Developing: Oil Rig Explosion In Gulf of Mexico

Right now, details are scant, but apparently there was some kind of explosion at another oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico and Coast Guard and other rescue helicopters and craft are on route to a rig located south of Vermilion Bay.

UPDATE:
This is a map of the general vicinity.


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UPDATE:
Reports seem to indicate that rig workers were in the water but were accounted for. The report was apparently called in by a helicopter in the vicinity of the incident 80 miles south of Vermillion Bay; no word on whether it was a production platform or a drilling rig.

The platform involved is called Vermilion 380 (corrected from 398), and owned by Mariner Energy.

UPDATE:
The platform is located in 377 2,500 340 feet of water.

The explosion sparked a fire aboard the oil rig, owned by Mariner Energy. It occurred west of the site of the April blast that caused the massive BP oil spill.

A commercial helicopter company reported the blast around 9:30 a.m. CDT Thursday, Coast Guard Petty Officer Casey Ranel said. Seven helicopters, two airplanes and four boats were en route to the site, about 80 miles south of Vermilion Bay along the central Louisiana coast.

The Coast Guard said initial reports indicated all 13 crew members from the rig were in the water. One was injured, but the others were said to be OK and awaiting rescue.

The platform is in about 2,500 feet of water, the Coast Guard said, and was not currently producing.

UPDATE:
It looks like MSNBC corrected the depth to 340 feet. The platform was still burning several hours after the initial explosion.

The Department of Homeland Security said the platform, known as Vermilion Oil Platform 380, was owned by Mariner Energy of Houston. DHS said it was not producing oil and gas but the company in a prepared statement said that during the last week of August, production from the facility averaged about 9.2 million cubic feet of natural gas per day and 1,400 barrels of oil and condensate per day.

Company records show that the platform and rig is in 340 feet of water.

Incorporating Innovative Technologies Into Contemporary Park Design To Reduce Pollution

Chicago recently cut the ribbon on a new park that incorporates some of the most modern building materials, which will help reduce smog and maintenance costs. The key is concrete pavers that purport to eat smog and are self-cleaning.

Site accomplished both objectives with a variety of low-maintenance materials: native plants, Cor-Ten steel retaining walls, and a variable-height seat wall made with terra cotta lintels salvaged from the demolished infirmary, a design that is friendly to senior citizens, but not to skateboarders. Perhaps the most innovative solution is an entry marked by bright white pavers that incorporate a new technology called TX Active. The material, manufactured by Essroc and poured over Unilock Eco-Priora pavers, is a photocatalytic cement that reacts to sunlight and accelerates the oxidation of pollutants, rendering them as harmless salts and thereby reducing the amount of nitric oxide in the air.

Though the permeable pavers clean the air best on sunny days, on rainy days they filter rainwater back into the ground, rather than local sewers. The material is also self-cleaning—it was first used by Richard Meier on the precast concrete exterior of the Jubilee Church in Rome—and doesn’t show the black streaks usually associated with concrete buildings in cities.

TX Active has the ability to be mixed with any number of materials, including concrete, paints, mortars, and precast elements and the cost is minimal considering that it can reduce pollution considerably through photo-catalyzation and is applied to the surface, rather than needing to be mixed through the entire material to be used.

The company promoting this material notes that the reaction does not consume the underlying materials, and therefore is durable. It also notes that the material can be incorporated into structures like roads and buildings, meaning that they can help reduce pollution while maintaining aesthetics.

Newsweek's Idiotic Coverage Of Pending Mideast Talks; NYT Follows Suit

Newsweek has put together a handy dandy list of catchphrases that should be avoided as a means to conducting a successful round of talks.

When President Obama hosts the Israeli and Palestinian leaders in Washington this week for the start of direct talks, he should remember above all that the two sides have been at this for a very long time. Their peace process began when Obama was still in law school. At least a dozen summits have preceded this one with little or no tangible results. As such, Israelis and Palestinians are deeply skeptical about the prospects for an agreement—and worried that another failure will trigger fresh waves of violence. To acknowledge the long odds and to avoid sounding out of step, here are four lofty phrases uttered throughout the era of peacemaking that all sides should do their best to avoid.

