Engineering analysis shows Packgen boom “superior”
posted at 1:36 pm on June 16, 2010 by Ed Morrissey
After the federal bureaucracy finally got notified by Jake Tapper of an untapped inventory of boom that could be put to good use in the Gulf disaster, the Joint Command insisted that Packgen’s boom didn’t meet its quality standards. Packgen responded by having an outside analyst inspect its product. As Jake Tapper reports in his follow-up, it not only meets the standards but is actually superior to its competition:
[Ian] Durham was recently hired by Packgen – the Maine packaging company that manufactured roughly 80,000 feet of boom that the US Coast Guard says failed an initial BP quality control test. Packgen president John Lapoint III has expressed frustration at BP/Coast Guard bureaucracy, insisting that the boom he’s making will work well in the Gulf, where boom is desperately needed.
Durham would not say how much he was paid, but he says he’s generally paid $100 an hour for consulting, and his analysis of Packgen boom took rougly 40-45 hours.
You can read Durham’s report HERE.
He says Packgen’s boom is superior to other boom. Its woven polypropelene is “practically indestructible,” he says. “Packgen uses it to make toxic waste disposal containers.”
Does Durham believe that the government and BP should be acquiring Packgen’s product? “Absolutely,” Durham tells Tapper.
The excuse prior to this has been that Packgen’s product didn’t meet quality control standards and didn’t come with universal connectors. Packgen has already agreed to change connectors, even though the boom already being deployed doesn’t have them. This report demolishes the quality-control argument as well. These now appear to have been nothing but an excuse to distract people from the fact that the Obama administration’s team knew nothing of Packgen’s inventory despite media coverage of their production in anticipation of the demand in the Gulf.
So what’s the next excuse? The color clashes with battleship haze gray?
Update: I’m informed by multiple commenters that “battleship gray” is an outdated term, and I’m an old fogey for having used it instead of the current term, “haze gray.” All I can say is … turn down that radio and get off my damned lawn. Kids these days …
Blowback
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I hate to say I told you so, but…
No I don’t.
Told you so!
Told you so!
Told you so!
novaculus on June 16, 2010 at 2:12 PM
The incompetence is just like the spill, gushing everywhere with no end in sight.
I don’t live anywhere near the gulf and I’m so frustrated and angry with the situation at times I think it will drive me mad. I can only imagine how much worse it would be if the gulf area was my home. My heart goes out to all who live there.
scalleywag on June 16, 2010 at 2:14 PM
Don’t forget “Aegis gray”.
OxyCon on June 16, 2010 at 2:14 PM
It’s not union.
reshas1 on June 16, 2010 at 2:15 PM
Liar. Liar. Plants for hire.
Bishop on June 16, 2010 at 2:16 PM
So is Packgen non union or not?
golfmann on June 16, 2010 at 2:17 PM
Solution: Tell the Maine guy that he will be paid if and when the boom works. If it don[t work, he don’t get paid.
Oh well, there is always Kevin Costner’s oil-water separator.
BigAlSouth on June 16, 2010 at 2:17 PM
They did fail, they failed by exceeding test standards.
.
What you expect the Govt to reward excellence?
LincolntheHun on June 16, 2010 at 2:19 PM
Sorry lorien1973, but your Zune comparison is laughable, asinine and not even remotely close to the oil spill/Packgen situation. Do you seriously believe boom is something no one needs down in the Gulf of Mexico?
diditagain on June 16, 2010 at 2:19 PM
I wonder how many feet of sanitary napkins are in the nation’s supermarkets.
Limerick on June 16, 2010 at 2:20 PM
Bootheel-on-the-neck gray?
Weebork on June 16, 2010 at 2:20 PM
Now our government has decided to accept the expert help from the Netherlands that was refused three days after the spill. Apparently, the problem was the the Dutch booms weren’t 100% effective at removing oil, meaning that some residual oil would have been returned to the Gulf. That ran afoul of EPA regulations, so they couldn’t be used.
Clearly we need much more regulation here.
Bugler on June 16, 2010 at 2:22 PM
This disaster cries out for someone with a “get’er done” mentality, a mentality which used to be prevalent in our society, now sadly is in short supply.
mbs on June 16, 2010 at 2:22 PM
What if Obama was Pres during the 1940′s and Packgen was in the business of building Freedom Ships? Spreken de Deutsch?
