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America's Gulf: New Report Says It's Dying

By Stephen Lendman

30 December, 2010
Countercurrents.org

Concerned Citizens of Florida.com (CCF) believe efforts must be made now "to address what may very well be the greatest environmental catastrophe of North America in modern history....government (and media) cannot be relied on" for truthful information. As a result, its site is a platform for truth and accuracy on a disaster of such magnitude.

On December 1, CCF published a special Dr. Tom Termotto Gulf disaster report, titled "The Gulf of Mexico is Dying." He's National Coordinator for the Tallahassee, FL-based Gulf Oil Spill Remediation Conference (International Citizens' Initiative). Its disturbing findings are discussed below. He published them so "the world community will come together to further contemplate this dire and demanding predicament." Future generations depend on it.

Termotto's entire report can be accessed through the following link:

http://phoenixrisingfromthegulf.wordpress.com/

In an early July statement, he called the Gulf disaster "a tragic violation of the public trust," adding:

"The BP Gulf Oil Spill was created by man; it was not an act of God....It was an utterly manmade event; not an accident....where fate would have everything accidently go wrong that could go possibly so wrong....We wonder out loud about whether it is now time to establish a Regional Citizens' Initiative....to step in where government and industry have completely failed and betrayed the people."

His current assessment is based on seven months Gulf Oil Spill Remediation Conference work, "disseminate(d) with the authority and confidence of those who have thoroughly investigated a crime scene." A compelling body of evidence, including photo-documentaries, portrays the Gulf's true state - what BP, Washington, and major media reports suppressed.

"BP('s) narrative is nothing but a corporate-created illusion - a web of fabrication spun in collaboration with the US Federal Government and (complicit) Mainstream Media. Big Oil, as well as the Military-Industrial Complex, have aided and abetted this whole scheme and info blackout because the very future of the Oil & Gas Industry is at stake, as is the future of the US empire," dependent on vast amounts of energy, mainly oil.

Most important is that planet earth may be at stake, "slowly but surely filling up with (toxic) oil and gas."

Visual evidence and diagrams captured "the true state of the underlying geological formations around the various wells drilled in the Macondo Prospect....there is no dispute (about) the most serious geological changes (caused and continuing) in (Macondo's) region...."

Besides nearly three months of gushing, expect worse conditions ahead. "It's not a pretty picture" when explained fully and accurately. Evidence shows "the geology around the well bore has been blown. This occurred because of:"

-- contiguous drilling "to a salt dome;" and

-- destructive gas explosions, damaging "the integrity of the well casing, cementing, well bore, well head, and foundation around the well head."

As a result, the entire well system was undermined, what official reports never explained. Then, after capping, pressure forced "upsurging hydrocarbons to find weaknesses throughout the greater system." Doing so exposed an array of "compromised, fractured and unsettled geology through which hydrocarbons could travel all the way to the seafloor and into the GOM (Gulf of Mexico)."

According to Geohazards Specialist BK Lim:

"The rock beds in the vicinity of a salt dome (in stratified rocks that often contain oil and gas) are highly fractured and permeable due to stress and deformation which occur as the salt dome thrusted upwards."

Faults are another problem. Depending on the amount of structural damage, their number, location and severity "will become prominently configured into the future stability of the whole region. Larger faults can open up much greater opportunities for the hydrocarbons to (rise) to the seafloor via cracks, crevices, craters and chasms."

In fact, visual evidence reveals "numerous leaks and seeps throughout the seafloor surface (suggesting) sub-seafloor geological formations in great turmoil and undergoing unprecedented flux."

Once oil penetrates shallow fault areas, an uncontrollable situation exists, information again suppressed because revelation might threaten the future of oil and gas exploration. Coverup protects it, no matter the extreme geological and human hazards.

Three Different Gulf Disasters

(1) the 87-day Macondo gushing.

(2) "Numerous leaks and seeps within five to ten square miles (of Macondo) with an (unknown) aggregate" daily hydrocarbon outflow.

(3) "Countless gushers and spills, leaks and seeps throughout the Gulf of Mexico" because of many decades of drilling. While the combined outflow is undetermined, it's likely to be significant, ensuring the Gulf's "slow and steady demise...."

The Gulf of Mexico is dying, but government and industry officials don't report it. Moreover, what happens there affects adjacent waters, including the Atlantic Ocean and beyond. All planetary waters are interconnected and potentially at risk, meaning the entire global ecosystem is endangered.

Methane is another problem. It's very corrosive when mixed with saltwater and mud. High pressure forces it to through seafloor cracks and crevices, "thereby creating a predicament that no science, technology or equipment can remedy."

Macondo is only one project. Many others exist globally "causing innumerable 'micro-displacements' " that cumulatively create a hazardous macro-event. The most serious Gulf issue relates to the amount and depth of drilling. "Of course, with greater depths come much greater risks," as modern technology and equipment haven't kept up with potential hazards.

Gulf Seabed May Be in Seismic Danger Zone

Decades of multiple seabed fracturing and fissuring created a "conducive environment for HUGE unintended consequences." Unless further exploration is halted, "coastal communities (and global waters) will remain in a very precarious situation." Drilling elsewhere compounds the problem. Planet Earth's future is at stake as well as humanity and other animal and vegetable life.

Addendum

The following additional problems are explained:

(1) "The wanton and indiscriminate use of (Corexit dispersant) turned an extremely serious regional disaster into an unmitigated global" one. Mixed with oil caused "fundamentally altered" Gulf waters. "Many are concerned that a tipping point has already arrived and that this sea change will irrevocably transform a way of life" negatively.

(2) "The deeper the geological source of hydrocarbons, the more radioactive isotopes" enter oil and gas. Big Oil keeps it secret. "So secret in fact that, if this were to get out, this single scientific fact would seal the fate of the entire industry." Moreover, it confirms the (non-biological) abiotic and (non-biochemical) abiogenic origin of oil and gas, facts counter to Peak Oil theory. Macondo is rumored to have a "reservoir of abiotic oil the size of Mount Everest." Tapping it safely, however, is another matter.

A Final Comment

On July 1, Concerned Citizens of Florida headlined, "They've Literally Punched A Hole Into Hell: We Need A Crash Alternative Energy Program Now, Assuming We Even Survive," saying:

No "verbal hyperbole" can explain "the magnitude of (Macondo's) environmental catastrophe. It is nothing short of an Armageddon of Oil." Fossil fuels and nuclear power are killing the planet. Unless crash alternatives are undertaken and accelerated, deciding later may not matter. Macondo was a defining moment. Something now must be done "to save our country and world." Tomorrow is too late.

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at [email protected]. Also visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network Thursdays at 10AM US Central time and Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs are archived for easy listening.

http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour/