Deepwater Horizon - The Blame Game...

Deepwater Horizon - The Blame Game...



May 29, 2010 · Matt Bruce, News Sarasota...

SARASOTA, FL. (NS/MattBruce) -

First of all there's enough blame to go around for what happened in the Gulf on April 20th dating back over 20 years and covering BOTH political parties, 4 President's and at least 3 Government Agencies...

Interesting thoughts are surfacing about who and what are the responsible parties for what's happened in the Gulf of Mexico, but here are some FACTS for you to ponder...

In 1990 a joint panel from the U.S. Dept. Of the Interior and Oil Companies first met to establish some 'ground rules' on what they would do in the event of an offshore oil 'incident'...

Then in 1994 the U.S Dept. Of Interior, U.S. EPA, all the Gulf State's and Oil Companies with drilling rigs in the Gulf met to establish a very clear and definite plan called the "In-Situ Burn" plan which laid out an emergency response plan 'step by step' including having a "Hydro-Fire Boom" system on standby in Houston, New Orleans and Mobile...

This Boom was designed for 2 things, the first being to contain the initial oil spill at the oil rig. Secondly it would help first responders by giving a clear area to work with their fire fighting boats and suppressants, like FOAM, to put any oil rig fire out quickly...

What the World saw at the Deep water rig was 3 days of 'drowning' of a fire that could have been put out in a matter of HOURS had enough FOAM been at the ready, as it was supposed to be...

Where was the Boom, how about 1,100 miles away in the Mid West. How long did it take to get it there? How about 5 days...

Would the oil rig have collapsed into the Gulf if the original fire fighting had been followed? According to the USCG Incident Commander, "No"...

Now, another question is how did the U.S. Minerals Management Service get involved in the first response of oil rig fire fighting and what kind of training or equipment or special skills did they possess?

The answer is simple, "NONE"...

When there have been been mine collapses in WV or KY, it has always been the Mining Companies and First Responders who show up with the special equipment needed to do what needs to be done...

My point is when you let the 'fox guard the hen house' these are the kind of results you're going to get...

Now there's another new interesting twist to the response with some of the responders and volunteers complaining about feeling nauseous and having blurry vision, coughing, sniffle and teary eyes which are all symptoms of what happens at a hazardous chemical response...

Have you seen those same people wearing shorts, flip flops, no shirts or short sleeved tee shirts, no eye goggles, no gloves all along the beaches and on the shrimp boats?

The "SOP" for a hazardous material response is quite simple and very definitively laid out. #1- Long sleeve shirts, #2- Long Pants, #3- Waterproof work shoes or boots with socks, #4- Must wear a respirator, #5- Goggles or safety glasses for eyes, #6- Must wear hat or safety helmet and on and on and on the list goes not the least of which being "hosed completely off" and throwing "all clothes away after each shift" during a hazardous materials incident...

Now, Martin, have YOU seen any of this being done???

Who's in charge? I heard somebody named "Barack Obama" yesterday say "I am responsible for the cleanup and recovery" which is very admirable on his part but the FACT of the matter is the Gulf States and Residents there are the ones who are in charge and the Federal Government is only 'supposed to' give them the help that they need and ask for to clean up this ecological disaster...

By the way did the entire Country get to see FL. Gov. Charlie Crist directly over the left shoulder in the middle of the TV Press Conference in LA> Gov. Bobby Jindal's home state? Then there was that 'pat' on Obama's back which will play very well with the crowd that's still mad about the 'hug' given back in Ft Myers which started Charlie's freefall downhill. Wasn't it obvious folks that politics were once again being played???

I personally have more confidence in the residents of AL, FL, LA, MS and TX and their State Governments than I do the Federal Government to do what needs to be done. After all, they LIVE there...

So the BLAME game needs to go way back to what did start all of what we're seeing today and it involved BOTH political parties and ALL the participants we see along the Gulf today responding to this incident...

Incidentally we do need to stop all deep water oil drilling until we get a definitive answer as to what went wrong so we can FIX it...

That being said, 1 State has stepped up once again said they want to drill for more oil on land in their State!

What State is it, you ask? "Alaska"...

Both Democrat and Republican Alaskan State Representatives and Business Leaders all agree this would be a great help to the Alaskan economy and they're ready TODAY if the Federal Government will just say "YES" to their request...

So to Alaska I say, "Drill Baby Drill"...

Matt Bruce

Retired 25 Year Fire-Rescue Captain
Hazardous Materials Instructor, Retired
Hazardous Materials Incident Commander, Retired
Managing Editor- News Sarasota.com
Host of - The Captain's AMERICA Radio Show