Electrongod on June 16, 2010 at 2:22 PM
Call me suspicious, but the guy made 80,000 feet of boom
Maybe you did not notice that they are in the toxic waist business
KATDADDY on June 16, 2010 at 2:23 PM
Not trying to pile on here, but that there is NO equal comparison there at all.
You keep acting like there is an unknown demand for the product in your examples. The demand is not unknown. It was not unknown when the business started making the boom. The demand is MASSIVE, and grows with each day the spill continues.
Knowing there would be a demand, and wanting to have a product to sell a business would be stupid to make a product that could not be used. In fact a business would try to make the best product with the expectation that they are not the only one that is able to see the demand.
That is common sense.
It is also common sense that being embarrassed and shown to be 100% incompetent leads this POTUS to look for someone to blame or an excuse to dodge owning up to the mistakes.
My bet on who is telling the truth will always be with the private business owner vs. a government of proven liars.
Voidseeker on June 16, 2010 at 2:25 PM
Nope. But apparently they don’t want -his- boom. Get it?
Just because he has it sitting around and has a paid consultant make a report that it’s awesome doesn’t mean it is or isn’t and doesn’t mean that BP should be made to purchase it.
lorien1973 on June 16, 2010 at 2:26 PM
wow, sorry for the bad grammar in my last post. typing too fast, no preview. My bad.
Voidseeker on June 16, 2010 at 2:27 PM
If Obama was President during WWII, his speech last night would be like FDR talking about the Nuremberg Trials in January 1942. Talking victory plans when your survival is tenuous. I mean, with bring up cap ‘n tax and green energy, he’s talking like the disaster is past us when in fact, everyday we learn the flow is worse than previously thought and no plan for stopping it is assured.
It’s obvious that BHO would rather be on the fairway.
SPCOlympics on June 16, 2010 at 2:29 PM
Will this happen during a joint session of congress with the president attending?
PrettyD_Vicious on June 16, 2010 at 2:29 PM
Ugh. Ugh.
“Sorry but you can’t have that new medicine for your illness, it’s only 98% effective. Now go die.”
-ObamaCare Clerk
Bishop on June 16, 2010 at 2:29 PM
Am I speaking greek? If you don’t like Zunes, make it any other product out there. It always works.
Because someone needs it, doesn’t mean they need it from you. It’s not a tough concept, really.
Is his boom too expensive? Is it inferior to what they need? There are lots of variables here that we don’t know.
Because this guy pays someone to tell you the boom is awesome stuff, doesn’t mean it’s awesome stuff.
Other incompetences not withstanding, if BP says its inadequate, I’d have to go with that. Till they say it’s up to snuff.
lorien1973 on June 16, 2010 at 2:30 PM
Let me guess, Packgen’s CEO is a Republican.
Beagle on June 16, 2010 at 2:31 PM
This oil spill debacle is sure a demonstration of how health care will work out for you, isn’t it.
This whole administration is one giant cluster-you-know-what start to finish.
tarpon on June 16, 2010 at 2:32 PM
But you ignore the fact that the consultant has his reputation on the line. This is a national story and if the boom is actually horrid and unusable, but this consultant stated otherwise, his career is over. Would he just kiss his business goodbye by lying for one client?
And there is no reason to question the fact that Packgen hired a consultant, what else could they do?
Wait for BP or the Fed Gov to hire one that would come by and say “Yeah, this stuff is awesome, we totally suck and should have bought this stuff weeks ago”? Anyone tied to BP and/or Fed Gov DOES have reason to say the boom sucks, millions of gallons of reasons.
Voidseeker on June 16, 2010 at 2:33 PM
Good for Tapper for keeping with this.
The Administration is as bad at lying as it is at everything else.
Formerly “haze-gray” and underway.
Tamaqua on June 16, 2010 at 2:33 PM
LMAO!!!
Keemo on June 16, 2010 at 2:33 PM
Agree…
Keemo on June 16, 2010 at 2:34 PM
It is not at all surprising that the EPA made things worse. EPA regulations caused New Orleans to flood and murdered 4 firefighters in Washington State. Of course EPA obstruction would cause the BP oil spill to become worse–their motto must be destroying the environment and people in order to save them.
