Mood:
loudTopic: aust govt
It's a sham. It's a lie.
The resources minister responsible for managing oil drilling in a safe manner controls the terms of reference, the choice of presiding officer, whether it will be public or not. What's wrong with this picture?
The same minister who orchestrated backgrounding to veteran journo Laurie Oakes (4th Sept 2009 all News Corp syndicated press) arguing his critics in The Greens were full of hyperbole. Only to have the Greens vindicated by sworn evidence of Federal Dept of Environment officials that the oil blow out was 'up to 2,000 barrels a day' and not the company estimate of 300 to 400 barrels on 21st October 2009. Refer Senate Economics Estimates Committee page E84 exchange between Senator Siewert and Mr Squires of the Dept.
Meanwhile a gormless ABC news standard bearer have been hashing this critical metric of the scale of disaster (while otherwise doing a good job this last week) in informing the high population South East Austalian precinct. At first they attributed the company (PTTEP Australasia) estimate of a lower 400 barrels per day leak (PM show), then repeat it as fact with no attribution (tv prime time news), then alter to "an estimated". Then again we hear 2 days ago it's 'hundreds of thousands of litres of oil spilled'. Trouble is even applying the company's low estimate it is millions of litres spilled:
70 days x 400 barrels x 42 gallons per barrel x 4 litres per gallon = 4,704,000 litres of oil spilled,
Notice international metric comparison with infamous Exxon Valdez of 10.8 million gallons oil spill, that would make West Atlas at 1,176,000 gallons.
But the real figure is 'up to 2,000 barrels per day' according to Geo Science Australia brief to Federal Environment Department in sworn evidence to the Australian Senate Estimates Committee on 21st October 2009.
The total spill figure may well be:
70 days x 2,000 barrels x 42 gallons = (up to) 5,880,000 gallons (or half infamous Exxon Valdez spill). Or to put in litres 23,520,000 or 23.5 million litres.
The company reports the cost so far is $170 million in costs of the disaster with about $6M of that being clean up. We can assume higher figure is the replacement oil rig (probably insured and therefore not a real cost?) and the latter figure cost of chemical dispersant flown into the area to break up oil before it reaches coastlines of Australia, West and East Timor and other island coastlines. This suggests the oil and chemicals are all on the sea bottom and in the water column poisoning the ocean public environment for years to come.
Minister Ferguson gave new exploration licences to the same PTTEP company AFTER the oil blowout occured in the last month. Thanks for nothing Minister Ferguson. It was on your watch. The favourable decision post oil blowout was all yours. And the extent of damage and delay in plugging the blowout is your responsibility.
On ABC radio national earlier today they go back to the figure of '400 barrels a day' flow rate of the spill as bald fact, no company attribtution, earlier today in an otherwise suitably strong preface to a live interview with Minister Ferguson: References to East Timor Govt concerns 250 km away.
It seems repeating a lie about the actual metric of the scale of the disaster often enough is the same as fact in the Big Media, even the best at ABC. Which somehow reminds us of this famous set of lyrics (from Talking Heads):
Letting the days go by/let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by/water flowing underground
Into the blue again/after the money's gone
Once in a lifetime/water flowing underground.
Same as it ever was...Same as it ever was...Same as it ever was...
Same as it ever was...Same as it ever was...Same as it ever was...
Same as it ever was...Same as it ever was...
Water dissolving...and water removing
There is water at the bottom of the ocean
Carry the water at the bottom of the ocean
Remove the water at the bottom of the ocean!
Letting the days go by/let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by/water flowing underground
Into the blue again/in the silent water
Under the rocks and stones/there is water underground.
Letting the days go by/let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by/water flowing underground
Into the blue again/after the money's gone
Once in a lifetime/water flowing underground.
