Meanwhile At Rick’s

No, not the one in Casablanca, Rick Outzen’s blog in Pensacola.

Rick writes about the continuing “failure to communicate” – BP fails Pensacola Beach

On the day the Pensacola News Journal gives front-page coverage to BP exec Doug Suttles, who assures readers that there is no oil near the shores of Pensacola Beach, the beach is covered with oil.

There was a complete breakdown in communication, yet again, from BP and the Unified Command Center in Mobile. Despite DEP and local officials sending the UCC photos of our white sand covered with mats of oil and several phone calls asking for help, the fellows in Mobile, Ala. wouldn’t send more help until a written report was filled out and sent to them.

I’m not kidding. BP and the Coast Guard wanted a written report before they would do anything. It finally took the Coast Guard admiral to drove over from Mobile for more equipment to be dispatched.

They keep warehousing stuff in strange places that move it away from where it’s needed. The maps are constantly updated and you can see where the oil is headed, so why doesn’t someone have it moved to where it is needed, before it is needed? What in hell kind of “expertise” is this?

Rick also noted that our Temp-Senator is making speeches: LeMieux is upset about Pensacola Beach .

LeMieux is operating under the delusion that the reason there aren’t more skimmers available is the 1920 Johes Act, and wants the Feds to issue a waiver. There’s no need for a waiver. Skimmers aren’t moving cargo from one US port to another.

Apparently LeMieux can’t figure out that the Deepwater Horizon was built in Korea, flagged in the Marshall Islands, and owned by a Swiss corporation, so the Jones Act obviously doesn’t apply. Whoever [BP?] told him that it did, was looking for an excuse not to spend money on more skimmers.