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| Economy |
| Coast Guard Stops Oil-Sucking Barges |
| 2010-06-18 |
| Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal has spent the past week and half fighting to get working barges to begin vacuuming crude oil out of his state's oil-soaked waters. By Thursday morning, against the governor's wishes, those barges still were sitting idle, even as more oil flowed toward the Louisiana shore. "It's the most frustrating thing," the Republican governor told ABC News while visiting Buras, La. "Literally, [Wednesday] morning we found out that they were halting all of these barges." Sixteen barges sat stationary Thursday, although they had been 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. "The Coast Guard came and shut them down," Jindal said. "You got men on the barges in the oil, and they have been told by the Coast Guard, 'Cease and desist. Stop sucking up that oil.'" A Coast Guard representative told ABC News that it shares the same goal as the governor. "We are all in this together. The enemy is the oil," said Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Dan Lauer. 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. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #16 Probably the only way the face of this could get worse is if a rig was bailing wired together, had an electric fire, and half hands lost because of no life jackets. It is frustrating to see the Coast Guard swing into action against ourselves; yes this could have been done outside of dock but I would guess its a heckuva lot easier to keep track of and faster to do it at dock, lots safer too. And then, lets get off the backs of the locals and get this done Federal Government, here to help and all that crap. |
| Posted by: swksvolFF 2010-06-18 21:39 |
| #15 Many on the MSM-Net contin to argue that GW = CLIMATE CHANGE PERTS are wrong on the MAN-VS-SUN argument as per the cause of GW + CC - DITTO FOR OIL-ENERGY PERTS AS PER THE DEEPWATER GULF OIL GUSH, esepc as per EFFEC ON CURR + FUTURE, US-WORLD RESERVES??? Lest we fergit, COMET APOPHIS + GUAM, WORLD-VISIBLE EXPLOSIONS ON THE MOON and * NASA's 2013 POTENTIALLY TECHS-DESTROYING MASSIVE SOLAR FLARES/STORMS versus ME > 2012 + "QUAKE FELT/AROUND THE WORLD" [ Universal-Global EQuakey]. NOT counting the whole 2012 IRAN + MILTERRS NUCLEARIZATION = NUKE-WMD TERROR, "ISLAMIST/ JIHADIST BOMB" thingy.... But once again I digress .... |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2010-06-18 21:36 |
| #14 This whole thing is less about oil and more and more about politics. Zero is all about punishing his potential future opponents. Jindel and Brewer are both strong and influencial players from the right. His attacks are more to discredit them than anything else. He is allowing thousands of good Americans from the "Flyover states" to get hurt for his personal gain and plan. He has abused our constitution, played with our future and our kids future. He rules without concern for the truth and the long term future of this once great nation. We are whitnessing the fall of a modern Rome... |
| Posted by: 49 Pan 2010-06-18 21:31 |
| #13 #3 The enemy is the oil. And we are all in this political quagmire together. Posted by junkiron Per the coast guard the enemy is not having little red fire extinguishers and little yellow life jackets. To them, tens of thousands of gallon of oil coming at the shore is low priority. Political quaqmire? Call it federal attempts of micro-management of every little detail from a thousand miles away by a group of dead beats who are on DC golf courses or Chicago vacations. Or when they do show up doing photo ops eating snow cones. |
| Posted by: wt 2010-06-18 21:30 |
| #12 Correct me iff I'm wrong, but IIRC isn't the UK GOVT a majority stakeholder [Read, CONTROLLING = UK STATE OWNERSHIP INTEREST] in BP ergo UK = LONDON GOVT has State sovereignty oer DEEPWATER HORIZON, RIG + OIL FIELD SITE, hence neither POTUS BAMMER NOR GOV'NOR "JINNIE" JINDAL can effec do anything until the BAMMER + US STATE [Hillary] come to an Agreement wid the UK FOREIGN SECRETARY + MINISTRY??? |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2010-06-18 21:25 |
| #11 All it would take is an Obama edict that "this is an emergency - EPA and Coast Guard regs are to be temporarily sidelined in order to mediate the damage" After all, didn't Preznit Zero say it was like a war? Invoke those powers. The fact he doesn't, and appointed a half-time czar sez much about their committment |
| Posted by: Frank G 2010-06-18 20:53 |
| #10 I wonder if it has to do with finding out if a union shop built the barges or not. |
| Posted by: crosspatch 2010-06-18 20:15 |
| #9 It seems the real problem isn't the life jackets and fire extinguishers. It is the Coast Guard's supposed need to contact the manufacturer of the barges. I wonder what for. As far as I know it is still legal for a person to build their own boat. Why would they need to contact the manufacturer? |
| Posted by: crosspatch 2010-06-18 20:14 |
| #8 How about a stupid suggestion, have the coast guard go to each ship and delivery any necessary equipment. The O is a failure. |
| Posted by: BrerRabbit 2010-06-18 19:10 |
| #7 Somehow I feel that there is some regulation somewhere which disallows any actual, physical, verification of their presence. |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2010-06-18 18:55 |
| #6 They could just as well have inspected them on the water. Steve White, then what do you call someone that is ACTIVELY preventing you from doing the right thin when it is very very urgent? The Coast Guard IS the enemy if they behave like one. Much like the EPA was in terms of delaying response. An enemy need not be filled with malice, they are an enemy none the less. |
| Posted by: No I am The Other Beldar 2010-06-18 18:50 |
| #5 It not the Coast Guard per se. It's the over lawyered, intrusive law and rule for everything society we have allowed to be created. Vote out the current political class, enact term limits for politicians and sunset provisions for laws and we can return to a free society. |
| Posted by: ed 2010-06-18 18:40 |
| #4 NO! Screw the Coast Guard. They are hindering the saving of US property. They seem to be doing this on purpose. Put Sheriffs on the boats and tell the coasties to go back home. |
| Posted by: 49 Pan 2010-06-18 18:33 |
| #3 The enemy is the oil. And we are all in this political quagmire together. |
| Posted by: junkiron 2010-06-18 18:29 |
| #2 Sigh. No, don't do that. We don't need confrontation. Show the Coast Guard the fire extinguishers and life vests and get people back to work. The Coast Guard is not the enemy. |
| Posted by: Steve White 2010-06-18 16:59 |
| #1 At this point, I would order the barges to continue to work and notify the Coast Guard that any interference would result in the impounding of their ships and the arrest of their personnel as this was now a state disaster area. It is long past time to throw down the gauntlet against a PC driven federal government. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2010-06-18 16:51 |