And when you consider the tardy response to the Maine boom manufacturer (the booms did not meet quality requirements), think about (1) how the EPA and others make the perfect be the enemy of the good, and (2) how come that information didn’t come out until after a week of internet reports about the manufacturer. CYA.
otoh, the manufacturer probably didn’t understand how to do business with the Feds the Chicago Way: “Cut me in or Cut it out”. Though this insane clown posse we have in the Obama administration doesn’t seem sufficiently competent to be really corrupt.
Remember in November!
iconoclast on June 16, 2010 at 2:36 PM
I thought that was a bogus report. Obama and his administration are a disaster.
Republican Yogi on June 16, 2010 at 2:36 PM
If he wasn’t before, I bet he is now.
It’s called entrepreneurship. He saw an opportunity and moved to take advantage of it. As far as the consulting engineer goes, I read the report. (And having a background in engineering, I knew what he was talking about.) The bottom line is that the boom was tested against American Society for Testing Materials standards, not “someone’s” opinion that it’s “good stuff.”
skydaddy on June 16, 2010 at 2:36 PM
Packgen ought to haul a truckload of that shiite down there and have it sit and wait for someone in Big Govmint to get it deployed. The folks in the Gulf would get so damned ornery as they watch oil wash up on their beaches on the one hands, and on the other have a million feet of boom sitting unused next to it.
ted c on June 16, 2010 at 2:39 PM
LOL. Paid consultants are like defense attorney experts. They’ll say whatever they are paid to say. and back it up with whatever evidence they need (while omitting other stuff).
Work at a lawfirm for a while. It’s common practice. They know what experts to call, for what purpose and what the result will be.
I’m not discounting the fact that the inspection process could be flawed or corrupt. That is beside the point, as I said.
If it is flawed/corrupt (and you won’t get the contract, right?), why produce 80,000 feet that they won’t buy (from you). It doesn’t make sense. That’s all I’m saying.
lorien1973 on June 16, 2010 at 2:40 PM
You are not speaking Greek, but you are missing the point.
Let’s try to get on the same page here:
1) Is there a massive, almost unprecedented oil spill occurring in the Gulf of Mexico?
2) Is there a MASSIVE demand for boom, of just about any quality to contain the spill?
3) Was this boom tested before it became a national embarrassment for BP and Obama?
The Zune example is totally ridiculous due to the fact that it is neither necessary nor required by anyone. Boom is BOTH of those when trying to clean up/contain water based oil spills.
As the man in charge of the clean up stated: “ALLEN: Oh we need all the boom wherever we can get it. If you give me the information off camera I’ll be glad to follow up.”
BP has a very real financial motive to come up with a reason they could not deploy the boom in question – every day that it was available but they did not use it could be used in lawsuits against them.
Obama and crew have public image reasons to disqualify the boom as well.
Voidseeker on June 16, 2010 at 2:42 PM
This administration would rather climb a tree to tell a lie than stand on the ground and tell the truth!
Why not just SHUT UP, admit you have made horrible mistakes and FIX IT. Buy the damn boom! Call it real people that know oil from spaghetti sauce to figure out how to plug the damn hole.
GROW UP OBAMA!
SgtRed on June 16, 2010 at 2:42 PM
This is like a Terry Gilliam film come to life;
Terp Mole on June 16, 2010 at 2:43 PM
Worse: he’s probably a Tea Partier whose shop is non-union.
BuckeyeSam on June 16, 2010 at 2:45 PM
Actually it’s 16440 Gray. 25 years later, why do I remember that?
I was only T.A.D. 3 months Corrosion Control!
DSchoen on June 16, 2010 at 2:46 PM
Oh, I agree on the consultant. Unless there’s a published standard with the testing methodology with the consultant qualified to perform the tests, the jury’s still out.
BacaDog on June 16, 2010 at 2:47 PM
Maybe our Rock Star President can understand it this way,
Call in Bruce Willis (make him a Czar) and put his butt to work plugging that hole! Or if that fails maybe someone with a brain even if he/she lacks a Nobel Peace Prize can figure it out. Cut them loose and let them try.
SgtRed on June 16, 2010 at 2:49 PM
I haven’t read all the posts but has anyone checked to see if that shop is a union shop? That could be the main reason that they are being refused or they might have contributed to a republican in past elections.
jistincase on June 16, 2010 at 2:50 PM
Looks like BP is cutting the dividend. That’s going to make a lot of shareholders angry.