The catchphrases are completely and utterly besides the point. Uttering "confidence building measures" does not damn the talks to failure.

Assuming that Mahmoud Abbas has authority to conduct talks in the name of Palestinians, let alone the ability to implement any deal beyond the West Bank, is what will damn these talks to failure.

The two sides have been at war since Israel's founding (that being Arabs versus the Israelis). The PLO (which includes Fatah as its largest faction) seeks Israel's destruction in its founding charter, and subsequent revisions have always referred back to the founding charter as its guiding principle.

Negotiations require having two sides that are willing to make concessions. Israel has always signaled its willingness to make concessions - on land, including around Jerusalem. The Palestinians have always sought more concessions, without making any of their own. Abbas and Fatah have refused to give up the right of return, and claim East Jerusalem (that includes the Old City of Jerusalem and the Temple Mount) as theirs. That's a nonstarter for any talks with Israel.

Abbas isn't willing or able to make those concessions because there's no way that the Palestinians would ever accept those terms because they've spent generations calling for nothing less than Israel's destruction, the right of return and Jerusalem as their capital.

Even more than Abbas' issues within his own organization is the fact that Fatah and the PA don't control Gaza. Hamas does - and they're not only not a party to these talks, but refuses to recognize Israel's right to exist. Fatah and Hamas have already gone toe to toe in a Palestinian civil war, with Fatah losing its presence in Gaza in the process (Hamas remains a threat in the West Bank though).

UPDATE:
The New York Times follows with its own inane analysis, claiming that peace rests on the shoulders of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Right. Just ignore that there's a guy across from him that has no power to actually fulfill any obligations that he might conceivably agree to - Mahmoud Abbas.

No, the pressure isn't on Netanyahu. It's on Abbas. Abbas is the key to any deal here.

Moreover, the analysis is based on the theory that "...the left wants to make peace but cannot, while the right doesn’t want to but, if forced to, can do it". Peace will come when Israel has a partner for peace. That happened when Sadat made his historic trip to Jerusalem and opened the door to a peace deal between Egypt and Israel. Similarly, King Hussein of Jordan entered a peace deal with Israel.

Despite the Oslo Accords (and Labor's efforts through Shimon Peres), the lack of a peace partner in the Palestinians is the main stumbling block.

Land concessions are now seen in a different light, particularly after the Gaza disengagement, which instead of creating conditions for peace, turned into a haven for Hamas, who proceeded to fire thousands of kassams at Israel and fostered a siege mentality among Israelis living within range of the rockets. That move was carried out by then Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and his Kadima party, which was comprised of former Labor and Likud members.

Now, Israelis have to see concrete actions towards peace and are not going to accept land concessions without something tangible in return.

A Downgraded Category 3 Hurricane Earl Still Threatens Portions of East Coast

Hurricane Earl was downgraded to a category 3 storm, but that is still more than dangerous enough to cause considerable damage. The storm could still regain some strength over open water before glancing off the North Carolina coast.



The models are now pushing the storm further to the East, meaning that the chances for a hit on the East Coast are diminishing somewhat.

The Rebuilding of Ground Zero, Part 114

The Port Authority has released its second quarter milestone updates, and among them are updates about the memorial construction, Freedom Tower construction, and excavations for ongoing projects. The report also indicates several milestones that should be achieved by October, including the following:

National September 11 Memorial & Museum
Plaza Finishes Begin
This milestone represents the placement of infrastructure and systems supporting
the final Memorial Plaza and Trees. This sequence includes the installation of
waterproofing, concrete, masonry walls, soil, irrigation and electrical systems; as
well as final pavements, furnishings and landscaping.
Start Phase 2 of Plaza Construction
This area, originally totaling 38% of the overall plaza area has been resequenced
to allow over 50% of the Memorial Plaza to start being brought to final
grade/finishes. The capture of more Plaza area earlier will reduce risk for the
delivery of the plaza area for 9/11/11 and was enabled by the changing of the
means and methods of the steel, concrete and curtain wall installation for the
Memorial Pavilion.
Complete Concrete Pavers in the North Fountain
The Concrete Pavers form the visible floor of the North Fountain and provide
protection to the waterproofing layer below.

