Sad sights from the #SantaBarbaraOilSpill: image via Polly Mosendz @polly, 21 May 2015
Image
of the supergiant star Betelgeuse obtained with the NACO adaptive
optics instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope. The use of NACO
combined with a so-called “lucky imaging” technique, allowed the
astronomers to obtain the sharpest ever image of Betelgeuse, even with
Earth’s turbulent, image-distorting atmosphere in the way. The
resolution is as fine as 37 milliarcseconds, which is roughly the size
of a tennis ball on the International Space Station (ISS), as seen from
the ground. The image is based on data obtained in the near-infrared,
through different filters. The field of view is about half an arcsecond
wide, North is up, East is left: image by ESO / P. Kervella. 29 July 2009 (ESO)
Hot blue stars at the core of Globular Cluster M15: photo by NASA, 2006 (NASA/HST)
Wild form, deep form, form out of the
Arabic night
God your conspicuous discrete
desert stars are trucks of light
on very distant highway 101's
over which
I am hitchhiking tonight
The waves feathering out in ink
beyond Obispo, toward Conception
toward Surf, a black like blue
jello out of Jules Verne's star-bowls
the world a crushed grape to
someone on Betelgeuse
Arabic night
God your conspicuous discrete
desert stars are trucks of light
on very distant highway 101's
over which
I am hitchhiking tonight
The waves feathering out in ink
beyond Obispo, toward Conception
toward Surf, a black like blue
jello out of Jules Verne's star-bowls
the world a crushed grape to
someone on Betelgeuse
TC: Pacific Melt, from Paradise Resisted, 1984
Point Conception Lighthouse, Santa Barbara County, California: photo by Jv4nvc, 2009
Oil spill off Santa Barbara coast. A pelican glides over oil-soaked kelp and oil sheen as a cleanup effort continues on the beaches in Santa Barbara County: photo by Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times, 20 May 2015
Oil spill off Santa Barbara coast. An oil sheen is visible in a kelp forest offshore as the cleanup effort continues along the coast in Santa Barbara County: photo by Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times, 20 May 2015
Oil spill off Santa Barbara coast. The oil spill fouls the waters and a kelp forest as a cleanup effort continues along the coast in Santa Barbara County: photo by Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times, 20 May 2015
Oil spill off Santa Barbara coast. The oil spill fouls the waters and a kelp forest as a cleanup effort continues along the coast in Santa Barbara County: photo by Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times, 20 May 2015
Oil spill off Santa Barbara coast. Point of origin where the oil pipeline ruptured.: photo by Al Seib / Los Angeles Times, 20 May 2015
Oil spill off Santa Barbara coast. Point of origin where the oil pipeline ruptured.: photo by Al Seib / Los Angeles Times, 20 May 2015
Oil spill off Santa Barbara coast. Oil spill cleanup. Oil-stained rocks at Refugio State Beach on Wednesday morning.: photo by Al Seib / Los Angeles Times, 20 May 2015
Refugio State Beach. Oil-stained rocks at Refugio State Beach on Wednesday morning.: photo by Al Seib / Los Angeles Times, 20 May 2015
This is the view from the beach where the oil
spilled down into the ocean #SantaBarbara: image via Javier Panzar
@jpanzar, 21 May 2015
#California #oilspill 5x larger than 1st thought #climate #cdnpoli #bcpoli #defendthecoast: image via Mike Hudema, 21 May 2015
#SantaBarbaraOilSpill: Dramatic Images -- via @ABC: image via Elissa Harrington
@EHarringtonNews, 21 May 2015
This is how oil breaks down in water after a disaster like the #SantaBarbaraOilSpill: image via Popular Mechanics @PopMech, 21 May 2015
Very small percentage of oil spilled in #RefugioOilSpill recovered by cleanup workers: image via Rachel Richardson @rquared, 21 May 2015
"As the sun rises, the environmental impacts of the oil spill. Dead fish" #refugiooilspill #sad v@Rae_Christensen: image via reported.ly, 21 May 2015
#RefugioOilSpil Governor declares Emergency in pictures via @Telegraph
Pic Lucy Nicholson: image via Telegraph Pictures @TelegraphPics, 21
May 2015
#SantaBarbaraOilSpill is 5X worse than originally thought, from 21,000 gal to now 105,000 gal>: image via Earthjustice @Earthjustice, 21 May 2015
Oiled seabird: Red-throated Loon? caught in
#oilspill today near Santa Barbara: by Lara Cooper/Noozhawk.com: image
via BirdRescue.org @IntBirdRescue, 19 May 2015
Happened upon this seal struggling on the beach. We have called it in. #SantaBarbaraOilSpill: image via Bethany Mollenkof @FancyBethany, 21 May 2015
She is lying with her head on a rock. Heartbreaking. Reported to Fish and Wildlife. Waiting. #SantaBarbaraOilSpill: image via Javier Panzar @jpanzar, 21 May 2015
Sea lions normally run off w/ humans around, marine biologist tells me. This one looks too tired #SantaBarbaraOilSpill: image via Javier Panzar @jpanzar, 21 May 2015
105k gallons of oil spilled in #SantaBarbara. Devastating environmental damage to our coastline. Sad #RefugioOilSpill: image via iration @iration, 21 May 2015
5 comments:
Nora,
As a water dweller, I'm sure this hits home for you.
