Slow day, though not a slow news day

Laid up most of the day with a cold/flu type whatever. Turns out that, for some reason, there continues to be news anyway. Here is some of it.

• Yesterday at the BP trial was a geology lesson from Aberdeen University professor Andrew Hurst. The Gulf sea floor where the Macondo well was drilled is characterized by "rubble" deposited by landslides at the end of the last ice age. Because the rubble is unstable and prone to shifting, Hurst's testimony suggests that drilling there was a risky proposition for which BP had not adequately prepared.



Hurst also testified that an examination of a BP technical memorandum outlining the potential risk of drilling the well showed the expected temperature of the rock formation expected to hold oil would be 236 degrees, or at the higher-risk bottom of his Golden Zone.

Asked why the pore pressure issue was so important, he said, "Well, the fear is that the bore hole wall completely loses integrity, which means that, for example, if you try to cement it, there's nothing for cement to bind to ... because you're trying to cement geological mush."

That drew an objection from BP attorney Matt Regan, who pointed out that Hurst is not a cementing expert. Regan also pointed out that most companies drilling in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico do not agree with Hurst's contention that temperature provides a key to understanding pore pressure.

Several studies of the failure of the Macondo well have suggested that a failure of the cement used to block gas resulted in the blowout that caused the explosion and fire aboard Transocean's Deepwater Horizon drilling rig at the surface, killing 11 workers and causing the rig to sink.

Nice job by Mark Schleifstein to remind the reader of the consequences of BP's negligence at precisely that point in the narrative.  Well done.

Also, Hurst's characterization of the Gulf floor reminded me that during the height of the spill crisis, there were people wondering out loud whether or not the well should have been nuked shut. One wonders what the seismic effect would have been.. let alone any other fallout.

By the way, if you're interested in looking over any of the written depositions in the BP trial, they can be downloaded at this link.

Paul Ryan is still a liar

Hugo Chavez died today of cancer.

Within short order, police officers and soldiers were highly visible as people ran through the streets, calling loved ones on cellphones, rushing to get home. Caracas, the capital, which had just received news that the government was throwing out two American military attachés it accused of sowing disorder, quickly became an enormous traffic jam. Stores and shopping malls abruptly closed.

As darkness fell, somber crowds congregated in the main square of Caracas and at the military hospital, with men and women crying openly in sadness and fear about what would come next. In one neighborhood, Chávez supporters set fire to tents and mattresses used by university students who had chained themselves together in protest several days earlier to demand more information about Mr. Chávez’s condition.

“Are you happy now?” the Chávez supporters shouted as they ran through the streets with sticks. “Chávez is dead! You got what you wanted!”

Well, it's what some people wanted anyway. Chavez, of course, was a flawed figure but he did make a lot of the right sort of enemies.  John Lee Anderson has published what will be one of the more fair obituaries you'll see in The New Yorker.

Dambala has been busy.  His his latest on the Wisner Trust land includes a bit on how it could become an issue in the Governor's race, should Mitch Landrieu enter as a candidate.

But the real juicy part that I want to point out is that Chaisson stated that the only reason the Wisner land has any real value to it is because of the Port itself.  He then went on to say that if it went up for sale the Port would most likely be forced to act but...and this is a really big but....they would not expect to purchase the land at market value because the Port is the only real catalyst that drives the value of the land in the first place.

What does that mean?  I'm not exactly sure but I have a hunch.  I think he was suggesting the State of Louisiana may be forced to exercise eminent domain over the property if the City of New Orleans is intent on carving it up and selling it.  That could get interesting...especially if Mayor Landrieu makes a run at the Governor's office.  If eminent domain is invoked, it most likely would make the sale of the land a losing proposition to all the parties involved.

In Part 1.5, Ryan Berni stated that the City was exploring its options on what their intent for the land is and they would make no decision until they got a valuation on the land.  But that valuation may be useless if the State invokes eminent domain.

Shocking traffic news: Soon you may, in fact, be allowed to turn left on Tulane Avenue.

The proposed changes include reducing traffic lanes from six nine-foot lanes to four eleven-foot lanes to make room for improvements. Though the number of traffic lanes will be reduced, the new lanes will be wider and the neutral ground will also expand to 15 feet, allowing for protected left turn lanes at select intersections, Brooks wrote.

Even more shocking traffic news: CCC toll renewal nullified.

Opponents of the tolls, and the resulting close election, argued that provisional ballots handed to more than 1,000 voters who said they were registered, but were not on the registrar's rolls on election day, amounted to denying them a right to vote on the tolls. Provisional ballots allow voters to vote only in federal races, but not in state and local elections.

Morvant ruled that since the tolls issue was a local election, the people forced to cast provisional ballots were effectively disenfranchised by the election.

The new election is set for May 4. I don't think the tolls are going to survive this round.

The regular mayhem: Fires, shootings, buildings collapsing, police beating people they've handcuffed. But, hey, the water's safe to drink. At least, that's what they tell us.