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* Dutch Press Release: Six Sweeping Arms enroute to Gulf *

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Home » Discuss » Archives » General Discussion (1/22-2007 thru 12/14/2010)

chill_wind

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Wed Jun-02-10 11:54 PM
Original message

* Dutch Press Release: Six Sweeping Arms enroute to Gulf *

Edited on Thu Jun-03-10 12:00 AM by chill_wind

Did we know this, or am I the only one who didn't?

Dutch to Provide Assistance in Clean Up of Gulf Oil Spill

Press release | 28 May 2010

At the request of U.S. authorities, the Dutch Minister of Transport, Camiel Eurlings, has offered three sets of sweeping arms (6 arms in total) and auxiliary equipment to be used to collect oil spilled from the Deepwater Horizon incident, in the Gulf of Mexico.

This weekend, the Dutch Corps of Engineers (Rijkswaterstaat) will send the equipment by plane to the U.S. Coast Guard in Louisiana. Experts from the Dutch private industry will fly in as well to assist with the operation of the sweeping arms. It is expected that the arms will be in operation as early as next week.

The sweeping arms, which will be attached to ships, will skim and collect floating oil from the water and pump it into storage tanks. Depending on local weather conditions, the sweeping arms have a maximum pumping capacity of 350 m3 per hour. Minister Eurlings stated, �The Dutch offered assistance to the U.S. as soon as the disaster occurred. We have been working closely on water related issues with the Louisiana region since Hurricane Katrina. It seems no more than natural that now again; we stand together with the people of Louisiana.�

The arms will be delivered to the American company, T&T Marine Salvage, which is contracted by BP to assist in cleaning up the oil spill. The arms will remain in the U.S. after being used and Rijkswaterstaat will secure additional sweeping arms for the Netherlands. In case of an unfortunate simultaneous oil spill in the North Sea, the Dutch have enough capacity to handle this. In an emergency situation its neighbouring countries can assist.

more of the press release:

http://dc.the-netherlands.org/News/Press_Releases/Dutch_to_Provide_Assistance_in_Clean_Up_of_Gulf_Oil_Spill

I had first come upon this "new" news earlier today at a site for ROV pilots & tech stuff:

http://www.rovworld.com/content-1.html?cx=partner-pub-4420771111092178%3Aqj4wdr-7u1s&cof=FORID%3A10&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=koseq&sa=Search#296

They seemed to think they are these (from this company):

(video and more images)

http://www.koseq.com/

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amborin

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Wed Jun-02-10 11:56 PM
Response to Original message

1. so more than 1 month later, we're finally allowing the Dutch to help?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x8303895

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chill_wind

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Wed Jun-02-10 11:59 PM
Response to Reply #1

2. Thanks for linking that, amborin. I remember!

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jp11

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Thu Jun-03-10 12:04 AM
Response to Reply #1

5. Yup maybe 3 months from now MSM will pick up on all the things that weren't being done back when but

suddenly started being done.

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chill_wind

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Thu Jun-03-10 01:06 AM
Response to Reply #1

14. Add about 10-14 days more to that decision making--

Edited on Thu Jun-03-10 01:08 AM by chill_wind

the 10 days or so between when the request was made and the time required to get the equipment together and get it here, and another few days on it being operational after we get it..

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Nailzberg

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Thu Jun-03-10 01:45 AM
Response to Reply #1

17. IIRC, this type of cleanup method is against EPA standards.

Edited on Thu Jun-03-10 01:48 AM by Nailzberg

I'm no expert, but I thought I read a couple weeks ago this method sucks up everything, separates the oil, and pumps the water to the sea, however it is imperfect and that seawater is still slightly contaminated.

