Who pays for Shell's Alaska spill? You

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Petty Officer First Class David Mosley didn't sound all that tired when I spoke with him yesterday, but, then, he's a public affairs specialist, a professional. A few times he stumbled over his words, once or twice forgot specific numbers. On the whole, though, no problems as he walked me through the massive complement of U.S. Coast Guard staff and sea vessels and aircraft deployed to fix Shell's mistake.

Two weeks from yesterday, the Kulluk, a drilling rig managed by Noble Drilling and owned by Shell, broke free of its tow lines as tug boats struggled in inclement weather to move it away from the Alaskan shore. On Dec. 31, it ran aground within an important bird area on Kodiak Island. A unified command comprised of representatives of Shell, Noble, the Coast Guard, the state of Alaska, and local representatives spent the next week and half determining whether the rig was safe to move and, ultimately, moving it to a nearby harbor. Some 700 people were involved in the effort by the time it had been safely docked.

How many of that 700 were from the Coast Guard? "That's a very good question," Mosley told me. He noted that "the command center at Coast Guard Center Anchorage was very much involved in the unified command," proving the point by listing just the people who came to mind:

Captain Mehler, the federal on-scene coordinator, all the way down to your storekeepers and yeomen and people like myself, public affairs specialists, who were all swept up and involved in this in some way. The people who provided support on Base Kodiak and Air Station Kodiak, moving gear around and making things happen on the base. Maintenance crews with the helicopters, the C-130s. You've got the crews that were involved with the

Alex Haley

. We had stationed the Coast Guard Cutter

Hickory

and the Coast Guard Cutter

Spar,

both of which are 225-foot buoy tenders that were activated and would have come out to the scene as needed.

The

Alex Haley

has a crew of 90, plus 10 officers and a four-person aircrew. The

Spar

and

Hickory

each have a complement of about 50 people. He continued:

We brought people in, whether it was our strike teams or other folks that came in from the lower 48, from California and as far away as the Carolinas. We brought in these folks that are specialized in responding to these situations. It was not only a large response locally, it was a far-reaching response.

Those folks from the Carolinas, for example, were media specialists, brought in to help Mosley handle the onslaught of questions about Shell's latest Arctic mistake during a slow news week. The strike teams are oil spill response experts, on stand by in case the worst case happened. (

It didn't

.)

Mosley explained who foots the bill for a scenario like this. There's a federal fund, the

Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund

, that was set up after the 1989

Exxon Valdez

spill. The fund is financed by a per-barrel excise tax on imported fuel as well as "cost recovery" from at-fault companies and any civil penalties imposed on a company responsible for a spill. It's not clear how that money might be applied here; Mosley suggested that would be "hammered out" with Shell.

When it comes to search-and-rescue, Mosley says not to expect money back. "I have yet to see an incident in which we do search and rescue that we look for reimbursement," he said. "That's why the taxpayers pay us to do our jobs." Among the Coast Guard's search-and-rescue efforts in this case? Three round-trip Jayhawk helicopter flights out to the

Kulluk

, each trip rescuing six members of the rig's 18-person crew. Bringing people back onto the rig to test its integrity. Overflights to assess damage. The Coast Guard also reached out to the Department of Defense to borrow two Chinook helicopters to transport equipment. All of that? On your tab.

http://grist.org/new...-guard-and-you/

[Pooky 3,781]

So there was no spill. Got it.

The SAR operation to lift the crew from the rig is just as if a crab boat was in trouble and no reimbursement is usually sought anyway. Got it.

And the salvage operation reimbursement will be hammered out with Shell. Got it.

So, the story is that a large scale SAR operation took place using standing guidelines. The only detail of note is that it involved an oil exploration rig.

Got it.

[Darnell 8,478]

nevermind, it's a rig, not a tanker ship.

Edited January 13, 2013 by Darnell

[The Nature Boy 4,224]

So there was no spill. Got it.

The SAR operation to lift the crew from the rig is just as if a crab boat was in trouble and no reimbursement is usually sought anyway. Got it.

And the salvage operation reimbursement will be hammered out with Shell. Got it.

So, the story is that a large scale SAR operation took place using standing guidelines. The only detail of note is that it involved an oil exploration rig.

Got it.

Well you took the words out of my mouth. I guess because they are an oil company they should have let them drown. I wonder who profits off a gallon of gasoline more, Shell or the Govt ?

[himher 634]

Not shell that's for dam sure. Their margins are pretty close to razor thin.

I wonder why the mullet looks at the potential profit from any incident or tragedy. Idly thinking - gotta either be a lawyer or worse a wannabe lawyer.