The report also indicates the pace and method of construction of the Freedom Tower. Steel erection continues while the steel decking follows shortly behind. Concrete pours to finish floors follows several floors below. Once the concrete floors are finished, fireproofing is to commence and curtain walls can be built.

The report also mentions several areas in which the construction didn't meet milestones, the most notable of which are related to construction of the PATH terminal.

While this isn't mentioned in the report, it is notable that a third tower crane was erected on the edge of the Freedom Tower's NW corner to provide additional lift capacity. It was built several stories above street level and hangs off the building from a purpose built platform.

Dutch Prosecutors Say Two Yemeni Men Are Part of Terror Conspiracy; US Officials Say Not So Fast

Yesterday's incident involving two Yemeni men apparently engaging in a test run against US security procedures may be part of a wider terror plot according to Dutch prosecutors.

Two Yemeni men who arrived in Amsterdam on a flight from Chicago Monday are being held in custody on suspicion of involvement in a conspiracy to commit an act of terrorism, the Dutch public prosecutor said Tuesday.

"The men are held in custody on suspicion of a conspiracy to a terrorist criminal act. In a few days it will be made public if they will be charged," the prosecutor said.

The Dutch public prosecutor will hold a press conference at 1400 GMT.

The two men, who are Yemeni nationals, were arrested by Dutch police Monday after U.S. authorities had raised concerns about suspicious items the men carried in their luggage. These items included mobile phones taped to plastic bottles, which had been seized in the U.S.

The two men were taken into custody in Amsterdam after engaging in unusual behavior and their baggage revealed watches and cellphones taped to plastic bottles. Security experts believe that the duo were engaged in a dry run for a possible terror operation.

Investigators are looking at possible ties with Detroit, even as the men originally boarded planes in Birmingham, Alabama.

Two U.S. officials said investigators are looking into whether they were testing the aviation security system to see whether strange items and travel patterns would raise suspicion. U.S. authorities found suspicious items in their checked luggage, including a cell phone taped to a Pepto-Bismol bottle and a knife and box cutter.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said the suspicious items were found in the checked luggage of one passenger, Ahmed Mohamed Nasser al Soofi of Tuscaloosa, Ala., flying on a United Airlines flight Sunday night from Chicago to Amsterdam. Another man, Hezem al Murisi of Memphis, Tenn., was also detained.

"Suspicious items were located in checked luggage associated with two passengers on United Flight 908 from Chicago O'Hare to Amsterdam last night," department officials said in a statement Monday. "The items were not deemed to be dangerous in and of themselves, and as we share information with our international partners, Dutch authorities were notified of the suspicious items."

U.S. officials also found multiple cell phones taped together and multiple watches taped together in al Soofi's checked baggage.The pair were arrested Monday morning at Schiphol Airport after getting off the United Airlines flight from Chicago, where their earlier decision to change their flight plans raised flags in the U.S., officials said.

Both of the detained men are friends who had once lived and worked in Dearborn, said Imad Hamad of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee. The al Soofi and al Murisi families are prominent within the Yemeni-American community in Dearborn, Hamad told The News.

"When the news broke, people were surprised because they knew them as good people, respected people who always worked and worked hard," Hamad said.

The duo had changed flight plans from their original bookings:

A Transportation Security Administration official said al Soofi had originally booked a ticket from Birmingham to Chicago and onward to Washington, D.C.'s Dulles International and then to Dubai and Yemen.

But when he got to Chicago, he changed his travel plans to take a direct flight to Amsterdam. Al Soofi's luggage made it to Chicago and to Washington, despite the fact he did not board the flight from Chicago to Washington.

Al Murisi also changed his travel plans in Chicago to take a direct flight to Amsterdam, raising suspicion among U.S. officials. Federal Air marshals were on the flight from Chicago to Amsterdam, a law enforcement official said.

A cousin of one of the men arrested claims that the arrest was a mistake and that al Soofi would not be involved in terrorism. He further thinks that his cousin may have been tricked into carrying the suspicious items.

