It comes to light in two NYTimes articles just how bad things are in the Gulf. The first deals with what now looks like the cold hard fact that the oil spill is about 15 times worse than thought. The second news is that the old Minerals Department of the Bureau of Land Management was loaded with oil drilling buddies and didn't follow the rules.
I live adjacent to wetlands here on Long Island. Actually it is a tidal wetlands that floods like crazy during high tides and then reduces itself to swamp grasses and birds, a lot of shell fish which if you want to be so absolutely insane as to try and rake up will cost you about $1000 each. The sign says "prohibited" and if you do then the budget deficit in the Town of Southampton will evaporate. They don't kid around. Trial? Schmile. It is the fine line between hell on earth and the river Styx if you break an environmental law here. Try clearing some poison oak from your property line. Hahaha. Goner. As a conservation police guy explained to me when I asked "you can cut it all you want. no problem. but to save time, just give us your bank account numbers as I will fine you by the leaf". "It's poison oak I said". "It, along with every blade of grass is also protected but you do what you want..up to you fella. just telling you that the max jail time is 15 years".
He wasn't kidding. hear that BP? hear that "mineral people"?