Cody1991 on June 16, 2010 at 2:56 PM
Also, the stuff they’re using now is made in China. The whole thing sounds fishy. When you have a spill that’s essentially uncontrollable, you want to lay down as many barriers as possible.
darwin on June 16, 2010 at 2:57 PM
ummm…could that be the American Society for Testing and Materials.
Fighton03 on June 16, 2010 at 2:59 PM
I heard that Tampax is really upset because their boom fail to meet quality standards.
DuctTapeMyBrain on June 16, 2010 at 3:00 PM
What, the guy didn’t give enough to the Dem Party? Or…is the WH planning to use this to ‘influence’ Snowe or Collins?
jeanie on June 16, 2010 at 3:00 PM
Yes, because if there is one thing that has been proven through all this is that BP is an expert on oil clean up. By all means, let us make sure to defer to their expertise in all matters of this crisis.
ClassicCon on June 16, 2010 at 3:01 PM
It’s like they’re trying to make everything worse on purpose at this point.
rollthedice on June 16, 2010 at 3:01 PM
Next time the company will learn to bribe the person deciding if the product is good enough…
albill on June 16, 2010 at 3:05 PM
Let’s assume that the booms here aren’t the quality that BP wants. Isn’t some lesser quality boom better than no boom?
the O! admin seems to be taking the position that we would rather have no boom at all then boom that does not meet the exact requirements of federal regulations or whatever. that is nonesense – it shows a lack of competence. Use whatever boom you can get your hands on until you don’t need any more boom if you can’t find boom that meets all of the “requirements”. then worry about trying to get boom that meets all of the requirements.
This “inferior” argument is hogwash even if the boom is inferior. A competent team, in such an emergency, would be using the boom regardless until something better came along.
Unless someone wants to claim that this boom would accomplish absolutely nothing, which I have seen nobody claim. Insstead, the claim is that it does not meet all of the “quality requirements.” That is just silly.
Monkeytoe on June 16, 2010 at 3:08 PM
I’m pretty sure that you would “hit that” boom!
Vince on June 16, 2010 at 3:10 PM
It’s boom that is not up to the required standards but still must have some usefullness when the alternative is nothing.
Great! Negotiate a better price for the boom already made, get them working on more boom immediately…hopefully made to the required specs.
This sitting around pointing fingers and making excuses is not helping the situation! There will be plenty of time after the fact to do that. Plug the effing hole, protect as much shoreline as humanly possible using ALL methods available, and scoop up as much oil/gas as possible. Get as many countries that are willing to help involved. This is a “planet” issue not just the U.S.
Ditkaca on June 16, 2010 at 3:18 PM
I checked OpenSecrets.org and they had nothing on Packgen, and nothing on their CEO.
Del Dolemonte on June 16, 2010 at 3:20 PM
If you can string it out and it absorbs oil, use it. It’s like there is a big fire and help is refused because your bucket is to small. All hands on deck. Gov’t is too big.
tim c on June 16, 2010 at 3:23 PM
Screw the connectors if they don’t work, BRING DUCKTAPE.
We are beyond the connector BS stage. LOL I should be the Oil Spill Czar.
dogsoldier on June 16, 2010 at 3:25 PM
I’m trying not to call you stupid.
1: Boom is part of the guy’s business. He doesn’t need permission or special orders to manufacture the stuff.
2: For some reason, you just naturally assume the QC test was infallible, and that the outside consultant he hired just couldn’t possibly be right. Are you from Democratic Underground, or something? Things fail QC, all the time, without being defective. Guess what? Quality check can be wrong, and is wrong more often than you apparently know.
3: Consultants don’t work for free. Neither does he. I’m assuming you’re not stupid enough to, too.
4: Unlike Obama, he was on top of the situation. You’re gauging his difficulties on the Obama Regime’s own idiocy. You’re gauging his failure to initially get into the game, on the actions of dumbasses that refused help from experts (the real experts; not the ones the Dalai Obama ‘consulted’ to see whose ass to kick, no these were the people that were really on top of the situation from day one), withheld data from the public, waited almost 2 months to even acknowledge anyone died, and then couldn’t do much more than point fingers and make bad speeches.
5: No one wanted to buy it, because they were too stupid to even know he had it. Even the ‘admiral’ in charge of the Coast Guard (a laughable service that the far more competent, well-armed Navy should be doing) looked stupid in having to admit that he didn’t even know about the company, or it’s product.
