Drilling off the coast of Florida...

4979 Views 37 Replies 15 Participants Last post by Tallaman, May 10, 2007

TampaNOW

Discussion Starter · May 7, 2007

No political statement on this thread.

If we start seeing drilling close off the shores of the Bay area, how will it effect Tampa development. Would we see oil companies building towers in Tampa like Houston and Dallas?

1 - 20 of 38 Posts

emoore625

· #2 · May 8, 2007

Doubt it. Halliburton is moving to Dubai. They should NOT drill off the coast of Florida. It's not even a political issue. I remember in the 80s when there was an oil spill. There were ashtray style buckets at the hotels to get the oil off your feet. It absolutely destroyed the water quality and hurt tourism for many years.

So are we willing to destroy the tourist industry for what the experts say is at most 47 days worth of oil supply or so BP or Exxon will throw up a little office in town?

Oil rigs seen in the distance are not exactly a tourist draw. It's not politics, it's the truth.

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cwat212

· #3 · May 8, 2007

Total Lies...

There would be absolutely no visible oil rigs offshore. NONE.....that is a fact.

The oil spill mentioned before was from a ship that was in our waters and hit another ship. IT HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH DRILLING!!!

All major oil spills in U.S. waters were from shipping, not drilling. The 80s spill was a SHIP!!!!! STOP SHIPPING IF SPILLS ARE REALLY THE CONCERN.

So shipping the oil into our port is OK but drilling hundreds of miles off shore isn't?

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tampamobster21

· #4 · May 8, 2007 (Edited)

I think that it would be a complete assinine thing to let them do. That would be like paving over the Everglades for an amusement park or a cookie cutter subdivision. One it is not needed for our area, secondly It would hurt tourism, the beaches and like things that go on there, the wildlife in our area would be affected. I am willing to risk the environment for a shady oil company...any one of them! I do not want an office building if it means compromising any of the above.

As for CWAT212, look at the oil rigs near Louisiana. They are not that far off land. All you need is a pocket of petro and deep enough water. Yes that ship was of human error.

On another note, Dallas is not close to the water, Houston is, but protected enough to where it would not be affected.

Another view of this is... http://gom.rigzone.com/rita.asp

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Bond James Bond

· #5 · May 8, 2007

1. If they start drilling for oil off the coast of Florida, you will not be able to see the rigs from the shore. Go to Galveston or elsewhere along the Texas shore and see for yourself. There are zillions of oil rigs off the Texas shore, but you can't tell when you go to a Texas beach.

2. I doubt it would add much office space to Tampa. Most of the companies that would engage in drilling are already based in Houston or elsewhere in Texas. They might open a few satellite offices in Tampa, but probably not a big deal.

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tampamobster21

· #6 · May 8, 2007

People look at my findings...I have something good for once.

cwat212

· #7 · May 8, 2007 (Edited)

tampamobster21 said:
I think that it would be a complete assinine thing to let them do. That would be like paving over the Everglades for an amusement park or a cookie cutter subdivision. One it is not needed for our area, secondly It would hurt tourism, the beaches and like things that go on there, the wildlife in our area would be affected. I am willing to risk the environment for a shady oil company...any one of them! I do not want an office building if it means compromising any of the above.

As for CWAT212, look at the oil rigs near Louisiana. They are not that far off land. All you need is a pocket of petro and deep enough water. Yes that ship was of human error.

On another note, Dallas is not close to the water, Houston is, but protected enough to where it would not be affected.

What the hell are you saying?
Louisiana, Dallas, Houston... Do you read things before you type? I will let you do some research. HOW FAR OFF THE COAST OF FLA WILL THE RIGS BE ALLOWED? How far is the horizon?

So how tall will YOU have to be to see the OIL RIGS....(hint, pythagoras theorem which is a2+b2=c2)

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cwat212

· #8 · May 8, 2007

tampamobster21 said:
People look at my findings...I have something good for once.

Thanks, but what are you talking about?

tampamobster21

· #9 · May 8, 2007

What I was saying is that I think that its stupid to put a rig off of the coast of Florida.

emoore625

· #10 · May 8, 2007

The law was changed to bring them within 45 miles of the coast, not 100 miles. You might not see them from the beach but if you're sitting in your highrise condo you will.

When (not if) a hurricane comes through the gulf, you're telling me not a single drop of oil will be spilt when that rig gets hit? You're out of your damn mind.

My biggest problem with the gulf drilling is that years ago when they proposed drilling off the Florida Coast the oil companies claimed that the Gulf of Mexico was the end all be all of our oil supply and that we would not have to come within 125 miles to drill. Now all of the sudden they want to come closer. And the next time they stack the deck with political lapdogs how do we know it won't turn into 20 miles? 5 miles?

Furthermore, when are the oil companies going to start paying the impact fees they promised to pay when they started drilling in the gulf? They won't so long as Bush is president.