The perpetrator is a peckerwood pipeline firm out of Texas that's been cited for many, many incidents of environmental damage.
Their management roster mug shot page is a rogue's gallery of puffy white men. That's all it takes to soil the ocean and its inhabitants in perpetuity.
We lived for four years down where this happened, it's a magnificent piece of the planet, if only the white eyes (white guys) hadn't arrived.
Speaking of eyes, there were photos of oiled pelicans with their eyes sealed shut. Didn't have the heart to show those. Some things are just beyond too much.
This graphic showing the extent of operations of the pipeline company is enough to give pause.
Plains All-American Pipeline Co. LLP
I see they have a "storage facility" just up the road here, in lovely Richmond. Reassuring.
Here's their self-description.
"Plains is a top provider of flexible midstream infrastructure in major growth regions, key supply aggregation points and critical market hub locations."
That's about as straightforward as a 16-inch-thick wad of crude oil entangled in a clump of kelp on a beach.
This from LA Times, 20 May:
"Plains Pipeline, the large Texas-based company responsible for the pipe that ruptured in Santa Barbara County, has accumulated 175 safety and maintenance infractions since 2006, according to federal records.
"A Times analysis of data from the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration shows Plains' rate of incidents per mile of pipe is more than three times the national average. Among more than 1,700 pipeline operators listed in a database maintained by the federal agency, only four companies reported more infractions than Plains Pipeline.
"The company, which transports and stores crude oil, is part of Plains All American Pipeline, which owns and operates nearly 18,000 miles of pipe networks in several states. It reported $43 billion in revenue in 2014 and $878 million in profit.
"The company's infractions involved pump failure, equipment malfunction, pipeline corrosion and operator error. None of the incidents resulted in injuries. According to federal records, since 2006 the company's incidents caused more than $23 million in property damage and spilled more than 688,000 gallons of hazardous liquid.
"A Plains Pipeline spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment about its regulatory record."
Tom,
Such painful images to see. And that image of the world as a crushed blue grape. Haunting. And I was just reading
this the other day. I'm glad for the people who know nothing about poetry. They remain fearless in their own unique way.
It's more profitable for this company to cut corners and pay fines for the inevitable leaks then to operate safely.
In other words, crime pays if you're wealthy enough.
~
And this is a mega-money perpetrator.
These pipeline pirates who have fouled one of the most beautiful coastlines on earth are looking at some negligible fine. I believe the top limit on federal fines for such incidents is half a million dollars. To a company of this dimension, that wrist-slap would scarcely be felt.
Expect a settlement.
Meanwhile, Plains All American has put out a statement, saying, ever so helpfully, that they regret any "inconvenience" caused by their spill.
Tell that to an oiled pelican.
I can hear the good old boys laughing and knee-slapping down in Houston.
It's going to be their day every day. And when the next round of drilling begins in the Arctic and on the East Coast, guess who'll be right in there hip-deep in the poison sludge, sleeves rolled up, bidding large on the pipeline contracts.
Keep that damn black death buried right where it is. The damage already done will be affecting the ecosystem long after the memory of this spill has faded. The damage still to come, incalculable. A spill is not an "accident", it's an inevitability. This industry will be rolling in money when everything they've touched is dead and gone.
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