Bobby Jindal: Barges, the Coast Guard, and Obama

At the beginning of May, this was the line from the White House:

Explaining Obama's visit after the April 20 oil platform explosion, [Robert] Gibbs said, "He's here today to make sure that we are continuing to do all that is humanly possible."

That was, quite simply, an outright lie. It was a lie when Gibbs said it over a month and a half ago and it's still a lie today.

From the first days of the disaster, everything humanly possible was most definitely not done to lessen the damage and prevent the oil from fouling the Gulf Coast.

For instance, the U.S. rejected help from the Dutch. Now, weeks and weeks later, the Obama government has reconsidered.

To say it's a little late is an understatement.

The U.S. Government has apparently reconsidered a Dutch offer to supply 4 oil skimmers. These are large arms that are attached to oil tankers that pump oil and water from the surface of the ocean into the tanker. Water pumped into the tanker will settle to the bottom of the tanker and is then pumped back into the ocean to make room for more oil. Each system will collect 5,000 tons of oil each day.

One ton of oil is about 7.3 barrels. 5,000 tons per day is 36,500 barrels per day. 4 skimmers have a capacity of 146,000 barrels per day. That is much greater than the high end estimate of the leak. The skimmers work best in calm water, which is the usual condition this time of year in the gulf.

...The Dutch offered to fly their skimmer arm systems to the Gulf 3 days after the oil spill started. The offer was apparently turned down because EPA regulations do not allow water with oil to be pumped back into the ocean. If all the oily water was retained in the tanker, the capacity of the system would be greatly diminished because most of what is pumped into the tanker is sea water.

As of June 8th, BP reported that they have collected 64,650 barrels of oil in the Gulf. That is only a fraction of the amount of oil spilled from the well. That is less than one day’s rated capacity of the Dutch oil skimmers.

What incompetence!

More incompetence:

Eight days ago, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal ordered barges to begin vacuuming crude oil out of his state's oil-soaked waters. Today, against the governor's wishes, those barges sat idle, even as more oil flowed toward the Louisiana shore.

"It's the most frustrating thing," the Republican governor said today in Buras, La. "Literally, yesterday morning we found out that they were halting all of these barges."

Sixteen barges sat stationary today, although they were sucking up thousands of gallons of BP's oil as recently as Tuesday. Workers in hazmat suits and gas masks pumped the oil out of the Louisiana waters and into steel tanks. It was a homegrown idea that seemed to be effective at collecting the thick gunk.

"These barges work. You've seen them work. You've seen them suck oil out of the water," said Jindal.

So why stop now?

"The Coast Guard came and shut them down," Jindal said. "You got men on the barges in the oil, and they have been told by the Coast Guard, 'Cease and desist. Stop sucking up that oil.'"

A Coast Guard representative told ABC News today that it shares the same goal as the governor.

"We are all in this together. The enemy is the oil," said Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Dan Lauer.

But the Coast Guard ordered the stoppage because of reasons that Jindal found frustrating. The Coast Guard needed to confirm that there were fire extinguishers and life vests on board, and then it had trouble contacting the people who built the barges.

The governor said he didn't have the authority to overrule the Coast Guard's decision, though he said he tried to reach the White House to raise his concerns.

"They promised us they were going to get it done as quickly as possible," he said. But "every time you talk to someone different at the Coast Guard, you get a different answer."

According to Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Dan Lauer, "We are all in this together. The enemy is the oil."

Oil isn't the only enemy. It's clear that Jindal has been battling the Obama administration.

The frustration must be overwhelming, knowing that everything humanly possible is not being done in a timely fashion.

It's sickening.

Video.



Federal red tape should not be hindering the clean-up. That's inexcusable.

BOBBY JINDAL: I got on a White House phone call yesterday morning at 8:30; talked to the White House, talked to the admiral, saying we need to do everything we can to get these barges back deployed, back out there taking this oil out of the water.

So, what is frustrating is that you've got men working on these barges that live here in Louisiana, that have gone fishing out in Barataria Bay for years. And literally, for the last 24 hours, 8 barges were deployed, they literally watched that oil instead of being able to pick it up. They had the equipment to pick it up and they weren't allowed to do so.

Way to go, Obama! Way to go!

Prevent the workers from picking up the oil. Good job!