But even if my memory is correct and that is true, common sense still says it's a mega-catastrophe and slightly contaminated seawater is a helluva lot better than the current situation, so sign an order overriding the EPA in this instance, and accept the goddamn help. But bureaucrats don't think that fast. Stupidity, but at least help is finally coming.

on edit: OK, my bad, you linked directly to the EPA bullshit I was talking about. Opened it in another tab, but so fired up and didn't read it until I posted. So I was correct about the EPA, and I still wonder why they didn't override the EPA sooner. At least my memory is gone completely. :)

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HysteryDiagnosis

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Thu Jun-03-10 05:33 AM
Original message

This system coupled with the centrifuge Kevin Costner has invested

in would be EPA safe imho.

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HysteryDiagnosis

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Thu Jun-03-10 05:33 AM
Response to Reply #17

19. Dupe

Edited on Thu Jun-03-10 05:34 AM by HysteryDiagnosis

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amborin

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Thu Jun-03-10 11:56 AM
Response to Reply #17

21. 5% oil, rather than 100%, was still unacceptable in their calculations

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HooptieWagon

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Thu Jun-03-10 12:39 PM
Response to Reply #17

22. Yes, IIRC this equipment was offered early on, but rejected by the EPA.

Certainly this is an area where Obama epically failed. Stepping in and overriding the EPA bureaucracy would have been an appropriate response. Cleaning up 95% of the oil is unquestionably better than leaving 100% floating there to blow ashore.

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chill_wind

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Thu Jun-03-10 01:02 PM
Response to Reply #22

23. EPA bureaucracy has been less than effective IMHO

Just to take the example alone of the dispersants.

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HooptieWagon

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Thu Jun-03-10 02:19 PM
Response to Reply #23

28. And constructing berms to keep the oil out of the marshes.

I can't imagine temporary berms would be worse for marshland environment than thousands of gallons of crude. WTF is going on at the EPA? Don't they understand this is an emergency? Sounds like that agency needs shaking up as well as MMS/Interior....

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Nailzberg

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Fri Jun-04-10 01:54 AM
Response to Reply #28

38. I think Walter Peck is in charge over there.

And if you recall his handling of the laser containment system shutdown in Tribeca, NYC, 25 years ago was an epic disaster.

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Webster Green

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Thu Jun-03-10 12:01 AM
Response to Original message

3. About time.

I wonder which of the clusterfuck officials will turn them back.

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Robbien

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Thu Jun-03-10 12:01 AM
Response to Original message

4. It hasn't been posted before

It is good news wrapped in a whole bunch of negative thoughts. This equipment was offered on day one.

It is good we finally are allowing them in.

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chill_wind

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Thu Jun-03-10 12:05 AM
Response to Reply #4

6. Haven't seen this latest news touted in US media.

I had almost given it up as rumor.

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Robbien

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Thu Jun-03-10 12:13 AM
Response to Reply #6

10. The media is focused mainly on the spewing pipe and on politics

Clean up of spewed oil is downplayed in the media. News on clean up efforts is basically found on the web only.

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aquart

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Thu Jun-03-10 12:06 AM
Response to Original message

7. I have always been very fond of the Dutch.

Here's hoping we use the equipment instead of letting it rust.

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jberryhill

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Thu Jun-03-10 12:10 AM
Response to Original message

8. Swamp Problems? Call The Dutch

Nobody manages water quite like our Dutch friends.

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zalinda

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Thu Jun-03-10 12:11 AM
Response to Original message

9. What a way to fuck up the earth

Why in the hell didn't Obama get on the phone to every oil producing country and get their experts together on a satellite hook-up? Why has it taken this long? Obama is supposed to be the smart one, but apparently he is only book smart, can't think outside of what Rahm tells him to think.

I am so angry at this administration. They are supposed to be better than Bush, but their response to this disaster is just as bad as Bush's response to Katrina. This is the fucking planet we are talking about. Do they not know that there is such a thing as a Gulf stream that moves water from the Gulf to other parts of this planet?

I would expect this type of response from a repub administration, but not a dem one. Democrats are supposed to care about the environment, about people and wildlife. I see no such caring at all. All I see is a media black out, while our planet is being tortured. We should be seeing dead animals, oily grasses and oil slicked water, make everyone understand that we can't live like this anymore.