UPDATE:
This AP report is saying that the FBI isn't finding that the two men were on a terror test-run.

The FBI probe of two men arrested in Amsterdam after suspicious items turned up in one of the men's luggage is finding they were probably not on a test run for a future terror attack, a U.S. official said Tuesday, casting doubt on earlier suggestions even as Dutch authorities held the pair on suspicion of conspiring to commit a terrorist act.

The U.S. does not expect to charge the men, a law enforcement official said. The two men arrested in Amsterdam — both traveling to Yemen — did not know each other and were not traveling together, a U.S. government official said.

The officials spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to discuss the investigation.

Hurricane Earl Projected To Take Run Along the East Coast

The key to whether Hurricane Earl makes landfall somewhere along the East Coast is a low pressure front that is moving from the Ohio River Valley. If it slows, it gives the hurricane the opportunity to inch closer to the coast and potentially bring damaging winds and rain to parts of the East Coast.

Thus far, Puerto Rico got a glancing blow, but St. Marteen and Antigua saw downed trees some damage to buildings and facilities. The islands have no phone service as

For the latest updates, Reuters has a hurricane tracker. According to the tracker, the storm is expected to retain category 2 strength even as it reaches the latitude off New York, which means that the storm has the potential to do some serious damage if the track takes it closer to the coast.

The National Hurricane Center is now giving 2-hour updates because of its expected track close to the coast.

UPDATE:

The storm models are pretty much in agreement that the storm will skirt the East Coast, but are not indicating a track taking it over New York City. It may well stay offshore, but vigilance is required, particularly since the storm could change track to the East. The storm track at this points to staying offshore so it doesn't have the hallmarks of the devastating Long Island Express storm of 1938 or even Hurricane Gloria.

Test Run:Two Yemeni Men In Custody On Terror Charges In Amsterdam

This seems to have all the hallmarks of a test-run by al Qaeda terrorists to probe the airline security checkpoints.

Two Yemeni men who arrived in Amsterdam on a flight from Chicago were arrested Monday by Dutch authorities and charged with preparing a terrorist attack after officials found suspicious items in their luggage, Dutch and U.S. officials said.

U.S. authorities requested the arrest after discovering that one of the men had checked his luggage from Chicago to Dulles International Airport in Virginia, but then left Chicago on a different flight to Amsterdam, said a U.S. official, who asked not to be identified due to the sensitive nature of the case.

The luggage sent to Virginia contained a cell phone taped to a bottle of Pepto-Bismol, in addition to three cell phones taped together and several watches taped together. The owner of the luggage, Ahmed Mohamed Nasser al Soofi, a Yemeni citizen who lives in Detroit, also was carrying $7,000 in cash, said a Dutch official, who also spoke on condition anonymity.

After sending his luggage to Dulles, Al Soofi was joined in Chicago by a second man, Hezam al Murisi, and the two men flew on United Airlines flight 908 to Amsterdam. U.S. air marshals also were on the flight.

Al Soofi's luggage was flown to Virginia and was headed for Dubai and then Yemen. But once authorities learned al Soofi had flown on a different flight, federal officials in Virginia ordered the flight returned to the gate to remove al Soofi's luggage. Another inspection revealed no explosives.

ABC News is reporting that the duo were carrying mock bombs in their luggage, but were still allowed to continue on their way.

Higher State Tax Collections Don't Offset Serious Problems That Remain

My alma mater has released a report on the state tax revenue collections, and while the Wall Street Journal highlighted the fact that the state tax revenues were up year over year, the reason for the increased revenues was that those states raised tax rates to achieve the gains.

The states did not see organic growth in tax revenues. Instead, these states saw gains only after imposing higher tax rates.

And there are several high profile states that continue to see declining tax revenues, even with the higher taxes. Meanwhile, corporate income tax collections remains off as sales and personal income tax collections have moderated.

The second-quarter gains were driven by growth in sales and income taxes, both of which have been raised in many states. Second-quarter sales-tax revenue increased 5.9% in the 47 states surveyed by the Rockefeller Institute, while the take from personal income taxes grew 1.6%. Collections from corporate income taxes, which tend to be volatile and are just a small slice of most states' collections, fell nearly 19% over the period.

