Katrina Oil Spills and a Hurricane of Republican Lies
Posted: Thu Jul 17, 2008 11:38 pm
Conservatives Falsely Claim Katrina And Rita Did Not Cause Significant Oil Spillage
Unsurprisingly, hurricane Katrina caused significant spillage, according to the official report prepared for the MMS by a Norwegian firm:
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita Caused 124 Offshore Spills For A Total Of 743,700 Gallons. 554,400 gallons were crude oil and condensate from platforms, rigs and pipelines, and 189,000 gallons were refined products from platforms and rigs. [MMS, 1/22/07]
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita Caused Six Offshore Spills Of 42,000 Gallons Or Greater. The largest of these was 152,250 gallons, well over the 100,000 gallon threshhold considered a “major spill.” [MMS, 5/1/06]
In addition, the hurricanes caused disastrous spills onshore throughout southeast Louisiana and the rest of the Gulf Coast as tanks, pipelines, refineries and other industrial facilities were destroyed, for a total of 595 different oil spills. The 9 million gallons reported spilled were comparable with the Exxon Valdez’s 10.8 million gallons, but unlike the Exxon Valdez, were distributed throughout Louisiana, Mississippi, and other Gulf Coast states, many in residential areas. The most massive spills included:
– The Bass Enterprises Cox Bay spill of 3.78 million gallons of oil, the largest spill caused by the hurricanes
– The Murphy Oil spill in Mereaux, LA of 819,000 gallons of oil, contaminating 1,700 homes and the local high school
As the Houston Chronicle reported in 2005:
The quantity and cumulative magnitude of the 595 spills, which were spread across four states and struck offshore and inland, rank these two hurricanes among the worst environmental disasters in U.S. history.
Links here.
DAR
Now the republicans, choking as they fill their Hummers with $4.75 gas are trying to pretend America has lots of oil (it doesn't) but the wacky environmental left (like Schwartzenagger) won't let us go out in the ocean and get because we always tend to spill some.
So they are making up this story that even Katrina hit and no oil was spilt.
Observe the collection of whoppers. Here is what they are saying:
– George Will: “Hurricanes Katrina and Rita destroyed or damaged hundreds of drilling rigs without causing a large spill.”
--Wall Street Journal editorial: “Hurricanes Katrina and Rita flattened terminals across the Gulf of Mexico but didn’t cause a single oil spill.”
– Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne: “When Katrina and Rita hit the Gulf Coast where we have about 4,000 oil and gas platforms, 3,000 were in the direct line of the storms - the most significant storms we’ve seen ever - and 3,000 of those had to be shut down. We had no significant oil spill. The system worked.”
– Fox News’ Dick Morris: “And by the way, the safety concerns, Hurricane Katrina didn’t cause any leakage or any spill in the Gulf of Mexico oil wells.”
-- Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ken.):
“I think people are reassured that not a drop of oil was spilled during Katrina or Rita. Those rigs in the Gulf, there was not a single incident of spillage that anyone reported.”
--Bill O’Reilly: “Remember when Katrina hit, none of the oil rigs spilled in Louisiana.”
--Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R), “[T]hat’s one of the great unwritten success stories, after Katrina and Rita, these awful storms, no major spills.”
--On Fox & Friends, Mike Huckabee falsely asserted:
"When Katrina, a Cat-5 hurricane, hit the Gulf Coast, not one drop of oil was spilled off of those rigs out in the Gulf of Mexico."
Link
Bonus. See with your own eyes. Lots of pictures of oil spills caused by Katrina
For more evidence see:
After Katrina: Oil Spill First Responders
Excerpt:
"When Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast in August, no one was immune from its rage. The hurricane hit oil and gas infrastructure particularly hard. More than 100 platforms were destroyed or lost, major pipelines were shut down, and refineries and oil storage sites lost power and were flooded and heavily damaged. While thousands of people rushed out of the area, struggling to avoid rising flood waters, some folks were rushing in. They were hoping to prevent — or at least quickly clean up — what would become America’s largest oil spill since the 11-million-gallon Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska in 1989.
Damage to oil facilities from Hurricane Katrina caused four medium spills (more than 10,000 gallons) and 134 minor spills, in which 8 million gallons of oil leaked onto the ground and into waterways from Louisiana to Alabama. The largest single spill was at the Bass Enterprises Production Company site in Cox Bay, La., where 3.78 million gallons of oil spilled. Another large spill was at the Chevron Empire oil terminal in Buras, La., where the roof of one storage tank was ripped off and the foundation of another ripped out, leaking 1.4 million gallons of oil."