Furthermore, cwat212, perhaps you shouldn't ask politically charged questions and then proceed to GET EXTREMELY UPSET when people don't give you the answer you want to see. I don't want oil rigs in our oceans because the oil is not there in the quantities justifiable for the potential loss of our main source of revenue, tourism.

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gstolze

· #11 · May 8, 2007

I would hate to see drilling anywhere near Florida. It would ruin the natural beauty and tourism industry in the long term. Most of the pollution that occurs is not from shipping accidents, which are horrible and get a lot of attention, but from the constant small amounts of oil and other chemicals that spill into the ocean from the rigs under normal operation.

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randommichael

· #12 · May 8, 2007

I do not want any type of drilling off of Florida's coast. It would be a huge mistake, and would further hurt the ecosystem in Florida.

tampamobster21

· #13 · May 8, 2007

gstolze said:
I would hate to see drilling anywhere near Florida. It would ruin the natural beauty and tourism industry in the long term. Most of the pollution that occurs is not from shipping accidents, which are horrible and get a lot of attention, but from the constant small amounts of oil and other chemicals that spill into the ocean from the rigs under normal operation.

Thank you for so eloquantly explaining what I was trying to say.

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cwat212

· #14 · May 9, 2007

..

emoore625 said:
The law was changed to bring them within 45 miles of the coast, not 100 miles. You might not see them from the beach but if you're sitting in your highrise condo you will.

Furthermore, cwat212, perhaps you shouldn't ask politically charged questions and then proceed to GET EXTREMELY UPSET when people don't give you the answer you want to see. I don't want oil rigs in our oceans because the oil is not there in the quantities justifiable for the potential loss of our main source of revenue, tourism.

.

First, I did NOT ask a politically charged question and Second, I did not get upset. I replied to yours and other remarks.

AGAIN> you WILL NOT SEE THE RIGS EVEN IF YOU ARE IN A HIGHRISE ON THE BEACH. 400 + FEET WOULD BE THE HEIGHT TO EVEN BE ABLE TO VIEW THE RIGS. YOU DAMN SURE COULD NOT SEE THEM WITH THE NAKED EYE!

Here are some facts. NOT your scare tactics:
1. Standing on a hill or tower of 100 ft height, the horizon is at a distance of 12.25 miles.
2. Standing on the ground with h = 5 ft 7 in (5.583 ft), the horizon is at a distance of 2.89 miles

When I am fishing off the coast at 9 miles I cannot see the high rises on Clearwater beach or St. Pete. That is less than the 45 miles that the rigs will be so they will never be seen from the shore. NOT even with a telescope. The curve of the earth prevents it and that my friend is a FACT.

This is not me being political but you being an alarmist. How come there seems to be a huge tourist industry in TEXAS, ALABAMA, MISS, LA and others....They all have rigs off their coasts...Some closer than our 45 miles.

Also, the 45 mile distance will only apply to the panhandle. The shelf off of TB is much further out. Stop trying to scare people. YOU CANNOT ARGUE WITH FACTS SO YOU CALL ME POLITICALLY CHARGED AND UPSET.

Nothing you have said is true. if you really cared about the issue you would do some research, read the facts and then maybe then you will have a point that should be realistically considered.

OH, Also, oil companies will not drill in the area if there is no OIL so then you do not have to worry about it.. Unlike our Gov't they will not throw money away.

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cwat212

· #15 · May 9, 2007

emoore625 said:
When (not if) a hurricane comes through the gulf, you're telling me not a single drop of oil will be spilt when that rig gets hit? You're out of your damn mind.

QUOTE]

Are there currently rigs in the gulf? Rigs off the U.S. gulf coast and Mexico's gulf coast?
Have we not had hurricanes in the gulf recently? Can you think of any major storms? Can you tell me the amount of spilled oil that has been a problem to any of the other tourist areas in the gulf? - Mexico, Texas, Miss, La, Alabama, FLA....any oil spills, ANY? Please help me understand.

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Jasonhouse

· #16 · May 9, 2007

cwat212 said:
1. Standing on a hill or tower of 100 ft height, the horizon is at a distance of 12.25 miles.
2. Standing on the ground with h = 5 ft 7 in (5.583 ft), the horizon is at a distance of 2.89 miles

where did you get these calculations from?

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cwat212

· #17 · May 9, 2007

It is simple mathematics but here is a source:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horizon

Please in the future ask others to prove their statements also. ie: emoore's statement that we will see the rigs which is a couple down the thread. THIS STATEMENT IS NOT TRUE IN ANY WAY.

Thank you.

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jonknee

· #18 · May 9, 2007

To calculate the horizon (in perfect conditions, this would be with a telescope and a vacuum) the formula is d = sqrt(1.5h) where h is your height in feet and d is the distance in feet. There's a slightly more complicated version that is completely accurate and used for satellites and what not. And then another slightly more complicated formula to calculate the distance that takes the Earth's curvature into account. Wikipedia has a pretty good wrap up and it looks like cwat used their examples.

