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Deepwater Horizon Unified Command Site
Latest Official News, Contact Numbers including Suggestions Line and Hotlines, News Feeds, SMS Alerts
OFFICIAL INFO FOR THOSE WHO WISH TO VOLUNTEER

The oil field the Deepwater Horizon had tapped is said to be the second largest deposit in the world. Viewzone.com reports, “The site covers an estimated 25,000 square miles, extending from the inlands of Alabama, Florida, Louisiana and Texas. “ The oil deposit is so large, it could produce 500,000 barrels of a day for more than a decade. Part of the reason the well exploded is because the site also contains large deposits of natural gas. Speculation as to why BP has tried to hide the amount of oil spilling may be two-fold. There are legal issues and lawsuits in the works. The less said by BP now, the better it may play out for them in the future.

The other, more alarming aspect, is the event of total wellhead failure before relief wells are completed in August. Considering the size of the deposit, if BP loses control of the flow completely, the scope of the disaster would be unfathomable. The New York Times has reported that scientists suspect the leak is thousands of times larger than what BP has been reporting. Some estimates are as high as one million gallons a day. Rock particles, gas and oil escaping under pressure are pushing against the capstone on the sea floor that surrounds the actual well. If it collapses, the canyon of oil will escape with a vengeance.

Neither BP nor anyone else wants to say what will happen it the wellhead gives way or the sea floor around it caves in. All anyone is certain of is that the worst case scenario is the one everyone wants to avoid.

US Dept. of Fish and Wildlife Response to Gulf Oil Spill
What We Are Doing
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has sent more than 200 personnel into the Gulf of Mexico region to respond to the BP Oil Spill. We are working with BP and many partners to do everything we can to minimize the impact of the oil spill on fish, wildlife and habitat. Our people are preparing for potential oil impact at 33 wildlife refuges that line the coasts of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida. We are conducting aerial and ground surveys to assess the damage, and recovering oiled or injured wildlife to be cleaned, healed and released in safe locations.

Refuges at Risk
There are 33 National Wildlife Refuges at risk from the BP Oil Spill. These precious national resources are home to dozens of threatened and endangered species, including West Indian manatees, whooping cranes, Mississippi sandhill cranes, wood storks and four species of sea turtles. Although so far oiled wildlife recovered has been minimal, we expect the number to increase.

The Threat to Wildlife
Many species of wildlife face grave risk from the spill. Birds can be exposed to oil as they float on the water or dive for fish through oil-slicked water. Oiled birds can lose the ability to fly and can ingest the oil while preening. Sea turtles such as loggerheads and leatherbacks can be impacted as they swim to shore for nesting activities. Turtle nest eggs may be damaged if an oiled adult lies on the nest. Oil has the potential to persist in the environment long after a spill and have long-term impacts on fish and wildlife.

BP Oil Spill Called "No Accident"
Examiner.com - Boston
The eyes of the world are watching the Gulf of Mexico and right now, no one really knows exactly how the BP oil spill disaster is going to end. However, what we are learning little by little, is how it began. BP Safety records were ‘fudged,’ and the blowout preventer on the Deepwater Horizon, known to be damaged, was deliberately left in disrepair.

The result, as MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell put it, “was no accident. It was corporate negligence in the extreme.” Corporate negligence is not new to America, nor is corner-cutting on safety measures. What sets the BP oil spill disaster apart is the ultimate cost. When all is said and done, the devastation of human livelihoods, the food chain and marine life, will be monumental. Had the well been capped within days of the April 20th rig explosion, the damage would have been minimal. But the amount of oil spilled and the currents that will carry it hundreds of miles from where it all began will leave a trail of lifelessness in it’s wake.

Nature simply cannot absorb “corporate negligence” on this scale. Microorganisms essential to life set off a chain reaction when they die. The microscopic evolution that shaped life on this planet took millions of years to create. Much of it will be wiped out in a matter of months.

The “top kill” BP is considering as their next attempt to “close the damn hole,” as President Obama put it, has a 6 in 10 chance of success. If that fails, the next best chance of stopping the flow is a relief well that will not be completed until August. According to recent scientists’ reports, the spill rate is 1.68 million gallons a day. (Since this article has published, the Top Kill was declared a failure and BP has turned it's capping hopes to the a LMRP device to cap the pipe just above the Blowout Preventer, as well as the two relief wells it's currently working on.)

BP Wrote it's Own Safety Reports
Countdown with Keith Olbermann segment on MMS corruption leading up to Deep Water Horizon catastrophe.

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