Bring this country together. For the most part, Americans are not greedy, lazy, do nothings. They need someone to tell them what they need to do, and no one is doing it. If they felt the need they would sacrifice, but no one has told what action to take. They need a leader, and I'm sorry folks, but that just ain't Obama.

zalinda

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laughingliberal

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Thu Jun-03-10 01:32 AM
Response to Reply #9

16. We were looking for a uniquely American solution. nt

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marions ghost

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Thu Jun-03-10 03:49 AM
Response to Reply #9

18. your attitude is too far left for Murka

:shrug:

Don't wait for Obama to tell you what to do. Figure out how to help. Adopt an environmental group working in the Gulf. Tell your representatives that this is the turning point for Big Oil and you want real support of clean energy alternatives, and you want it now. Start demanding push back for corporate abusers. Support the EPA for a change. Support better media & give the MSM your feedback.

The media blackout--is this the first time you realized that the media is manipulating us, and everything about this disaster? If so, that's a healthy realization.

There really are things we can do now. Stop whining about Obama. One person can't be a receptacle for all your grievances. There is blame to go around.

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zalinda

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Thu Jun-03-10 01:40 PM
Response to Reply #18

25. Thank you, but I do my part.

If Obama had made this an important event, the media would have covered it. He should have had everyone in his administration giving interviews on how this is such a disaster. The fact that his White House hardly talked about it, told the media that it wasn't a big deal. He HAS the bully pulpit, but has declined to use it.

zalinda

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marions ghost

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Thu Jun-03-10 02:53 PM
Response to Reply #25

29. He's using the bully pulpit now

of course he had to give BP a chance since he supports offshore drilling (or did before this). He was in a bad place. Everyone believed the internal reassurances. The poor congress critters couldn't even figure out what was going on for a long time either--that's how out to lunch they all are when it comes to science. But that's what you get when you trust the company "experts" and bidnessmen just a little too much. Obama got burned. He's learning...

We gave BP a chance, so now let's see what the Obama govmint does.

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chill_wind

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Thu Jun-03-10 06:36 PM
Response to Reply #29

33. The so-called "poor congress critters" are well fed

Edited on Thu Jun-03-10 06:40 PM by chill_wind

from the BP/Big Oil money trough. It's their job to not understand a whole lot of dimensions of this.

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marions ghost

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Thu Jun-03-10 07:20 PM
Response to Reply #33

34. oh sure

but you'd think they'd want to hide their ignorance or study up or something in the wake of the disaster, since they would be making policy decisions (I did watch the hearings).

But nope, they had no idea what was going on...none. Except for Ed Markey, the spokesman for some kind of reality. None of them are qualified to assess anything to do with the environment or oil spills, and I guess they don't even have access to much information about it. Because of course, it was never going to happen.

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chill_wind

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Thu Jun-03-10 07:27 PM
Response to Reply #34

35. Excellent points. n/t

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chill_wind

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Thu Jun-03-10 12:36 AM
Response to Original message

11. Googling more- just found this (CSMonitor June 1) USCG requested them May 18.

Edited on Thu Jun-03-10 12:41 AM by chill_wind

according to this.

(...)

In a press conference Tuesday, US Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen would neither confirm nor deny that the technology would be used in the Gulf oil spill. Allen would only say that recovery officials were �reaching out to the Netherlands, Canada, and Mexico� for technology assistance. �We�re looking at all sources,� he said.

Dutch companies that manufacture the sweeping arm system first contacted BP officials April 23, three days after the Deepwater Horizon explosion, according to Mr. Huisman, who spoke by phone from his office in The Hague Tuesday. After receiving little reply, the companies turned to his department for help in reaching out to the US State Department, Huisman says.

�We specifically asked those companies that if you have a firm order from BP or the US government, then we can make the arrangements available,� he says. The US Coast Guard made a formal request for the systems May 18, according to Huisman.

