Who knew? The Local Puppy Trainer covers the latest change from “We will make it right”: BP: No claims to be paid in Florida for losses in May

BP officials have decided not to fully honor claims made by Florida businesses for losses prior to oil from the Deepwater Horizon spill reaching the state.
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BP officials say the company hasn’t changed its stance on which claims it will honor.

Mary Shafer-Malicki, the deputy incident commander for Florida, sent state Sen. Don Gaetz what she termed “a clarification” of company policy when he asked for it last week.

“BP will make claim payments based on the time an area has been impacted due to oiled beaches. This is consistent with the Oil Pollution Act (OPA), which is guiding BP’s claims process,” the statement said.

“In general, Louisiana had oiled beaches or marshes in May, while Alabama, Mississippi and Florida did not have beaches oiled until June,” it said.

“Looks like some backtracking to me,” said [state senator Don] Gaetz, R-Niceville.
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[Read more →]

The Pensacola News Journal notes that Oil spill debris washes onshore in Escambia County

Barbara Dougan, Gulf Islands National Seashore spokeswoman, said four hard hats were found last week on the beach in the Fort Pickens area. One was marked with the word “Transocean,” which is an offshore drilling contractor associated with the Deepwater Horizon, Dougan said.

The full article talks about other debris that has come ashore in the area recently that is logically linked to the Deepwater Horizon. The winds and waves are changeable. Debris has shown up as far East as Panama City. These are things that have been floating on top of the Gulf, not suspended below.

I posted this to remind people that if this type of thing is still showing up after more than three months, this process is going to be measured in years, not days or weeks. It will be next year before we have hard data on the effect of the oil on the species that breed annually. Some species of sea turtle don’t breed until their thirties.

The Pensacola News Journal notes something that the national media missed: Feds’ report spins facts about oil in Gulf

“The way it was presented was more of a public relations campaign than trying to estimate the real impact,” said University of South Florida oceanography professor Frank Muller-Karger, who has been involved in spill research.

Chief among scientists’ complaints: The report’s wording leads readers to believe most of the oil is gone.

“If one reads carefully, it doesn’t really say that,” Muller-Karger said. “But it’s presented in a way that you can interpret it in a very positive way.”

Early news stories about the NOAA report were accompanied by headlines like, “Vast majority of oil gone from Gulf” and “75 percent of spilled oil gone.”

In reality, the report makes no estimate of how much oil remains in the Gulf — saying only that 25 percent was collected or burned, and the rest is being broken down naturally.

“That’s the big mystery in the report. That’s 75 percent of the oil that is still unaccounted for,” Muller-Karger said.
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“This is a shaky report. The more I read it, the less satisfied I am with the thoroughness of the presentation,” Florida State University oceanography professor Ian MacDonald told The Associated Press. “There are sweeping assumptions here.”

There is no magic involved – only 25% of the oil has been accounted for, and they don’t actually know what happened to the other 190 million gallons that poured into the Gulf.

They should have included my favorite Sidney Harris New Yorker cartoon on the front cover of this report.

Digby has a post that includes this Dick Morris “wisdom”:

…Republicans will ask the central question: Why should taxpayers from states that have cut their budgets and observed spending restraint, pay for the extravagances of the other states? Why should forty-seven states have to pay for California, New York, and Michigan?

I have a better question Dick, ” Why should 17 states, including California, New York, and Michigan, be paying for the 32 states that get more Federal tax money than they provide?”

Only Rhode Island gets as much as it gives. My post on Welfare States covers those that get at least 20% more than they give.

For years Michigan has donated 8¢ to the “poor box”, New York 21¢, and California 22¢. Maybe it’s time for them to look after their own and stop supporting Alaska, Louisiana, Mississippi, et al. with their tax payments?

Position: 32.9N 65.6W [ 4 PM CDT 2100 UTC].
Movement: North [360°] near 12 mph [19 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 30 mph [45 kph].
Wind Gusts: 40 mph [ 60 kph].
Minimum central pressure: 1015 mb ↑.

It is about 60 miles [100 km] Northwest of Bermuda.

The Tropical Storm Watch has been discontinued as Colin has dissipated.

This is the final advisory.

Here’s the link for NOAA’s latest satellite images.

[For the latest information click on the storm symbol, or go to the CATEGORIES drop-down box below the CALENDAR and select “Hurricanes” for all of the posts related to storms on this site.]