Some 30 states saw tax revenue in the second quarter rise from a year earlier. Many of the strongest performers were places where collections were hard-hit by the recession. Florida saw a nearly 14% increase. Arizona—which, like Florida, has been among the states most affected by falling real-estate prices and lackluster construction activity—saw a 3.9% increase.

Still, revenue declined in several big states. In California, tax revenue declined 0.9%, despite a nearly 12% increase in income-tax collections largely driven by higher taxes, according to the Rockefeller Institute. Illinois saw revenue decline 7%, while Michigan's collections fell 3.8%.

BP's Other Toxic Spill

While most folks should be more than familiar with the massive oil spill caused by the fire and collapse of an oil rig in the Gulf Coast that was being operated on behalf of BP, few folks realize that the company had a major spill at a Texas City refinery that sickened many nearby residents.

For 40 days after a piece of equipment critical to the refinery’s operation broke down, a total of 538,000 pounds of toxic chemicals, including the carcinogen benzene, poured out of the refinery.

Rather than taking the costly step of shutting down the refinery to make repairs, the engineers at the plant diverted gases to a smokestack and tried to burn them off, but hundreds of thousands of pounds still escaped into the air, according to state environmental officials.

Neither the state nor the oil company informed neighbors or local officials about the pollutants until two weeks after the release ended, and angry residents of Texas City have signed up in droves to join a $10 billion class-action lawsuit against BP. The state attorney general, Greg Abbott, has also sued the company, seeking fines of about $600,000.

BP maintains three air monitors along the fence around the plant and two in the surrounding community, and they did not show a rise in pollution during April and May, the company said. “BP does not believe there is any basis to pay claims in connection with this event,” said Michael Marr, a spokesman for the company.

But scores of Texas City residents said they experienced respiratory problems this spring, and environmentalists said the release of toxic gases ranked as one of the largest in the state’s history.

Neil Carman of the Lone Star Sierra Club said the release was probably even larger than BP had acknowledged, because the company estimated that more than 98 percent of the pollution was burned off by a flare, an overly optimistic figure in the eyes of many environmental scientists.

He also said there were too few air monitors to accurately assess what had happened. “There are huge gaps in the monitoring network,” Mr. Carman said.

Dionne Ramirez, 29, who lives about a mile from the refinery, said she had little doubt that elevated pollution harmed her family. Not only have both she and her husband had coughs, but all three of their young sons have suffered from severe chest congestion, sore throats and endless coughing since April. Her 4-year-old had to be hospitalized for two nights because he could not stop coughing, she said.

When the news of the pollution was made public on June 4, Ms. Ramirez was irate. “I didn’t know why they were getting sick or what was going on,” she said. “They are healthy little kids.”

Texas City officials weren't notified of the problems until after the spill was over. Hundreds of thousands of pounds of toxic materials were emitted without the local community aware of the problem or scope of the problem.

BP's actions in Texas City are similar to its actions in the oil spill disaster, where the company took shortcuts and safety protocols and procedures were not followed.

The company put profit ahead of safety to its own workers and those of the citizens around the refinery. A new report came out claiming that BP workers failed to spot warning signs at the well.

Earlier this month, BP was fined for a major fire and explosion at the facility in 2005 that killed 15 workers and injured 170 others.

OSHA issued several fines totaling $87.4 million against BP, formerly known as British Petroleum, last September over its failure to upgrade the plant. OSHA accused the company of 439 safety violations at the refinery. BP is contesting about $30 million of the OSHA fines.

The latest fine, the largest in OSHA’s history, tops the previous record of $21 million, which was also issued against BP over safety conditions at the plant. In addition to the fines, BP also faces wrongful death and personal injury lawsuits stemming from the deadly accident.

The Texas City refinery has a long history of slow response to problems at the facility and for cleaning up its act.

A Good Time To Review Hurricane Preparedness

While the National Hurricane Center's preparedness week was this past May, it's a good time to again review hurricane (and general disaster) preparedness considering that the US is entering the height of the Atlantic basin hurricane season and several storms are churning up the Atlantic Ocean.

