June 29, 2012

Only 43.7 Percent of Gulf 'Oil Spill' Was Actually Oil

By Bruce Thompson
Today, Friday June 29, is the day that Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute (WHOI) researchers are required to provide "criminal" defendant Kurt Mix, a former BP completions engineer, with the flow rate data they wanted to hide behind a claim of academic privilege. The federal government has based its claims for per-barrel pollution fines against BP largely on the WHOI data. And one obstacle to the government collecting huge fines under the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA) is any challenge to its estimates as to how much oil actually got into the Gulf of Mexico. As an engineer involved in the source containment effort, Mr. Mix's testimony could cause the court to doubt the government's estimates. Hence the absurd charges against Mr. Mix, whose only "crime" was the diligently work to "plug the damn hole," as President Obama so succinctly put it. Mr. Mix had absolutely nothing to do with the fatal accident that caused the flow of oil into the sea, he only took part in the "source control"...(Read Full Article)