# How has the Gulf oil spill affected you?



## HarleyRider (Mar 1, 2010)

Living in Florida, the oil spill is a great cause of concern for us. Has the spill affected you, directly or indirectly, in any way? :dunno:


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## UncleJoe (Jan 11, 2009)

Not here yet, but I believe it will eventually affect the price of seafood everywhere.


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## Sourdough (May 22, 2010)

"WHAT Gulf oil spill......?:dunno:


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## TechAdmin (Oct 1, 2008)

Not yet, but I have a feeling it will.


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## GroovyMike (Feb 25, 2010)

not at all as far as I can tell except lots of federal spending that I will eventually have to fund.


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## Littlebit (Apr 20, 2010)

I am vary concerned about this. If I remeber right in 1989 or 1990 our ship did some work in that area surveying for oil. We ran across one of the biggist oil deposit ever found. Back then they called it the Mars prospect. I don't know if it is the same name now, but I can tell you if they don't find a way to stop the flow it will poor out of the hole for years. releaf well or not.
They need to stop trying to collect the oil and just blow it, so it well cave in on its self. :dunno:


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## Jeani (Jun 9, 2010)

[IThe oil spill is affecting allot of families in Texas by 'loss' of jobs since our government close down 'all' drilling...

Being our government requires 'offshore drilling' to be offshore at least 5,000 feet deep drilling, I foresee the leakage to continue for a very long time...

The pressure from this deep well was just too great for a cap...

With hurricane season coming, there's a possibility for the oil to be swept into a current up to the Carolinas..

That's just a 'News' guess.'

I am happy to post that my son got a good job cleaning up oil.

He's in training now,and he doesn't know what state he will be in...

I'm hearing allot of News that BP is being pressured sooo much that their stock shares felled..

If they are pressure too much, they could filed bankrupty.

If this happens, there will be 'no' money for cleanup or who will clean up?

Affects us all...[/I]


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## kogneto (Feb 23, 2010)

it has affected us by littering our newspapers with stories related to the Exxon Valdez

not the same kind of spill, not even in the ballpark, but everyone's got an idea on how to fix it

personally I'd like to see them put a bunch of cargo ships in the area to help cordon it off. there is underwater flow, but it would help contain a lot of the surface oil. course it would also mean my father-in-law would make BANK piloting ships in the gulf :2thumb:


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## ZoomZoom (Dec 18, 2009)

We went on vacation to FL after the spill. Not being able to get reliable info on how far it would have spread by then, we changed our plans to visit the Atlantic side beaches instead of the Gulf side.

As already noted, I'm sure we'll have to foot some of the bill. The gov'n stopping off-shore drilling may also affect fuel prices. They're also talking about increasing the taxes on a barrel of oil to fund clean-ups so those taxes will be passed on to us as well.


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## Bigdog57 (Oct 9, 2008)

No effects here on the very north of the Gulf yet (Wakulla and Franklin county areas) but there are reports of oil 'tar balls' washing up at Pensacola on our extreme west end, and possibly now at Destin. I read one internut report (and we KNOW how accurate those are...) that these tar balls aren't the same oil, by analysis, that came from the big spill. I don't know..... there is always some oil leaking from the sea bottom. What we see on the surface from this spill is just a fraction of the total - much remains below surface. And besides the oil, do a Google of "Corexit", the chemical used to 'clean-up' the oil. THAT stuff is NASTY and highy toxic! It will be potentially worse than the oil itself.
You could NOT pay me enough to work down there trying to clean that stuff up....... I value my health. But yeah - somebody's gotta do it.

Hmmm...... new opportunites for the Mexican immigrants...! 
Work a year, earn their Green Card!


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## townparkradio (Mar 30, 2010)

The seafood prices is a problem I hadn't thought of. Does anyone know what kinds of seafood is largely fished out of the Gulf?


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## Emerald (Jun 14, 2010)

So far we here in MI haven't been affected yet, but this spill affects every single person on the planet- the spill could go around the whole world pulled by the oceans currents.

The seafood like oysters and shrimp and many different fish will be ruined for many, many years if not for hundreds of years._(not forever, we {people} will not be here forever Mother Earth is gonna swat us off soon like fleas from the dog) _The crayfish will certainly not be edible if the oil hits the brackish waters of the great swamps down south.