The six systems that are being sent are new and are from a special reserve that the Dutch government keeps on hand to combat oil spills off its own shores. Dutch law requires the government to combat oil spills, not the oil-rig operators.

The Dutch government is acting as a conduit between the US and Dutch companies and is not asking for payment, Huisman says. It is relinquishing six systems from its supply of 23 only because Koseq, the Dutch company that manufactures the systems, builds to order and had none available. The government�s only requirement, Huisman says, is that Koseq resupply the government with six more systems when is ready.

more: http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2010/0601/BP-oil-spill-Will-the-sweeping-arm-system-from-the-Dutch-help

The rig blew on April 20, so almost a month before we changed our minds, and Allen is still being dodgy about confirming they will be used...

:shrug:

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chill_wind

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Thu Jun-03-10 12:53 AM
Response to Reply #11

13. New Orleans.com snippet:

Edited on Thu Jun-03-10 01:10 AM by chill_wind

"The high tech pieces of equipment are being shipped here this weekend by the Dutch Corps of Engineers. Jeff Admon is a mechanical engineer who for weeks has been urging BP to use these machines. In the thickest oil, the arm, which is attached to the side of a ship, can suck up 29,000 gallons of oil per hour. The oil can then be separated from water. Then, the oil goes into a compartment located in the hull of the ship, and gets taken back to shore. Admon says the arms have been used in other parts of the world, and have been very successful. "This equipment was used in two huge oil spills off the coast of Spain and France, the Prestige and the Erica...and they were also used in the '91 Gulf War" Admon says.

So there's renewed hope now that the equipment will be in place by next week....but Admon and others still wonder why it took so long to get them here. "If they would've listened to us from the beginning and they would've listened to this proposal and this offer from the Dutch government, maybe we could've contained a lot more oil and we wouldn't be in the situation we are today" Admon says."

http://www.neworleans.com/news/local-news/404199.html

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AnneD

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Thu Jun-03-10 12:45 AM
Response to Original message

12. There is an egocentrism .....

that runs deep in the American psyche. I confess I had it once, then I traveled abroad and learned there was more than one way to peel a banana or build a toilet. I am glad we are standardized in many things (pipes, toilets, electrical currents, etc.) But we don't hold all the correct answers. The Dutch have been holding back the sea for generations and after all...it is Dutch Royal Shell Oil Co.

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underseasurveyor

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Thu Jun-03-10 01:29 AM
Response to Original message

15. Oh those Dutch people

Thank goodness for the Dutch:toast:

Thank You :grouphug:

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chill_wind

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Thu Jun-03-10 10:11 AM
Response to Original message

20. kick- -- can suck up 29,000 gallons of oil per hour

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okieinpain

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Thu Jun-03-10 01:16 PM
Response to Original message

24. looking at some of the post on the rovworld link and found this

I just had to post it.

"This PDF document was probably created by a blond US citizen. If you optimize it with Adobe Acrobat it's less than 7MB! Laughing"

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chill_wind

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Thu Jun-03-10 01:48 PM
Response to Reply #24

26. I saw that. 20 mg.

Oy! :-) It appears to be a UK site, with a lot of international users. Their perspective outside of the US Media on this (Deep Horizon) is interesting to read.

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okieinpain

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Thu Jun-03-10 02:07 PM
Response to Reply #26

27. it is interesting to see people in differest places views. n/t

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BeFree

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Thu Jun-03-10 03:03 PM
Response to Original message

30. Finally

About time. Just a few weeks late that the great EPA et al decided to adopt the best tech around for gathering up oil.

Kicking

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chill_wind

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Thu Jun-03-10 06:30 PM
Response to Reply #30

31. Finally. n/t

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chill_wind

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Thu Jun-03-10 06:30 PM
Response to Original message

32. and kick.

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amborin

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Thu Jun-03-10 07:29 PM
Response to Original message

36. good to hear this!

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chill_wind

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Thu Jun-03-10 10:39 PM
Response to Reply #36

37. I thought so, too! n/t

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