Today we'll begin to address the ongoing Gulf oil situation. Of course, everyone is following the news each day, although a surprising number of people still get all their news from main stream media (MSM). The community of devotees is often better informed on social and political issues because we aren't blind to the true nature of things -- or people. Regardless, the oil catastrophe is so complex, and the stream of data so broad that we felt a collective overview might be helpful to Sun readers.

There are a number of key areas we hope to address, including technical issues, human health risks, impact on ecology, water and the food chain, media blackouts, and the potential for evacuation. We'll also try to compile relevant analysis of the potential for global impact, as oil moves into the Gulf Stream.

As most readers no doubt understand, the story as its being reported on television and in major newspapers is sanitized to the extreme. The online alternative press has generally been days, if not weeks ahead of the news curve in reporting the truth of things. What we see on photo-journalist sites on sites like CNN and MSNBC are highly manicured vignettes compared to the pictures flowing into the blogosphere. Even the BP underwater cameras are being significantly manipulated to 'manage' the news.

We'll begin with some of the latest news that we find to be of greatest significance. We don't claim authorship of all the content to follow, but will take the liberty of paraphrasing and excerpting many news reports.

Media Control, Manipulation, and Blackouts

As if the oil 'volcano' weren't bad enough, there is now extensive evidence coming from all over the Gulf that BP and the Coast Guard are forcing a media blackout. James Fox, a documentary filmmaker whose work has aired on History Channel, has been reporting from Louisiana, where's he's been trying to slip under the media radar to find out what's really going on. He reports that a massive media black is being perpetrated. People with cameras are being threatened with arrest (some actually arrested), locals are seriously afraid to talk. Following is an audio interview from June 9th, the Veritas show, describing what Fox has encountered:

James Fox Interview - Part One

 

Part Two

 

What's Happening Underwater:

 

Reports have been heard for at least the last two weeks that in addition to the BOP leak and other pipeline and/or well leaks said to be happening five, six, and even twenty miles away from the Deepwater site, the sea floor itself is already cracked, and oil is seeping out in places completely independent of BP infrastructure. BP has denied these reports, as have the MSM. Although BP quickly took the looped video down from its live feed sites, here is footage recorded by their own Viking Poisidon ROV 1, June 13th, 2010 at 2:58 AM EST, showing the oil seeping from cracks in the seabed.

 

As even the MSM now states, BP has essentially admitted defeat in implementing any real solution at the BOP or wellhead. Relief wells are the next best solution, but aren't expected to become functional until somewhere between August and December. Short of setting off a nuclear device, there appears to be no other proposed solution. Meanwhile, there is growing concern about the timeline many scientists predict for how the situation underwater will likely unfold.

 

We'll present a more detailed technical overview in another segment, but to summarize here, one of the biggest fears at this stage is the likelihood that particulate matter rushing through the underground pipes, which are now admittedly compromised (i.e., the well bore structure or 'disc' is broken downhole), will soon sandblast their way through the remaining metal, removing all impediments to flow and increasing it tremendously. This is expected to eventually blow the 450-ton BOP right off its foundation and open up a large and growing hole in the sea floor, as more and more oil gushes out.

 

Eventually, as oil empties out of the field, the empty space in the cavern and the weight/mass of the ocean water will move the equalize themselves. Seawater will rush into the hole, causing a reaction that is likely to result in a tsunami-type wave, as millions of gallons of water are displaced. Many scientists are now suggesting that if this occurs, land as far inland as 100 or 150 miles from the Gulf Coast could be submerged.

 

Pollution of Ocean:

 

While BP madly sprays dispersants into the water so the visual effect of the oil flow is lessened, and while the media downplays the devastating impact already being seen on Gulf beaches, the Coast Guard just reported pulling two one-ton tar balls out of the Gulf on June 11th, at Perdido Pass, Florida. It is hard to conceive that two such enormous masses of oil have could have glombed together so quickly into these maha-tar balls, floating all the way to Perdido Pass. U.S. Coast Guard Story on 1-ton Tarballs.

 

Yesterday, a strange gray, algae-like substance began washing ashore on a Marco Island beach near Fort Myers, Florida. Whatever this substance is, we can only expect that dead remains from the entire food chain will be hitting shore as the disaster continues.

 

Marco Island Algae

 

There are reports that despite the government's request that use of Corexit be reduced, BP is now spraying this highly toxic dispersant into the bays alongside residential homes, surreptitiously under cover of darkness. Large schools of stingrays were seen moving east, away from the oil today at Pensacola, Florida.

 

Pollution of Air:

 

Gases such as Hydrogen Sulfide, Benzene, Methylene Chloride, and other toxic gases pose a greater risk to human health than the presence of oil washing up on Gulf of Mexico beaches. The allowable levels of Hydrogen Sulfide and Benzene according to the EPA are 5-10 parts per billion and 0 respectively. The EPA reported the level detected in the Gulf at almost 1,200 PPB for hydrogen sulfide and 3,400 PPB for Benzene on separate occasions during the month of May. These amounts pose a serious and even fatal health risk to people and animals. We have not heard the measurements for June.

 

Report on Toxic Chemical Levels

 

Pollution of Land and Groundwater:

 

There have been numerous reports from Gulf Coast residents that oil is already making its way into the rain. We have heard stories of people tasting rain drops and finding a significant bitterness, and we've seen several photographs of raindrops hitting cars, clothing, and people's arms – the drops are black to blackish, with an oil sheen. It's possible they were picked up by a water spout, but it seems more likely the oil was naturally delivered with atmospheric moisture.

 

On June 10th, a blog sponsored by the San Francisco Chronicle reported on BP's use of Corexit, which is now suspected of being linked to sudden crop damage far inland along the Mississippi River corridor, in Tennessee. The blight is affecting – and killing -- trees, vegetables, fruit, flowers, herbs, and weeds alike, on hundreds of acres. This problem may be linked to a Dupont chemical plant leak instead of the Gulf situation, although similar reports of plant damage are also beginning to come from Texas, as toxic rain is hitting and damaging plants there.

 

Blight Killing Plants in Tennessee