Finally News Beyond The Same Old Tired Disaster Ritual!

Okay, we all realize it’s the anniversary of the movie Jaws but it seemed only today did the news media shift from oil spill coverage that was rarely more than an incessant drumbeat of blame-game, aggressor-victim, finger pointing and whining…to finally giving people good information on the herculean response underway.

Maybe it dawned on them that most consumers have either tuned out and turned off or the news media realized that people were switching for information to sites such as:

http://www.doi.gov/deepwaterhorizon/index.cfm

http://www.whitehouse.gov/deepwater-bp-oil-spill and others.

Many, in particular national and local newspapers across the nation have even switched from demoralizing descriptions of the problem to finally passing along more information like the bullets below on the inspiring and herculean efforts in response.  And ultimately, they may actually pass along substantive background on what Gladwell termed “disaster rituals” in a great article about accidents like these.

Response by the Numbers to Date:

• The administration has authorized 17,500 National Guard troops from Gulf Coast states to participate in the response to the BP oil spill.

 

• More than 20,000 personnel are currently responding to protect the shoreline and wildlife and cleanup vital coastlines.

 

• More than 1,900 vessels are responding on site, including skimmers, tugs, barges, and recovery vessels to assist in containment and cleanup efforts—in addition to dozens of aircraft, remotely operated vehicles, and multiple mobile offshore drilling units.

 

• Approximately 2 million feet of containment boom and 2.1 million feet of sorbent boom have been deployed to contain the spill—and approximately 625,000 feet of containment boom and 1.8 million feet of sorbent boom are available.

 

• Approximately 13.8 million gallons of an oil-water mix have been recovered.Approximately 993,000 gallons of total dispersant have been deployed—755,000 on the surface and 238,000 subsea. More than 364,000 gallons are available.

• 125 controlled burns have been conducted, efficiently removing a total of more than 3.2 million gallons of oil from the open water in an effort to protect shoreline and wildlife.

 

• 17 staging areas are in place and ready to protect sensitive shorelines, including: Dauphin Island, Ala., Orange Beach, Ala., Theodore, Ala., Panama City, Fla., Pensacola, Fla., Port St. Joe, Fla., St. Marks, Fla., Amelia, La., Cocodrie, La., Grand Isle, La., Shell Beach, La., Slidell, La., St. Mary, La.; Venice, La., Biloxi, Miss., Pascagoula, Miss., and Pass Christian, Miss.