If you are in a 400 ft tower on the coast the horizon will be ~24 miles. But that's to an object at sea level. I'm not sure how tall oil platforms are, but let's say they are 200 ft. In that case the maximum visibility is ~41 miles.

(It's actually all surprisingly easy. I found that out one night when tasked with programatically calculating the distance between sets of lat/long pairs. Since a computer is doing the work I went ahead and had it take the curvature into effect even though the distances didn't necessarily warrant it.)

However this is all a fairly useless exercise since it does not take the atmosphere into account. These numbers are accurate only with no air and perfect optic equipment.

Update: looks like cwat beat me to the explanation.

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emoore625

· #19 · May 9, 2007 (Edited)

What are you CEO of Exxon? Why are you so testy?

If you are not getting upset then WHY ARE YOU TYPING IN ALL CAPS?

I tell you what's a fact. 4 Floridians have come forward in this board saying they are against drilling off the coast. Period. Last I checked, the people vote for their elected representatives, not Shell, Exxon, BP, Occidental, or even Ewing Oil for that matter. We say whats going on.

I don't care if I can see the rigs or not. I don't want rigs in the Gulf. We had two hurricanes two years ago that wrecked quite a few rigs in the gulf, Rita and Katrina (ever heard of them?). The little oil that is found in the gulf (and it is little) caused gas prices to spike $1 a gallon and the oil companies go out and make record profits for the next quarter. Just what we need, more excuses for the Cartel to line the pockets of the oil company executives.

Here's some storms for you that went through the Gulf in the last 5 years. Just to jar your long term memory.

2006 Alberto
2005 Arlene, Cindy, Dennis, Katrina, Rita, Tammy, Wilma
2004 Bonnie, Charley, Frances, Ivan, Jeanne, Matthew

As someone who sat in a bunker in Pensacola during Ivan, don't even talk to me about lack of storms. You are foolish to think that a hurricane won't it. It's not a matter of if, it's when.

No Oil spills??

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9365607/
http://www.nrdc.org/media/pressreleases/050915.asp
http://www.ifaw.org/ifaw/general/default.aspx?oid=124188

Nah, never happens. Get your head out of the sand.

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cwat212

· #20 · May 9, 2007

emoore625 said:
What are you CEO of Exxon? Why are you so testy?

If you are not getting upset then WHY ARE YOU TYPING IN ALL CAPS?

I tell you what's a fact. 4 Floridians have come forward in this board saying they are against drilling off the coast. Period. Last I checked, the people vote for their elected representatives, not Shell, Exxon, BP, Occidental, or even Ewing Oil for that matter. We say whats going on.

I don't care if I can see the rigs or not. I don't want rigs in the Gulf. We had two hurricanes two years ago that wrecked quite a few rigs in the gulf, Rita and Katrina (ever heard of them?). The little oil that is found in the gulf (and it is little) caused gas prices to spike $1 a gallon and the oil companies go out and make record profits for the next quarter. Just what we need, more excuses for the Cartel to line the pockets of the oil company executives.

Here's some storms for you that went through the Gulf in the last 5 years. Just to jar your long term memory.

2006 Alberto
2005 Arlene, Cindy, Dennis, Katrina, Rita, Tammy, Wilma
2004 Bonnie, Charley, Frances, Ivan, Jeanne, Matthew

As someone who sat in a bunker in Pensacola during Ivan, don't even talk to me about lack of storms. You are foolish to think that a hurricane won't it. It's not a matter of if, it's when.

No Oil spills??

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9365607/
http://www.nrdc.org/media/pressreleases/050915.asp

Nah, never happens. Get your head out of the sand.

4 Floridians came forward. Wow you made your point. When do you understand that you make no sense.

Your first point was you didn't want to see the rigs. Now you don't want them in the gulf....well guess what? They are already there.

Your own URLs show that the spills were from STORAGE TANKS. YES, CAPS AGAIN.

MSNBC: The Coast Guard estimates more than 7 million gallons of oil were spilled from industrial plants, storage depots and other facilities around southeast Louisiana

NRDC: Same thing. 6 million from pipelines and Storage facilities.

Didn't see rigs.

Oh, went back and reread to make sure I wasn't wrong:

your msnbc link:

Offshore oil
As for oil wells in the Gulf of Mexico, Paskewich said the Coast Guard has fielded no reports of offshore spills there, though leaks could spring when the thousands of oil platforms and hundreds of miles of pipeline are restarted. Last year, Hurricane Ivan was responsible for oil spills in the Gulf, he said.

Paskewich dismissed suggestions by an environmental advocacy group that satellite photos showed some 7,000 square miles of oil floating in the Gulf, saying numerous flyovers revealed only minor sheening.

Skytruth, a group that uses satellite imagery to track environmental damage, says extensive oil slicks are visible in areas of the Gulf raked by hurricane-force winds.

“Daily overflights are being conducted to find the real truth of what’s going on,” Paskewich told Reuters. “As for now, I am confident that we have not received any reports of significant oil spills offshore.”

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

Only typed in caps when I was mocking you.

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