Bottom line: unlike Obama, this guy and his company really were on top of the game from day one. The guy is a Capitalist, he had a valuable, vital product, and he jumped into the market. The problem was that the customers were too stupid to know they needed his help. Now, to cover their dumb asses, they’re making a laundry list of lies and excuses to make him look like he’s not ready for prime time, when it’s really them that shouldn’t even be working for Burger King.
Virus-X on June 16, 2010 at 3:28 PM
OK, so since Lorien supposedly owns a business, and states so, anonymously on an online forum, we HAVE to take that as gospel. Yet when PackGen states that not only does the boom Exceed ASTM standards, states that currently deployed boom does not have the ‘universal connectors’, and gets an independent source to verify the claim, it MUST be lying.
This couldn’t have anything to do with the fact that both the gov’t and BP are in full CYA mode, and admitting their mistake would be bad for both parties, so they lie, lie and lie some more. Because, you know, BHO has been so honest in the past.
Lorien reminds me of a skydiver whose main chute fails, yet since they packed their own chute, refuses to accept the failure as fact, and simply keeps pulling the ripcord, while plummeting to their death. Reserve chutes be damned.
viviliberoomuori on June 16, 2010 at 3:30 PM
Jindal was begging for more boom.
Show where he and/or his people refused Packgen’s product.
Oh, yeah, fvck Obama and BP to Hell.
Christien on June 16, 2010 at 3:33 PM
Yeah! What he said!
Vince on June 16, 2010 at 3:34 PM
Incompetence, thy name is Obama.
JohnGalt23 on June 16, 2010 at 3:39 PM
Lorine the point is
June 11, six days ago, Allen: Uh, no one told me about Maine boom company.
Allen states he never heard of PackGen. This I believe to be true. The straight forward no weasel statement has the ring of truth to it.
June14, three days ago, the Coast Guard Spokeshole, Capt. Ron LaBrec said PackGen boom failed BP’s “quality test”.
The Coast Guard Spokeshole, Capt. Ron LaBrec also said PackGen boom failed the Coast Guards “quality test”.
This sounds to me like CYA BS. No dates given of these test, no specifics for why the boom failed other than the boom didn’t have so-called “universal connectors”.
The truth cannot be
We CG (Coast Guard) never heard of PackGen boom
AND
PackGen boom failed our CG test.
Either the CG inspected and rejected PackGen the boom
OR
The CG never heard of PackGen.
Can’t be both at the same time.
BTW, the boom CG and BP have been using does not have the so-called “universal connectors”.
The Obama admin excuses don’t pass the laugh test.
DSchoen on June 16, 2010 at 3:45 PM
You’re too emotional. settle down.
1 – never said he couldn’t. I’m just saying its stupid to make that much if you don’t have a customer who’s going to buy it.
2 – Nope. I am not. But it’s their test. You’d have to assume they know how to run it. You seem to be assuming his paid consultant couldn’t be wrong. Projection, I think is what I’m getting at here. DU? Really? LOL. Hello. We have not met.
3 – There’s a difference between the consultant you hire to verify what you say, and a consultant hired by a third party to verify it. One has an economic incentive to give you the data you want. The other doesn’t. I’ll let you figure out which is which. My point here is that – just because this guy was paid to say the boom is super terrific, doesn’t necessarily imply that it is.
4 – I’m not gauging anything. How it got here is funny. I’m just saying that, as a business owner, it’s stupid to produce an obscene amount of product that you, um, can’t sell. The reasons for not being able to sell it (either fraud, lack of need, corruption, etc) are entirely secondary. I think I’ve been pretty clear.
5 – I’m not sure how producing a gob of stuff but not telling anyone about it counters my “this is kinda stupid” point. ;)
lorien1973 on June 16, 2010 at 3:48 PM
You bring your knife to the gunfight and deal with it until you can lay your hands on a gun.
paragon27x on June 16, 2010 at 3:52 PM
I boil the issue down this way. If the packgen boom WAS worse, and got up only 20% of the oil that other boom gets up, it’d still mean LESS OIL IN THE GULF OF MEXICO. Isn’t that the goal?
For me, this problem is mathmatical. Assume X=the daily amount of oil soaked up, burned, or dispersed. Assume Y= the daily amount of oil released by the leak.
We need X >= Y
Additional boom, whatever the quality, helps increase X. Help from the Netherlands helps increase X. Anything that removes ANY oil is better than not removing oil.
hawksruleva on June 16, 2010 at 3:56 PM
Yeah, that guy in Maine is an idiot for wanting to help clean up the Gulf. What a moron! He needs to apply for a grant from the government to make unicorn horns, or windmill cars, or whatever.
hawksruleva on June 16, 2010 at 3:58 PM
Well said. And ANY gun will do when you need one, but that’s not how the government works. The Coast Guard will probably only accept a Mk I/Standard US-issue/Current Release/Inspected/Certified/Approved/Tested gun.
hawksruleva on June 16, 2010 at 4:01 PM
Obama to appoint a Boom Czar AND a Boom Commission in 3,2,1….
TN Mom on June 16, 2010 at 4:03 PM
You don’t have to….he’s pretty much taking care of that on his own.
xblade on June 16, 2010 at 4:04 PM
Let me get this straight. In order to approve boom to soak up the oil caused by BP’s negligence, Packgen material had to be approved by a BP quality control person?
Really? BP Quality Control is the answer? Really? Do they also do QC on blowout preventers?
hawksruleva on June 16, 2010 at 4:06 PM
This is a perfect example of why big government and it’s red tape is never the best solution and why private enterprise will always have better and more timely solutions in general.
But the reasons why the Obama government is never the solution:
1. It’s not that they lie, it’s that they NEVER TELL THE TRUTH.
2. They corrupt EVERY PROCESS that They’re involved in, and they want to be involved in everything.
3. They are not only not working in the interests of the American people, but are actively working to break all traditional American systems.
They are contstantly demonstrating that THEY ARE THE ENEMY.
ontherocks on June 16, 2010 at 4:09 PM
contstantly = constantly, storry!
ontherocks on June 16, 2010 at 4:11 PM
But is it built by local 123 AFL/CIO affiliate. Because if it is not then regardless of how good it is, there is no way it can be used.
tjexcite on June 16, 2010 at 4:12 PM
I understand what Lorien is saying, a paid consultant almost always finds the answer that the person paying wants. That is true if you hire an expert doctor, an expert engineer, and expert appraiser, whatever. If they can at least make some argument supporting the position of the person paying, they will make it and rely on it for thier opinion.
So, the point that we should not take this consultant’s report as gospel truth that it meets all of the quality requirements is well taken.
However, that does not refute my point above, that regardless, unless this boom would accomplish nothing, it is better than no boom, and it is inconceivable that we would turn down using this boom in favor of doing nothing. If we had plenty of boom that met the requirements, fine. But when we are desperate for ANY boom, it makes no sense. It still reeks of incompetence.
Monkeytoe on June 16, 2010 at 4:15 PM
Read all about it and call them,then call congress.Packgen company profile in Auburn, ME. Our free company profile report for Packgen includes business information such as contact, sales and financial data.
Show map of 65 1st Flight Drive, Auburn, ME 04210-9049
http://www.manta.com/c/mmftyy1/packgen – Cached
Col.John Wm. Reed on June 16, 2010 at 4:20 PM
If anyone was dumb enough to actually take the bet, almost anyone could have won a fortune betting that either BP or the Obama administration would have found something wrong with this guy’s booms. Otherwise, there would be no excuse as to why they didn’t get used already. There’s STILL no good reason why it took them so long to inspect the booms and find them wanting. (Is a less than optimal boom worse than NO boom, btw?)
A paid consultant is not going to just tell you how great your product is. They may slant in your favor on matters where a lot more subjectivity is involved (is this child better off with his mother, or father? is this patient’s back injury really as bad as he’s claming, etc) but with such a high-profile product, that can easily be RE-tested and found to be wanting (if they really are inferior) why would a consultant risk the lawsuits he’d be subjected to if he gave the all-clear, and the booms failed miserably?
This businessman took a big risk mass-producing them, and once that risk was taken should have been more aggressive (and public) in letting people know the product was available. Frankly, that does fall on him. But honestly, who could have predicted that the product you just happen to make would be in INCREADABLE demand, and no-one wants it?:
But to smear his products as inferior to cover your own butt for dragging your feet for so long is not only rotten, but makes me wonder if this guy has some kind of standing for a “defimation of character” (or whatever the equivalent for products are) lawsuit.
DrAllecon on June 16, 2010 at 4:21 PM
I hate to say I told you so, but…
Yep, you, me and everyone else with a brain. As soon as I heard that lame excuse, I knew it for what it was: a lame attempt at deflecting blame for ignoring the boom offer.
Did I mention it was lame?
Bob's Kid on June 16, 2010 at 4:22 PM
I don’t have a clue whether these booms are great or terrible or somewhere in between. However, Ed Morrissey hears the Coast Guard say one thing then hears a consultant paid by the manufacturer say the opposite, and he immediately assumes the question is “demolished”.
Why so little faith in our military, Mr. Morrissey?
orange on June 16, 2010 at 4:25 PM
Are you for real ???
Jeez they’re begging for this stuff down there and you’re coming out with all kinds of left-wing mumbo-jumbo. Who cares what damn quality the stuff is – if it even does a half-assed job use it!
What kind of moron turns down any help in an emergency other than someone who is deliberately prolonging the emergency. Oilybama is milking this disaster for all he is worth. I’m shocked there are even people on this site standing up for his fascist scheming.
There are only 3 possible explanations for not using this oil boom:
1) Oilybama’s crew was too stooopid to find it
2) It’s not Union Made and Oilybama’s union buddies come first
3) Oilybama wants this disaster to continue so he can push his Marxist agenda
You decide…
Ogabe on June 16, 2010 at 4:28 PM
You talk like this consultant (sniff) is some bum off the street. Did you bother to look at his credentials or read his report?
In his report, Dr. Durham clearly references ASTM standards, which the boom was tested against, and the test methodology. Many of the material specifications come directly from the manufacturer, which removes any consultant bias in that regard.
Additionally, Dr, Durham indicates areas where Packgen’s boom either meets or exceeds existing established (and in some cases, anticipated future) ASTM, USCG, & BP standards.
If you bother to read the conclusion, Dr. Durham appears to exhibit significant restraint when he clearly states that while Packgen’s boom meets or exceeds oil containment guidelines, there is a limited application where this boom should be considered useful: in-shore protected waters since the boom just does meet the bare minimum height requirement for even that application.
Failing all of that and, given the magnitude of the disaster, could we have not fast-tracked Packgen in the queue for testing and approval? It seems like we can designate plenty of resources to send lawyers down there, how about some for engineering?
pain train on June 16, 2010 at 4:33 PM
The new government spec will require booms to eliminate 110 percent of the oil. 100 percent is just not enough. Just ask any football team.
Dasher on June 16, 2010 at 4:39 PM
It was BP that tested the Packgen boom for them.
hawksruleva on June 16, 2010 at 4:42 PM
The United States Coast Guard laughable? Are you on drugs?
Perhaps you haven’t aver had to have the USCG save you in a dangerous ocean. I have.
You should be ashamed for making a comment like that.
pain train on June 16, 2010 at 4:43 PM
That’s generally not accurate. Most experts rely on their reputation and past performance to place a value on whatever opinions they give. If you’re a yes man, you quickly lose credibility, and your ability to make money as an expert. Further, many experts, including the one in question here, would open themselves to lawsuits if they deliberately skewed results.
Further still, most testing of this sort produces objective results – mathematical values of properties, quantified results of tests, yes/no answers to questions about required properties for a given use. If those are falsified, it’s easily provable. We’ve seen the results from Packgen’s expert – let’s see the results from BP.
hawksruleva on June 16, 2010 at 4:48 PM
Exactly. It’s like the gov’t is saying, “No, we don’t want your water. It has some impurities in it. We’d rather let the building burn some more while we look for better water.”
Daggett on June 16, 2010 at 4:50 PM
Well, my experience is in litigation, where I find experts are willing to pretty much say what the people paying them want them to say. Sure, they come up with justifications for their “opinions”, but they don’t seem to have any concerns about lawsuits or poor opinions of them. Perhaps in other venues “consultants” who test things are more ethical.
Monkeytoe on June 16, 2010 at 4:52 PM
Great article on the Jones act and foreign help.
hawksruleva on June 16, 2010 at 4:53 PM
Uh you are forgetting that this guy is in the HAZMAT manufacturing business, they make this stuff all the time, all over the world. Oil containment booms are used in thousands of locations around the world every single day. This was not just a one shot deal he made on a whim when the oil started leaking, hoping he would get a fat government paycheck.
Johnnyreb on June 16, 2010 at 4:55 PM
Fair enough. My experience is in construction/engineering. A bogus report on the properties of structural steel in a school might be different than “could this knife have been used in this murder?”
hawksruleva on June 16, 2010 at 4:55 PM
Exactly. It is for this same reason that we have to return the gulf to “pre-Katrina” days – simply restoring it to what it was three months ago is not enough.
Aim high. Shoot low.
pain train on June 16, 2010 at 4:55 PM
Unfortunately, in the litigation setting, this would apply to such things as engineers, doctors, and just about any other kind of “expert.”
Why do you think there are so many junk science lawsuits, like John Edward made millions on? Because there are “experts” out there willing to say anything for money, at least in the litigation context.
I suppose the difference would be that in the litigation context, it is after the fact, nobody is depending the expert’s opinion as to what steel to actually put into a building to make it safe, but asking the expert after the building collapses as to why that was the wrong steel to use.
Monkeytoe on June 16, 2010 at 4:59 PM
love the talk about percentages, but guess what with out the boom 100 percent is getting through, maybe 50 percent would not have been bad at least it would be something.
RonK on June 16, 2010 at 5:00 PM
Maybe a little test of the boom in real life conditions is in order.Maybe some sugar daddy will show up and agree to pay for some of the boom to see if it works. If it does as said the whole gumit will have stuff on it’s face. I bet Gov Jindel would let the shrimpers try it out.
OOPs to darn logical,my bad.
Col.John Wm. Reed on June 16, 2010 at 5:04 PM
Lying, scumbag, CYA political HACKS!
Opposite Day on June 16, 2010 at 5:05 PM
If we had a competent government:
1. ALL booms available in the Western hemisphere would already be deployed, regardless of their specifications or origin.
2. ALL laws and regulations impeding the recovery or containment efforts in any way would have been waived on day #1.
But we DONT have a competent government. The government continues to get in the way of all solutions to the problem, and OBAMA just sits on his hands and screams like a two year old girl.
landlines on June 16, 2010 at 5:08 PM
I guess some folks have never heard the old saying:
Any port in a storm!
Obumbles and BP got caught and now it’s just CYA time (again).
Ogabe on June 16, 2010 at 5:08 PM
What this oil spill is showing is how incompetent the Government bureaucracy really is. It is impossible for them to react to a problem. And a good thing too. Imagine how much faster they could spend our tax dollars if they could react like the private sector.
In the 80′s, the government let a bid for laptop computers for all the cadets at the Air Force Academy. Hewlett Packard finally won the bid. However, the bid and award process took so long that the 286 processors in the motherboards were obsolete. HP offered to supply the laptops with the new faster 386 chips at the same price.
They were told that it would take too long to change the contract specifications to the better chip. So HP had to go out and scrounge enough of the slower 286 chips to make the new AF laptops. Enough said for Government efficiency.
Should we even mention the farce of the Government run airport security?
Uniblogger on June 16, 2010 at 5:11 PM
But the Coast Guard apparently found their tests to be acceptable. While I certainly agree that anything that BP says should be subject to skepticism, surely we give our military a greater latitude (particularly on this side of the aisle).
The idea being floated here is that the Obama admin is trying to cover something up. Okay. But why would that translate to BP claiming that these booms are substandard? Or the Coast Guard agreeing with those claims?
While I don’t trust BP to protect our interests, it’s in their interest to clean this up ASAP. They’re not going to say no to some boom to try to save face for the Obama admin. Why would they?
And are you claiming that the US Military is now going to lie in order to make Obama look good? I find that unlikely as well (and an insult to the military, frankly).
orange on June 16, 2010 at 5:13 PM
French,
Boudreaux dire certains boom mieux qu’aucun boom du tout.
Creole,
boudreaux di kou apoulaw kèk pi bon pase kou apoulaw anyen ditou.
.
Boudreaux say some boom better than no boom at all.
Col.John Wm. Reed on June 16, 2010 at 5:16 PM
I was at a country club swim pool that used chlorine gas. Two kids were playing in the fenced in area and breathed in undiluted chlorine gas, which immediately put them in respiratory distress. 911 was called and the lifeguards scrambled. They asked the manager if he had Oxygen in the bar, he said no. Asked again, the manager said they didn’t have the proper mask. Lifeguards rushed in, ripped off the mask and stuck the bare hoses in the faces of the kids. Kids saved but lungs damaged. Lifeguard congratulated by EMS for saving kids lives. The lifeguard was fired from pool for making manager look like a fool.
Is Obama like that manager or what?
barnone on June 16, 2010 at 5:18 PM
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