As the relief wells inched closer, a BP video circulated talking about the success BP has had with its last 40 relief wells. If these two work, BP will cutoff the flow in August. See the videos at BP's site.

On July 4th tar balls made it into Lake Pontchartrain thru the Rigolets. The state closed fishing east of the Highway 11 bridge. The worst case scenario seemed to be unfolding before our eyes.

On July 15 BP was able to install a new capping stack on the blow out preventer and stop the flow of oil into the Gulf. By the 16th it was clear that pressures inside the well were above critical levels but lower than BP and National Incident Commander Adm. Thad Allen wanted. Debate ensued. Did the low pressure indicate a leak or was it just a sign that three months of flow had depleted the reservoir. The well remained capped and the decision emerged that it could remain that way until the well could be killed. On August 5th BP completed cementing the well from the top in a procedure BP calls static kill.

By July 15,  230,000,000 gallons of oil had been released into the Gulf at the rate of 60,000 bbls per day. (Later 205,000,000 gallons will become the official spill volume.) By comparison, the Exxon Valdez released 11,000,000 gallons.  The 1979 Ixtoc spill was about half as large as the Deepwater Horizon spill. Its less than a drop in the bucket as the Gulf contains 643 quadrillion gallons of water to which we have now added 0.3 ppb oil.

A Coast Guard report released July 20th indicated that 50% of the leaked oil had evaporated or biodegraded. 15% had been contained or had washed ashore; 5% had been burned; and 2% had been captured by skimmers. This leaves 28% of the leaked oil or about 70,000,000 gallons still floating around out there.

On July 16 the state reopened recreational fishing. Local anglers were ecstatic. Fishing was the best it had been in years. Everyone was catching their limit. Commercial fishing remained closed. Oyster beds may have had the worst of it. The state had opened the freshwater diversions to protect and flush the marsh. Affected by the change in salinity, oysters died by the billions.

July wasn't quite over. On July 23 TS Bonnie crossed Miami before arriving in New Orleans as a weak Tropical Depression. Bonnie had just enough energy to stir the oil in the Gulf and interfere with repair operations before it wet down the city.

The good news is that New Orleans has not flooded to any extent in the past five years.

Around New Orleans the wetlands are still dying. Opening the diversions may be the best news we've heard lately. Keeping them open permanently could be better yet. The river remains full of fertilizer laden silt and fresh water needed to keep the wetlands vital. Coastal destruction is a problem that would be solved by a rational population. Shouldn't we?

On the national economic scene the big issues are still energy and education. Although answers are available for both problems (if you are curious dig though this site for my ideas), our stubbornness continues to prevent us from acting on either.