Unsurprisingly, hurricane Katrina caused significant spillage, according to the official report prepared for the MMS by a Norwegian firm:
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita Caused 124 Offshore Spills For A Total Of 743,700 Gallons. 554,400 gallons were crude oil and condensate from platforms, rigs and pipelines, and 189,000 gallons were refined products from platforms and rigs. [MMS, 1/22/07]
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita Caused Six Offshore Spills Of 42,000 Gallons Or Greater. The largest of these was 152,250 gallons, well over the 100,000 gallon threshhold considered a “major spill.” [MMS, 5/1/06]
In addition, the hurricanes caused disastrous spills onshore throughout southeast Louisiana and the rest of the Gulf Coast as tanks, pipelines, refineries and other industrial facilities were destroyed, for a total of 595 different oil spills. The 9 million gallons reported spilled were comparable with the Exxon Valdez’s 10.8 million gallons, but unlike the Exxon Valdez, were distributed throughout Louisiana, Mississippi, and other Gulf Coast states, many in residential areas. The most massive spills included:
– The Bass Enterprises Cox Bay spill of 3.78 million gallons of oil, the largest spill caused by the hurricanes
– The Murphy Oil spill in Mereaux, LA of 819,000 gallons of oil, contaminating 1,700 homes and the local high school
As the Houston Chronicle reported in 2005:
The quantity and cumulative magnitude of the 595 spills, which were spread across four states and struck offshore and inland, rank these two hurricanes among the worst environmental disasters in U.S. history.
Links here.
DAR
Now the republicans, choking as they fill their Hummers with $4.75 gas are trying to pretend America has lots of oil (it doesn't) but the wacky environmental left (like Schwartzenagger) won't let us go out in the ocean and get because we always tend to spill some.
So they are making up this story that even Katrina hit and no oil was spilt.
Observe the collection of whoppers. Here is what they are saying:
– George Will: “Hurricanes Katrina and Rita destroyed or damaged hundreds of drilling rigs without causing a large spill.”
--Wall Street Journal editorial: “Hurricanes Katrina and Rita flattened terminals across the Gulf of Mexico but didn’t cause a single oil spill.”
– Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne: “When Katrina and Rita hit the Gulf Coast where we have about 4,000 oil and gas platforms, 3,000 were in the direct line of the storms - the most significant storms we’ve seen ever - and 3,000 of those had to be shut down. We had no significant oil spill. The system worked.”
– Fox News’ Dick Morris: “And by the way, the safety concerns, Hurricane Katrina didn’t cause any leakage or any spill in the Gulf of Mexico oil wells.”
-- Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ken.):
“I think people are reassured that not a drop of oil was spilled during Katrina or Rita. Those rigs in the Gulf, there was not a single incident of spillage that anyone reported.”
--Bill O’Reilly: “Remember when Katrina hit, none of the oil rigs spilled in Louisiana.”
--Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R), “[T]hat’s one of the great unwritten success stories, after Katrina and Rita, these awful storms, no major spills.”
--On Fox & Friends, Mike Huckabee falsely asserted:
"When Katrina, a Cat-5 hurricane, hit the Gulf Coast, not one drop of oil was spilled off of those rigs out in the Gulf of Mexico."
Link
Bonus. See with your own eyes. Lots of pictures of oil spills caused by Katrina
For more evidence see:
After Katrina: Oil Spill First Responders
Excerpt:
"When Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast in August, no one was immune from its rage. The hurricane hit oil and gas infrastructure particularly hard. More than 100 platforms were destroyed or lost, major pipelines were shut down, and refineries and oil storage sites lost power and were flooded and heavily damaged. While thousands of people rushed out of the area, struggling to avoid rising flood waters, some folks were rushing in. They were hoping to prevent — or at least quickly clean up — what would become America’s largest oil spill since the 11-million-gallon Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska in 1989.
Damage to oil facilities from Hurricane Katrina caused four medium spills (more than 10,000 gallons) and 134 minor spills, in which 8 million gallons of oil leaked onto the ground and into waterways from Louisiana to Alabama. The largest single spill was at the Bass Enterprises Production Company site in Cox Bay, La., where 3.78 million gallons of oil spilled. Another large spill was at the Chevron Empire oil terminal in Buras, La., where the roof of one storage tank was ripped off and the foundation of another ripped out, leaking 1.4 million gallons of oil."