GOM Oil Spill - BP Stops Oil Leak

[attallaman]

BP Oil plans to meet with local area fishermen here at 1:00 p.m., the news article is courtesy of WLOX.com, the website for ABC TV affiliate WLOX TV-13 here in Biloxi.

http://www.wlox.com/global/story.asp?s=12429878

[attallaman]

A federal wildlife and fisheries official stated today they are investigating several shrimpers along the gulf coast who may have been too aggressive with their shrimping practices which could have resulted in the deaths of several sea turtles in the GOM. Sea turtles which according to other reports did not die due to the BP oil spill in the GOM. The news articles are both courtesy of WLOX.com, the website for ABC TV affilliate WLOX TV-13 here in Biloxi.

http://www.wlox.com/global/story.asp?s=12430157

http://www.wlox.com/Global/story.asp?S=12426598

[attallaman]

Here's another article on shrimpers being investigated in the cause of the deaths of several sea turtles in the GOM due to the BP Oil slick. This news article is courtesy of FOX 8 out of NOLA.

http://www.fox8live.com/news/local/stor ... x?rss=2085

[attallaman]

Crews prepare to take the contraption out to the site of the BP oil leak, this news article is courtesy of the Associated Press with writers from other news agencies contributing.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/ ... TE=DEFAULT

[WeatherLovingDoc]

Here's a link to some modeling work the USF Ocean Circulation Group has done
http://ocg6.marine.usf.edu/models.html

Thanks for that link, as it is very helpful to visualize (even if by expert projections) the weather variables' impact on this oil spill. RTOFS (Atlantic) appears to be the outlier, taking the oil much farther south and east. But many of the projections clearly show enlargement over the next days, with consolidation around the Delta.

[SunnyThoughts]

Found this earlier this morning:


Oil leaking from BP Plc’s damaged Gulf of Mexico well has drifted within 1.5 miles of the buoy marking the entrance to Southwest Pass, the main approach to the Port of New Orleans, a port official said.

“I just got a call from the port commissioner, and he said the oil is a mile and a half away from the main entrance,” Wayne Mumphrey, secretary treasurer of the Port of New Orleans said in an interview in New Orleans. “Once it passes the buoy, we have to start decontaminating every ship coming into the port.”

Mumphrey said two floating decontamination stations have been set up near the buoy to scrub oil from the hulls of ships entering the Mississippi.

It will take 10 to 12 hours to decontaminate each ship, which will dramatically slow incoming port traffic and that may cause ships to begin backing up into the Gulf, he said.

[WeatherLovingDoc]

"APNewsBreak: Boat with containment box at oil site: With a sheen of oil as far as the eye can see..."

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gIXWYBTpLtSayJtg41LKXpxSxVPAD9FHDUN81

[thetruesms]

Here's this morning's Florida Environmental Protection/Emergency Management report. Text in red highlight changes from yesterday's report (which I can tell you is awesome, as today is the first day they've done that)

http://www.dep.state.fl.us/deepwaterhor ... 050610.pdf

edit - for Florida residents who want to learn more about volunteer opportunities, http://www.volunteerfloridadisaster.org/. If other states have similar resources, I don't know, but I would think there's a good chance they do.

[SunnyThoughts]

ON THE GULF OF MEXICO — The captain of a boat hauling a box that is designed to capture the oil spewing into the Gulf says the delay in lowering it into the ocean is being caused by oil fumes that could ignite.

Capt. Demi Shaffer tells The Associated Press Thursday night that the crews do not want to be fighting a fire while trying to unload the giant concrete-and-steel box over the blown-out oil well at the bottom of the sea. The AP is the only news organization on board the vessel 50 miles off the coast of Louisiana.

Shaffer says because of the lack of wind to circulate the air, the fumes from the thick oil surrounding the boat were rising to a level that any spark could start a fire. That includes metal on metal.

Crew members are wearing respirators. It was unclear when they would be able to proceed.

[HURAKAN]

I hope that everything is fixed as soon as possible because you can't rule out a tropical storm or hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico in June.

[vbhoutex]

ON THE GULF OF MEXICO — The captain of a boat hauling a box that is designed to capture the oil spewing into the Gulf says the delay in lowering it into the ocean is being caused by oil fumes that could ignite.

Capt. Demi Shaffer tells The Associated Press Thursday night that the crews do not want to be fighting a fire while trying to unload the giant concrete-and-steel box over the blown-out oil well at the bottom of the sea. The AP is the only news organization on board the vessel 50 miles off the coast of Louisiana.

