of it will be some toothless legislation that will require replacement of all oil transmission lines with a clever petroleum industry exemption written in there somewhere.


SlatchJim

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Re: Refugio Oil Spill
« Reply #26 on: October 27, 2016, 09:00:02 AM »
Further update:
We just hired a project manager that worked on the spill for 127 straight days.  Cluster would be too nice of a way to describe the cleanup process.

Idea that needs to be expanded:  Pipeline and trucking companies are required to have a spill contingency plan for just such an incident.  There should be a conex box staged at each port and dock along the coast full of boom, and at least 4 boats designated as first responders.  A perfect use for fishing boats, tugs, and other working boats docked at almost every port.  More boom and boats if the port is large or the coverage area is sensitive or large. Pay for it with annual contingency fees for the transmission companies operating in the state.  No exemptions.

Frankly an area like Goleta should have a fleet of 10 and warehouses full of boom ready at all times. So much production and pipe, so little response. Ugh.

starman

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Re: Refugio Oil Spill
« Reply #27 on: October 27, 2016, 11:33:10 AM »
Better yet, rather then having the oil spill response boats sitting around and the crew fishing all day, they should be sweeping the water for all the "natural" seepage. On any given day there is a ton of oil floating around out there.

 


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