McCain: Oil Rigs ‘Very Successfully’ Survived the Impact of Hurricanes»

[babylonsister]

This is getting absurd. Has anyone covered this, at all?


http://thinkprogress.org/2008/07/18/mccain-rigs/

McCain: Oil Rigs ‘Very Successfully’ Survived the Impact of Hurricanes»

Yesterday, Nancy Pfotenhauer, Sen. John McCain’s (R-AZ) senior policy adviser, claimed that she had been “misinformed” when she falsely stated that Hurricanes Katrina and Rita “did not spill a drop of oil.” Today, McCain made another “misinformed” argument, claiming that oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico “have survived, very successfully, the impacts of hurricanes”:

Q: I’ve been listening to your comments around renewable resources – solar, tide, and wind – you’ve talked a lot about that, but you keep peppering your comments with offshore drilling. But I’m not sure what you think the impact on our environment is based on that.

A: Keep the microphone. I’m aware that off the coast of Louisiana and Texas there are oil rigs, as we well know, and those rigs have survived, very successfully, the impacts of hurricanes – hurricane Katrina as far as Louisiana is concerned.

McCain is wrong. According to press reports, Hurricanes Katrina and Rita “tore through the Gulf of Mexico’s offshore oil and gas fields, toppling production platforms, setting rigs adrift and rupturing pipelines.” The U.S. Minerals Management Service reported that the hurricanes totally destroyed 113 offshore oil platforms.

The hurricanes cost Transocean, the largest offshore driller, “about $135 million in repairs, downtime and equipment upgrades” alone, and damage to offshore producers accounted for 77 percent of the oil industry’s storm costs. One offshore rig, the Ocean Warwick, drifted 66 nautical miles before running aground.

Here are some photos of the success that McCain is touting:

[iamjoy]

1. And Iraq Is Safe

The general drives around in an unarmored humvee...

[damntexdem]

2. Are those really oil rigs -- or the McCain campaign?

;-)

[nc4bo]

3. mccain is a LIAR!!

http://blog.skytruth.org/2007/12/hurricane-katrina-gulf-of-mexico-oil.html

But for months after the storms, officials from government and industry repeatedly claimed that there were no "significant" spills in the Gulf. That line is still heard even now. Yet in May 2006, the U.S. Minerals Management Service published their offshore damage assessment: 113 platforms totally destroyed, and - more importantly - 457 pipelines damaged, 101 of those major lines with 10" or larger diameter. At least 741,000 gallons were spilled from 124 reported sources (the Coast Guard calls anything over 100,000 gallons a "major" spill).

Wells and platforms were shut down before the storm, so leakage from those facilities was minimal. Pipelines were shut down too. But what the officials failed to mention is they don't require industry to "purge" pipelines before a severe storm - so they were probably still loaded with oil, gas or liquid gas condensate. Any section of pipeline that was breached leaked all of that product into the Gulf within hours of the storm. That's what we think accounts for the widespread slicks seen on the imagery from September 1 and 2, covering hundreds of square miles and obviously emanating from many points of origin. These slicks dispersed after several days of high winds offshore, as shown by our followup imagery taken on September 12, but a few problems remained as evidenced by ongoing leaks from wrecked platforms.

For the official report -in .pdf form.

http://www.mms.gov/tarprojects/581/44814183_MMS_Katrina_Rita_PL_Final%20Report%20Rev1.pdf

[bowens43]

4. Senility maybe?

He doesn't remember Katrina?

[nc4bo]

5. Kick-up!

"They" keep screaming DRILL, DRILL DRILL!!! and how It's SAFE, SAFE, SAFE!!! and the only thing that is true is that It is all LIES, LIES, LIES!!

Obama's campaign, if it really wants to, can use this against mcgoo and the shrubbery and that will be for real straight talk.

[Ichingcarpenter]

6. Satellite Picture of the Range of the Oil Spills.

[ensho]

7. total lie - one report said the pipes were tossed around the sea bed

like pick up sticks. they never found one rig.

some some it was the biggest oil spill in the Gulf.