The only selfish thing I can say is that, maybe due to the coastlines being too polluted to visit, it might bring some tourist business to the great lakes, Michigan could sure use the business and the money. We have miles and miles of clean beaches- cold water to be sure, but beautiful beaches. But I hate that it would come at the expense of others.


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## gypsysue (Mar 27, 2010)

townparkradio, I did a google search on commercial fishing in the gulf of Mexico, and for the northern part of the gulf (which would be off the coast from Texas to Florida) it listed Mullet, Black Grouper, Tilefish, and Mahi-mahi. I'm sure there are others, as well as whatever sport fisherman fish for. 

Someone who lives down there can probably add to that list, or dispute what I found on google!


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## vn6869 (May 5, 2010)

I have not been directly affected, yet.

HOWEVER, it demonstrates to me the cost of putting an inexperienced person in the presidential office.
He is more concerned with making political hay than taking care of the people who are directly affected - those on the Gulf coast.
The drilling moritorium will have a long term effect on gas prices throught the country - not to mention the millions of lost wages - which will seem like a drop in the bucket.
The lack of immediate response to the leak by the government and their attempts to hamper constructive reaction to contain the leak is ample demonstration of their intent to use this crisis to their political advantage.

P. S while - according to Glenn Beck - the U S will be loaning Brazil (G. Soros) billions to drill at greater depths yet to enhance their multi-billion dollar profits.


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## jrg24 (May 30, 2010)

I cant say for sure that this is from the oil spill directly but i got a little suprise after swimming in the gulf a few weeks ago off pensacola beach:










been to 5 doctors and no one knows what it is. I felt no sting and it took about 6 hours for those blisters to form. The next day small red spots began to form up my chest and down the insides of both arms. felt like razor blades on my skin for a while. it has finally started to heal, but i think i will have scars for a while where the blisters formed.

As far as affecting me directly, my income as a bartender has definitely decreased, and I am thinking about getting my hazwoper 40 hour cert to get an oil clean up job. At least with that job i can save up some money and get the hell out of dodge. Rumor has it that people on the beach are beginning to develop respiratory problems, but it is hard to say if this is due to some sort of placebo effect. I am sure some are at least getting sick.

We got our first actual oil on the sand today. Up until today it has been all tar balls.

oh, and as far as fish from the GOM. Oysters, shrimp, red snapper, cobia, sword fish, tuna, grouper, scamp, blue crab, scallops, pompano (my personal favorite), and many others I am forgetting. shrimp, grouper, mahi, and red snapper are probably the biggest ones for the gulf.

A friend is a deck hand on a boat, and he just had to do some boon training with some guys from valdez alaska, and they said that the past year has been the first signs of fish populations actually beginning to get back to normal up there. of course, everything about this situation is different than up there, but I think gives an idea of the minimum of what we are looking at.


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## Bigdog57 (Oct 9, 2008)

gypsysue said:


> townparkradio, I did a google search on commercial fishing in the gulf of Mexico, and for the northern part of the gulf (which would be off the coast from Texas to Florida) it listed Mullet, Black Grouper, Tilefish, and Mahi-mahi. I'm sure there are others, as well as whatever sport fisherman fish for.
> 
> Someone who lives down there can probably add to that list, or dispute what I found on google!


Add to that King and Blue Makeral, salt-water catfish, crab, trout, grunt, cobia, wahoo, some jacks and small tuna, croaker fish (small and large-jaw), angelfish, flounder.

Jrg24 - maybe either jellyfish residue or perhaps something akin to 'red tide'? Looks like a serious allergic reaction!


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## TechAdmin (Oct 1, 2008)

It's getting worse.

JRG24 are you in Florida?


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## gypsysue (Mar 27, 2010)

jrg24, sure hope those blisters go away soon. Wow, really bad. Hope you make it out of Dodge. 

Thanks for the list of fish, you and bigdog57. Quite of a few of my favorites on that list. What a tragedy.


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## HarleyRider (Mar 1, 2010)

A lot of oyster and shrimp dishes have been pulled from menus in some of our restaurants because of the price increases, and several seafood restaurants have gone out of business due to rising costs. And so it begins......