The key to preparedness is not only having a plan, but being familiar with the plan and having the key information and items handy in case disaster strikes.

Discuss the type of hazards that could affect your family. Know your home's vulnerability to storm surge, flooding and wind.

Locate a safe room or the safest areas in your home for each hurricane hazard. In certain circumstances the safest areas may not be your home but within your community.

Determine escape routes from your home and places to meet. These should be measured in tens of miles rather than hundreds of miles.

Have an out-of-state friend as a family contact, so all your family members have a single point of contact.

Make a plan now for what to do with your pets if you need to evacuate.

Post emergency telephone numbers by your phones and make sure your children know how and when to call 911.

Check your insurance coverage - flood damage is not usually covered by homeowners insurance.

Stock non-perishable emergency supplies and a Disaster Supply Kit.

Use a NOAA weather radio. Remember to replace its battery every 6 months, as you do with your smoke detectors.

Take First Aid, CPR and disaster preparedness classes.

Popular Mechanics has put together a list of things people should know - and many things that people are completely unaware and unprepared for. They've even got a handy checklist.

An Emphasis on Infrastructure

The New York Times Magazine ran a report on the precarious status of infrastructure throughout the country and the troublesome and overextended and overtaxed systems that are on the verge of failure.

There are tens of billions of dollars that are needed to rebuild and renovate these systems, which include everything from levees and dams to power systems. One would have thought that the stimulus package (ARRA of 2009) enacted last year would have started bringing improvements to vital systems.

You would have thought wrong.

You would have thought that things like overhauling and replacing antiquated rail signal systems such as those on the LIRR would have been done years ago.

You thought wrong - although the plan to replace the system is underway and seriously over budget and late.

The state has "invested" many billions of dollars in LIRR facilities, including a current project to send some Long Island trains into Grand Central Terminal, Manhattan's other huge railroad station. Though its budget is $7.3 billion, federal transportation estimators say it's running $800 million over budget and 18 months behind schedule.

As for last week's service disruption, a computerized train control system is scheduled to go into service at Jamaica in November—three years late and more than 200% over budget.

Under state ownership, the Long Island Rail Road has survived, but never prospered. Fares are higher than most riders like, but lower than necessary to run the railroad.

Nobody expects the LIRR to make a profit; the riders shout that would be unfair. Why the current subsidies are not unfair to taxpayers, especially the million Long Islanders commuting in cars, is never explained.

Signal and power problems are an all too common occurrence on the Northeast Corridor, and the failure to address and update these systems means that the chances for further problems are far too high.

All of these issues go to competitive advantage and improving the business climate. Yet, while politicians and the public entities running the mass transit and infrastructure love to tout new construction, it's the existing infrastructure that needs to be addressed with updates, upgrades, and replacements where necessary.

Gulf Coast Continues Recovery Five Years After Hurricane Katrina

It's been five years since Hurricane Katrina came ashore in the Gulf Coast and caused massive devastation between Florida and Texas, with nearly 1,800 people killed in the storm. The majority of those killed were in Louisiana as the eye passed near New Orleans.

The region has slowly been recovering since the storm came ashore, but the recent BP oil disaster and the recession has slowed the recovery considerably.

Slidell, Louisiana has dedicated a Katrina memorial while Habitat for Humanity has built about 500 homes along the Mississippi Gulf Coast, including in Pascagoula. Some tremendous strides have been made up and down the Gulf Coast, but quite a bit of work remains.

NOLA.com has a series of before and after photos - comparing the scenes of devastation following the hurricane and subsequent flooding and today. The Lower Ninth Ward, which was the hardest hit by the failed levees, still feels forgotten, but the Army Corps of Engineers has been working on building a comprehensive flood control system for all of New Orleans that addresses many of the key deficiencies in the levee system.

Despite all the improvements to the levee system, the Army Corps is a year away from completing its task of building the levee system to handle a 100-year storm. Miles of new levees have been built, new pumping stations have been built while others have been upgraded, and defense in depth has been incorporated in several areas.