A Mexican bandit made a specialty of crossing the Rio Grande from time to time and robbing banks in Texas. Finally, a reward was offered for his capture, and an enterprising Texas ranger decided to track him down. After a lengthy search, he traced the bandit to his favorite cantina, snuck up behind him, put his trusty six-shooter to the bandit's head, and said, "You're under arrest. Tell me where you hid the loot or I'll blow your brains out!"

But the bandit didn't speak English, and the Ranger didn't speak Spanish. Fortunately, a bilingual lawyer was in the saloon and translated the Ranger's message. The terrified bandit blurted out, in Spanish, that the loot was buried under the oak tree in back of the cantina.

"What did he say?" asked the Ranger.

The lawyer answered, "He said 'Get lost, Gringo. You wouldn't dare shoot me.'"

As Mr. Smith was on his death bed, he attempted to formulate a plan that would allow him to take at least some of his considerable wealth with him. He called for the three men he trusted most his lawyer, his doctor, and his clergyman. He told them, "I'm going to give you each $30,000 in cash before I die. At my funeral, I want you to place the money in my coffin so that I can try to take it with me." All three agreed to do this and were given the money. At the funeral, each approached the coffin in turn and placed an envelope inside. While riding in the limousine to the cemetery, the clergyman said "I have to confess something to you fellows. Brother Smith was a good churchman all his life, and I know he would have wanted me to do this. The church needed a new baptistery very badly, and I took $10,000 of the money he gave me and bought one. I only put $20,000 in the coffin." The physician then said, "Well, since we're confiding in one another, I might as well tell you that I didn't put the full $30,000 in the coffin either. Smith had a disease that could have been diagnosed sooner if I had this very new machine, but the machine cost $20,000 and I couldn't afford it then. I used $20,000 of the money to buy the machine so that I might be able to save another patient. I know that Smith would have wanted me to do that." The lawyer then said, "I'm ashamed of both of you. When I put my envelope into that coffin, it held my personal check for the full $30,000."

NOTE: The Coast guard is paid for rescue operations for anyone. Even lawyers.

A man walked into a curio shop and began to browse. He was attracted to a brass rat on a shelf behind the counter. He asked the shopkeeper for a price, and was told to make an offer. Presently they agreed on a price, and the brass rat changed hands. The shopkeeper warned the customer as he took the money, "This sale is final. If you leave the shop with the brass rat, I won't take it back under any circumstances." The customer agreed and left with the rat. As he walked home, he noticed that a live rat came scurrying out of an alley and began to follow him. Soon there were more, all following him and milling bout his feet. The man began to run, but the rats kept up, and more joined the procession. After a few minutes, thousands of rats were chasing after the man. The man ran frantically for the river, and threw the brass rat into the water. The live rats followed the brass rat, and soon all had drowned. The man returned to the curio shop, and on seeing him enter, the shopkeeper shouted, "I told you, the sale was final! You cannot return the brass rat!" The customer replied, "That's no problem. I just wondered if you had a brass lawyer in stock."

Well you took the words out of my mouth. I guess because they are an oil company they should have let them drown. I wonder who profits off a gallon of gasoline more, Shell or the Govt ?

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

NOTE: The Coast guard is paid for rescue operations for anyone. Even lawyers.

The coast guard rescues lawyers? That's an outrage!

You know what they call 100 lawyers at the bottom for the sea, right?

A good start.

[^_^ 5,021]

The coast guard rescues lawyers? That's an outrage!

You know what they call 100 lawyers at the bottom for the sea, right?

A good start.

you agree that when using the Service, you will not ... Post Content intended to degrade, intimidate, or incite violence or prejudicial action against a broad demographic or group of people identified by a unifying trait or characteristic (discrimination). For instance, racist or sexist content may be considered hate speech.

Reported for TOS violation.

Lawyers are a "group of people identified by a unifying characteristic".

[The Nature Boy 4,224]

[quote name=' timestamp='1358233021' post='5922667]

you agree that when using the Service, you will not ... Post Content intended to degrade, intimidate, or incite violence or prejudicial action against a broad demographic or group of people identified by a unifying trait or characteristic (discrimination). For instance, racist or sexist content may be considered hate speech.

Reported for TOS violation.

Lawyers are a "group of people identified by a unifying characteristic".

Lawyers are not people. No hush and move along

[^_^ 5,021]

Lawyers are not people. No hush and move along

They are a group of people with a unifying characteristic - they all have law degrees.

[himher 634]

Reported for equating lawyers with other people with premeditated intent to deliberately insult a broad demographic group comprised of non-lawyers

[quote name=' timestamp='1358264612' post='5923103]

They are a group of people with a unifying characteristic - they all have law degrees.

[The Nature Boy 4,224]

Reported for equating lawyers with other people with premeditated intent to deliberately insult a broad demographic group comprised of non-lawyers

:rofl::rofl: