Katrina and Deepwater Horizon: Contrasts

On Tuesday, April 20th there was an explosion on the BP (British Petroleum) oil rig Deepwater Horizon. Eleven workers were immediately killed by this explosion.

Deepwater Horizon is a Reading & Bates Falcon RBS8D design, built by SoKo's Hyundai Heavy Industries in 2001, a semi-submersible drilling unit capable of operating in harsh environments and water depths up to 8,000 ft (upgradeable to 10,000 ft) using 18¾in 15,000 psi BOP and 21in OD marine risers. BP owns the rig but it is operated by Transocean, the world’s largest offshore drilling contractor, which has roughly 18,000 employees on offshore drilling units.

The CEO of Transocean wrote:

On April 20, a fire and explosion occurred onboard our semisubmersible drilling rig Deepwater Horizon, working approximately 41 miles offshore Louisiana on Mississippi Canyon block 252. Of the 126-member crew, 115 were safely evacuated. Despite exhaustive rescue efforts, eleven crew members lost their lives, nine of which were Transocean employees. Our entire Transocean family has been saddened by this tragic event and our thoughts and prayers remain with all who have been affected by this horrible tragedy. Join us in leaving your condolences to the families of those who were lost at our Deepwater Horizon Condolences Website.

As we continue to work on recovery and control efforts, and to understand the cause of this incident, this page has been established as a central point for updated information on status and activities. It also includes contact information for families, media, and others who need additional information.

Steven Newman
President and CEO
Transocean Ltd.

On Thursday, April 29th -- NINE days after the incident -- Mr Obaka made the following statement:

Earlier today, DHS Secretary Napolitano announced that this incident is of national significance and the Department of Interior has announced that they will be sending SWAT teams to the Gulf to inspect all platforms and rigs. And I have ordered the Secretaries of Interior and Homeland Security as well as Administrator Lisa Jackson of the Environmental Protection Agency to visit the site on Friday to ensure that BP and the entire U.S. government is doing everything possible, not just to respond to this incident, but also to determine its cause."

Let us "contrast and compare," as my university professors were wont to say:

Regarding Katrina, former President Bush signed a $10.5 billion relief package within four days of the hurricane. Within 1–2 days of the hurricane, The State of Louisiana National Guard troops arrived with relief packages, and participated in security and rescue operations.

However, members of the United States Congress and others charged that the relief efforts were slow because most of the affected areas were poor. There was also concern that many National Guard units were short staffed in surrounding states because some units were deployed overseas.

In the Deepwater Horizon event, it has taken the current Obaka Administration nine days to even realize there was a threat indicating a federal response.

Mr Obaka believes it's BP's responsibility to mitigate all coastal areas. He has specifically said so. Why did he send SWAT teams and admin wonks?

As if to cut off mounting criticism, on Saturday White House spokesman Robert Gibbs posted a blog entitled "The Response to the Oil Spill," laying out the administration's day-by-day response since the explosion, using words like "immediately" and "quickly," and emphasizing that Obama "early on" directed responding agencies to devote every resource to the incident and determining its cause.

A comparison anticipated for lack of response?

I submit so. Four days vs nine days. But, of course, you won't hear or read of this in the American media. Unless you read BZ or other "traitorist" blogs.

BZ

P.S.

Great coverage here.