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| Map from Santos website |
There’s been a major oil spill at a Santos field in South West Queensland.
About 300 barrels of oil a day over five days on were lost by
the time the leak was stopped. Total spillage amounted to around 240,000 litres
of oil.
The spill occurred at Santos's
Zeus field, out from Eromanga.
I’ve never been out as far as Eromanga, but have worked in
Thargomindah, Eulo and Yowah, which are not far away, and the same kind of
country.
In this country, when it floods, the water makes ribbons
across the soil, and takes whatever is in the soil with it. There are also
pristine lakes out there.
It was fortunate the spill didn’t happen during the floods
that were around in 2010 and 2011. That was just dumb luck.
The story is not the leak – it’s the cover-up.
I heard about it on Radio National breakfast. There was also
a report on our local South Queensland 747 AM
network.
Apart from the Sunshine Coast Daily, it hasn’t appeared
anywhere on-line, and a search of the Courier Mail website, and the Australian
revealed nothing.
Obviously, Santos
has done a good job of keeping it quiet. They refused interviews for the ABC,
and have released no press statement on their website.
So if you read only Santos’
material, The Courier Mail, and the Oz, it never happened. It’s as well the ABC
is impartial.
Apart from the cover-up, three other things about this spill
are disturbing.
It went on for five days.
Santos has had to import, at
great cost, experts from the U.S.A.
to fix it. There weren’t any locals with the necessary skills and experience.
No inspectors from Noddy Newman’s Department of the
Environment have been anywhere near it.
Stinks to high heaven…….
Update - (4pm 18.06.13)
Note to self - have had a lot of fun with this - asymmetric tactics, I reckon. Trick is to get teh Catz all hot and bothered, light blue touch paper, and stand back.
I might try it again soon.....
Update - (4pm 18.06.13)
Note to self - have had a lot of fun with this - asymmetric tactics, I reckon. Trick is to get teh Catz all hot and bothered, light blue touch paper, and stand back.
I might try it again soon.....
6 comments:
So this is why you've gone trolling at the Cat: At the age of 90, you've become a zombie environmental activist. Are you angling for a grant like the rest of them?
At the age of 90,
Suggest you get a reliable calculator. You can't add up.
Apart from the Sunshine Coast Daily, it hasn’t appeared anywhere on-line, and a search of the Courier Mail website, and the Australian revealed nothing.
Courier Mail website, dated 21 May:
"A leaking Santos well, near the Queensland-South Australian border, was plugged on Monday afternoon after spewing 240,000 litres of oil over five days."
(Source: http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/breaking-news/environmentalists-warn-of-qld-oil-spills/story-e6freono-1226647839121)
The Australian, dated 21 May:
"A leaking Santos well, near the Queensland-South Australian border, was plugged on Monday afternoon after spewing 240,000 litres of oil over five days."
(Source: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/breaking-news/environmentalists-warn-of-qld-oil-spills/story-fn3dxiwe-1226647839121)
Research is hard, isn't it Bob?
Refer my response at the Cat.
The story was not about the leak - it was about the response. If environmentalists had not reacted, there would have been no story.
Santos ignored it. Noddy Newman's government ignored it.
To question it as a cover-up (notice the punctuation) is perfectly reasonable.
What is remarkable is the defensive nature of the responses on the Cat.
Reminds me of a Mark Latham quote....you know the one about a conga line.....
Apart from the Sunshine Coast Daily, it hasn’t appeared anywhere on-line, and a search of the Courier Mail website, and the Australian revealed nothing.
Your words Bob, not mine.
You stated that a search of those two newspapers revealed nothing about the spill.
I've just shown that a search of both websites (and the internet in general) DOES reveal articles about the spill... and dates them THREE WEEKS BEFORE your little 'exclusive scoop' (which came courtesy of the ABC).
THREE WEEKS Bob.
Don't try to weasel out by saying "oh but if not for..."
You made the claim that it wasn't reported.
It has been proven that it was indeed reported, and some time ago.
You. FAIL.
Not really.
I've succeeded in getting the issue a little more publicity. It all helps.
I've succeeded in getting the Glibertarians on Cat running around like headless chooks trying to rationalize an environmental stuffup as "nothing really - move on - nothing happening here". At the same time they're revealing how they're in the thrall of the multinationals.
I've had quite a few posters on my blog who felt that the issue was a big enough threat to their friends in commerce to comment.
All up - a very successful exercise - the power of the interwebs.
The only disappointment is that Santos haven't threatened to sue.
BTW - Thanks for posting.
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