Just received e-mail from BP Spill Select Committee: UPDATE Live Top Kill Video

[1776Forever]

Chairman Edward J. Markey
Select Committee UPDATE
Tuesday May 25, 2010

The Markey Memo

BREAKING: BP Attempting to Blackout Live Video Feed for “Top Kill” Operation
Today, BP informed the Select Committee of their intent to pull down their video feed of the oil spill during their so called “Top Kill” operation. This move would deny the pfublic access to vital footage from the ocean floor. Chairman Markey was the first to uncover this information and has been pressuring BP to keep the cameras turned on. The White House also believes the public should have access.

*Stay tuned to the Select Committee Web site for breaking information on the availability of live “Top Kill” video footage.

Since Chairman Markey pressed BP into releasing the live feed to the public last week, response has been overwhelming. Several thousand people have sent comments and suggestions on the BP video. Chairman Markey took several of those suggestions and put them into a letter to BP, calling for:

1) More Video: BP has as many as 12 different camera feeds from the ocean floor, but they are only offering one view to the public. Click here to see an example of BP’s multiple cameras http://globalwarming.house.gov/mediacenter/pressreleases_2008?id=0253 Markey called on BP to make all video available.

2) Archived Video: So that scientists, engineers and students can learn from the underwater operation footage. This archived video can help protect against future disasters.

3) Time Stamp: To ensure the video the public is watching has time and date information.
To read this letter, click here. http://globalwarming.house.gov/mediacenter/pressreleases_2008?id=0250

BP Oil Spill HEARINGS this WEEK:

WED & THURS: The Natural Resources Committee will hold two days of hearings on the Deep Water Horizon oil spill (Wed & Thursday). Click here for more information. http://resourcescommittee.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=630&Itemid=27

THURS: Chairman Markey’s Energy & Commerce Subcommittee on Energy and the Environment will hold a hearing entitled “Combating the BP Oil Spill” on Thursday, May 27, 2010, in 2123 Rayburn House Office Building. Click here to watch live. http://energycommerce.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2016:subcommittee-hearing-on-qcombating-the-bp-oil-spillq&catid=130:subcommittee-on-energy-and-the-environment&Itemid=71

INVITED WITNESSES:

· The Honorable Lisa Jackson, Administrator, Environmental Protection Agency
· Timothy Keeney, Assistant Secretary, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
· S. Elizabeth Birnbaum, Director, Minerals Management Service
· Peter Neffenger, Rear Admiral, United States Coast Guard

MARKEY QUERIES FDA on DISPERSANTS in FISH, FOOD CHAIN

In light of continued use of chemical oil dispersants by BP, Chairman Markey asked the Food and Drug Administration for information on how Gulf seafood that could be purchased and eaten by humans will be monitored for potential long-term exposure to chemicals. To read a copy of this letter, CLICK HERE http://globalwarming.house.gov/mediacenter/pressreleases_2008?id=0252

**You can also follow the Select Committee on Twitter and Facebook.

[WheelWalker]

1. Kick

[1776Forever]

2. "Something" is going on right now 12:43 am est at the spill site - Check it out - Live link below:

http://www.livestream.com/wkrg_oil_spill

[1776Forever]

3. Here's the answer to what is going on now - Preparing for tomorrow tap NYT article:

On Tuesday, engineers guided submarine robots through diagnostic tests in preparation for the top kill, a maneuver in which tubes will inject thousands of pounds of heavy drilling fluids into a five-story-tall stack of pipes to clog the well. A 30,000-horsepower engine on a ship floating above the well will shoot the liquids, known in the oil business as drilling mud.

The technique has been used successfully for other spills, notably for stopping the oil flooding out of Kuwaiti oil wells sabotaged by the Iraqi army at the end of the first Persian Gulf war.

Several veterans of that operation are orchestrating technicians in the Gulf of Mexico. To lead the effort, BP has brought in Mark Mazzella, its top well-control expert, who was mentored by Bobby Joe Cudd, a legendary Oklahoma well firefighter.

But at a mile below the gulf surface, the pressures of the surging oil and gas may be too much for the drilling fluids to counteract and reverse, BP officials warned.

“It has been done successfully in the past, but it hasn’t been done at this depth,” said Kent Wells, BP’s senior vice president for exploration and production. “We always have to be careful about setting expectations.”

BP said in a statement that the top kill could be combined with a procedure known as a junk shot, in which materials like golf balls and pieces of rubber are injected into the blowout preventer to bridge gaps in the rams and stop or sharply reduce the flow of oil.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/26/us/26spill.html?hpw

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Thanks to elleng for the link!