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On the "Bushed" segment of Countdown on July 31, Keith Olbermann quoted figures from a government report indicating that Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman had lied to the American people in stating that there were no oil spills following Katrina and Rita. Since this is one of the arguments McCain and the Bush administration are using to try to convince the country to go with more off-shore drilling, I was interested to track down the report. This is particularly significant to me, because I live in North Carolina and have great fears about the off-shore oil construction these guys are pushing leading to spills that will destroy the delicate ecosystem of the Fish and Wildlife preserves along the NC coast. The following is an excerpt from page 28 the report in question:
"TECHNICAL REPORT
MINERALS MANAGEMENT SERVICE
PIPELINE DAMAGE ASSESSMENT FROM HURRICANES
KATRINA AND RITA IN THE GULF OF MEXICO
REPORT NO. 448 14183
01-22-2007
The summary analysis of oil spills was presented by the Region Response Team for the MMS
and was the source of the data in Table 2. The data is categorized by storm and source locations,
and captures all spills one barrel or larger from federal OCS facilities that resulted from damages
related to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. As a result of both storms, 124 spills were reported with
a total volume of roughly 17,700 barrels of total petroleum products, of which about 13,200
barrels were crude oil and condensate from platforms, rigs and pipelines, and 4,500 barrels were
refined products from platforms and rigs. Pipelines were accountable for 72 spills totaling about 7,300 barrels of crude oil and condensates pilled into the GOM."
