Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
Wildlife Dying in Oil, Obama Heads to Gulf, Cancels Asia Trip
By
John Del Signore
Published Jun 4, 2010
Modified Jun 4, 2010
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
Gothamist
View all 13
By
John Del Signore
Published Jun 4, 2010
Modified Jun 4, 2010
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
As you can see, Obama's cunning plot to spill oil into the gulf in order to justify strict new environmental regulations is going exactly according to plan. These devastating photos of sea birds and brown pelicans (Louisiana's state bird) coated in oil were taken yesterday by AP photographer Charlie Riedel, and they call to mind something BP CEO Tony Hayward said about two weeks ago: "The environmental impact of this disaster is likely to be very, very modest." Have a great weekend, everybody! We'll be spending the rest of the day drafting our resignation letter from the human race. Meanwhile...
BP says the "top hat" containment cap is successfully in place over the jagged hole left atop the crippled wellhead assembly. But because they had to use shears after the diamond saw jammed, the cut to the riser pipe was not smooth and prevented a snug fit. They won't know for a day or two whether the top hat is collecting the gushing oil. "I'd like to see us capture 90 plus percent of this flow. I think that's possible with this design," BP Chief Operating Officer Doug Suttles said this morning. Yes, we would all like to see that. We would also like to see an army of sequined mermaids magically transform all the oil into ambrosia, then give everybody backrubs. Right now the slick on the surface of the gulf is less than four miles from Florida's beaches. "I could smell it," a fisherman told the Miami Herald. "It smelled like WD-40."
Of course, the top hat won't stop the oil leak. For that, the Gulf waits until at least August, when the first of two relief wells will hopefully reach the bottom of the runaway well, just above the oil reservoir. If successful, BP will pump heavy mud and cement to plug the leak permanently. And the best part is, the $100 million BP is spending to drill each relief well won't go to waste: A BP official tells the Times that "the relief wells could be used later to produce oil from the reservoir." Why not? The Gulf is already ruined; might as well just cordon off the whole thing, suck out all the oil, and then use it as a radioactive munitions dump.
The Obama administration has given BP its first of what will surely be many bills for services so far: $70,911,683.93. The spill has cost the company more than $1 billion to date, and Wall Street analysts say the company could end up spending 10 to 20 times that amount, when fines, lawsuits and years of cleanup are taken into account. BP's shares have plunged almost 40 percent since the rig explosion, costing shareholders nearly $70 billion in value, MSNBC reports. Here's a pdf of the actual bill BP is getting from the Coast Guard on behalf of the federal government.
Last night President Obama canceled his trip to Australia and Asia, scheduled for June 13th-19th. He heads to Louisiana today, and will presumably dive down to the bottom of the Gulf and plug the leak with his bare hands. Last Friday he examined tar balls that washed up on the beach; this week the photo ops will be most likely be more depressing. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reported 522 dead birds along the Gulf coast states, and more than 80 oiled birds have been rescued. Here's a photo of an oily dead dolphin.
Tagged
BP
brown pelican
gulf spill
obama
oil
wildlife
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
NJ reports first West Nile Virus death of the year
While the national West Nile Virus trend has slowed down, activity in the Garden State has picked up.
By
Michael Sol Warren
Published Oct 4, 2026 at 11:03 a.m. ET
NY's prison system is in crisis. It's driving staff away from the job.
The state is currently struggling with a 56% vacancy rate among prison workers.
By
Emily Russell
News
NY's prison system is in crisis. It's driving staff away from the job.
The state is currently struggling with a 56% vacancy rate among prison workers.
By
Emily Russell
NYPD searching for suspect after fatal stabbing in Queens
By
Ben Feuerherd
NYPD: 2 suspects in off-duty officer stabbing tried to rob victim
By
Jill Webb
Astoria-born Chip City announces sudden closure days after former CEO sues
By
Catalina Gonella
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .