How true. People are fighting to have the laws reversed and changed but no luck so far. This has been going on forever and the BP oil spill prompted our deep thinking congress to make a knee jerk reaction and now the destruction has been put on the fast track.

This is so freaking stupid and crazy. As soon as most of the rigs are removed you just know we will be paying to replace them with to rebuild the LOST coral reefs when we already had them all along for pennies on the dollar.

think they know whats best for the people.

They have NO IDEA!!!!

rigs are like tourist, you invite them with excellant acomadations, they move in for a week and end staying for generations, then you tear it down. wonder what clown thought of that...bethe has a phd in tidliy wicks.

or good old obamament, but i get your point!!!

Just some info for you all and i will not reply to any comments.
I Work for the Company that is doing to most of the removal of the platforms and pipelines in the Bay.
Born and raised in S.La. and have seen the ups and downs of what the BIG OIL has done to the gulf coast. Our Mission Statement is the protect the environment. You have no clue what the bottom of the gulf looks like after 60+ years of laying piplines and platforms in the gulf. I have been instrumental in trying to clean this mess up and am PROUD to be a part of it.
When we can we try to reef projects but that is not always possible due to coastal restirctions upon us and everyone else.
We are required by law to remove non viable assets after so many years. We can not leave them there for accountabilty purposes. So we must remove them. The state or the feds cannot take accountabilty for them eihter. They become a hazard to the public and then same as if we were still the holder open for Lawsuits by anyone that would happen to get on them get hurt, run into them with a boat etc. etc. ec.
You just can not leave these strucutres unattended in open water. We dont have money in the state now as it is let alone hire people to go around fixing and installing nav aids and upkeep of them on the structures.
The reasons go on and on. It is a liability issue and lots of time some of these liabilities are still held by the original companies even after sale to others as far as the final clean up pertains.
Are we not getting taxed enough now as it is let alone creating another Govt. job that would have to be paid for by you and I???
When we remove these platforms the legs must be severed 15 ft below mud line as to not be a navigational hazard.
Hope this sheds some light on the subject. Yes we may be losing some of the fish holding/incubation and nesting areas but think of the navigational nightmare that would be left behind.
In my humble opinion the Co. that i work for now is the leader in the industry (proven leader) as to the extent of the clean up we are doing on the gulf bottom and wish that all the others would be held as accountable and or up to the expectations that we are setting out there.
Our budget for this type of work each year is in the upper 10's of millions of dollars. Way up there. 64 mill last and 78 this year.

Its illegal to damage coral, and there is lots of coral on these rigs. Go figure..

Preservation by way of destruction...hmmmmm

The budget of 10’s of millions, is that your company’s budget or is that the state/Fed monies?

all company funds, no tax dollars, no nothing,