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## jrg24 (May 30, 2010)

Dean said:


> It's getting worse.
> 
> JRG24 are you in Florida?


Yes, I am in Pensacola, Florida. And yes, it is getting worse. I usually have a fairly zen way of looking at the world thinking that whatever happens is supposed to happen (in the grand scheme of things), but it is becoming evident to me many people around me do not feel the same way.

A good friend of mine's boss went to a meeting the other day, and then proceeded down to his charter boat (which my friend works on) and blew his brains out. I am worried about the psychological effects on the people around here. it is gonna get ugly. there were people on the pensacola beach gulf fishing pier throwing things at the clean up workers as they were cleaning oil the other day. Some people think that these workers are guilty of taking blood money from BP. This is just a demonstration of the anxiety, fear, and anger that is felt by everyone in this area. My worst fear was that this stuff was going to get into the bays and ICW, and it already has made it there. The entire ecology of the fragile marsh and grass beds are going to be destroyed. it is just too difficult to clean up without killing the grass (which is going to die from the oil anyway). I tell you, it is like watching the world die in front of your very eyes. When I went to that beach and looked down it and saw oil for as far as the eye could see, it definitely had an effect on me.

I have heard from people the some of those workers are quitting because there is absolutely no leadership out on the beach. The workers are being bussed in from the staging area and are then not given any clear direction or strategy on how to achieve their objective. Local government is screaming at the feds and BP to get the things needed to fight this oil and it appears to be falling on deaf ears in the mind of the public. personally, I think that neither the feds nor BP were/are prepared for this in the slightest.

I am going monday to try and get a supervisor job out on the beach. I have the skills and knowledge to get these people working if leadership is what is lacking. This stuff needs to get cleaned up now. The more tides we get coming on the beach means more sand covering up the oil that is there. That oil still needs to be cleaned up, but now it will require twice the effort to clean it. The high heat is making it difficult for the mechanical sand scrubbers to clean the sand because it turns the tarballs soft and makes it stick to everything. massive man power is the only viable solution from all the things i have heard to remove oil from the land. The use of dispersants is making it harder to remove the oil from water because it is no longer sitting on top, and is instead suspended in the water column. we have another plume off the coast now that is 3 miles wide and 10 miles long that should be coming on shore this week...it is hard to keep a positive outlook when the situation looks so grim. there is no end in sight. they have even came up with a back up in case the relief wells dont work, which with their current track record makes me think that it wont.


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## jrg24 (May 30, 2010)

gypsysue said:


> townparkradio, I did a google search on commercial fishing in the gulf of Mexico, and for the northern part of the gulf (which would be off the coast from Texas to Florida) it listed Mullet, Black Grouper, Tilefish, and Mahi-mahi. I'm sure there are others, as well as whatever sport fisherman fish for.
> 
> Someone who lives down there can probably add to that list, or dispute what I found on google!


mmm...mullet. i know most people who dont live along my part of the gulf coast eat mullet, but taking mullet from flopping to fryer in less than an hour along with some cheese grits is a delicacy around here. It sucks that i didnt get to throw my cast net once this year, and it will probably be many more before i do again in these waters.


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## gypsysue (Mar 27, 2010)

What a bummer...


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## longtime (Nov 22, 2009)

Does anyone remember the Pemex oil spill in the gulf, much worse than the current, about 30 years ago? The world did not end then. Of course we did not have a do nothing but complain government trying to take advantage of any excuse to end oil production. Why correct the problem?

That's going to be the biggest effect of this spill on everyone.

(the Pemex spill was 6 times the BP spill for 3 to 4 months and 2 times BP's spill for almost one year)


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## Bigdog57 (Oct 9, 2008)

Yesterday (Saturday the 26th) a realtor buddy and I went down from Tallahassee to the coast at Shellpoint - the beaches were clean. They were putting the oil booms in the water off the coast, but no sign of oil - YET.
Coming back, we stopped for lunch in Panacea, and had some very good local-caught grouper sandwiches at Posey's Dockside Cafe (used to be "Hook Wreck Henry's") - good food for good prices. Did NOT taste any oil....... 
Had several hard T-storm showers on the way back - NO 'oil rain' either - yet.


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