Shaffer says because of the lack of wind to circulate the air, the fumes from the thick oil surrounding the boat were rising to a level that any spark could start a fire. That includes metal on metal.

Crew members are wearing respirators. It was unclear when they would be able to proceed.

Last report I heard they were able to proceed. I have no idea how far they have gotten though.

[brunota2003]

From the latest news article on Yahoo!:

"The dropping of the box is just one of many strategies being pursued to stave off a widespread environmental disaster. BP is drilling sideways into the blown-out well in hopes of plugging it from the bottom. Also, oil company engineers are examining whether the leak could be shut off by sealing it from the top instead.

The technique, called a "top kill," would use a tube to shoot mud and concrete directly into the well's blowout preventer, BP spokesman Bill Salvin said. The process would take two to three weeks, compared with the two to three months needed to drill a relief well."


So...let me get this straight. Instead of sealing up the well permanently, they opt for the contraption that only guarantees 85% of all the leaking oil is contained??? What the hell? I can see starting a relief well and having the containment box on hand, but shouldn't the VERY FIRST thing they did was attempt a top kill to shut off the wellhead? If the top kill had been successful, the well could of been forced to stop leaking oil by now, and the spill would be way less...wouldn't it? But instead, they decided to take the long haul options and try to "save face" to the public, while ensuring the well remains open for their greed. That is crap!

[gtalum]

I don't think you understand. They're attempting the fixes in the order of probability that they'll actually work. BP does not want this well to stay open and keep spewing oil into the Gulf. This disaster has the real potential to drive them into bankruptcy.

The fact is none of these fixes have ever been attempted on a well this deep under water. Nobody really knows what will work and what won't work.

If you really want to place blame, look to the regulators who for decades have allowed unsafe drilling practices on the assumption that a disaster would never happen anyway.

[HURAKAN]

Oil slick reaches wildlife refuge

Oil from a massive slick in the Gulf of Mexico has started washing ashore on an island chain off the coast of Louisiana, US officials have confirmed.

Pelicans and other birds covered in oil have been found on the uninhabited Chandeleur islands, which are part of the Breton National Wildlife Refuge.

A federal maritime agency said there was "oiling all over" the islands.

Earlier, workers began lowering a giant funnel over the leaking oil well at the bottom of the sea to harvest the spill.

Remote-controlled submarines are being used to lower the 90-tonne containment device in an operation expected to take two days.

Oil has been leaking unstopped for 18 days from the well, 50 miles (80km) off Louisiana, since an explosion destroyed the Deepwater Horizon rig, operated by Transocean and leased by BP, last month.

'All over the place'

On Thursday, the US Coast Guard confirmed for the first time oil had made its way past protective booms and was washing up on land.

Freemason Island, the southernmost of the "back islands" of the Chandeleur chain, was the first to be hit by a sheen of oil, although there was no evidence yet of medium or heavy crude.

Heavier concentrations of crude remain further offshore, and the Coast Guard said weather forecasts suggested it would stay there until the weekend.

A spokesman for BP said emergency teams had been sent to Freemason Island, a favourite fishing spot for recreational anglers some 30 miles (50km) off Louisiana's coast, to deploy inflatable booms to protect its prime marshland.

“ We are doing everything we can to make sure a major impact doesn't happen ”
John Curry BP spokesman

The Associated Press also reported that a pinkish oily substance was washing up to the north on New Harbor Island, on which mangroves serve as roosting habitat for thousands of frigatebirds.

Later, an official from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said oil was coming ashore all across the Chandeleur Islands.

They are the second oldest national wildlife refuge in the US and home to countless endangered birds.

Jeff Dauzat, of the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality, meanwhile reported that oiled birds, including gannets and brown pelicans, had been found on the barrier chain. No other species have been affected.

HAVE YOUR SAY As long as we are extracting resources in demanding conditions there will occasionally be accidents like this Osric

Fears are also growing that sea life has already been severely affected in the area, which includes vital spawning grounds for fish, shrimp and crabs.

"It's all over the place," Dustin Chauvin, a shrimp-boat captain from Terrebonne Parish, told AP. "That's our whole fishing ground. That's our livelihood."

'Very complex'

Workers on board a ship have meanwhile begun lowering a concrete and steel containment device to the sea floor some 5,000ft below (1.5km) below in a bid to capture as much as 85% of the oil gushing from the damaged wellhead.

BP said the operation to fix the 40ft (12m) funnel in place with submersibles was expected to take two days, and a further two days would be required to connect it to a ship above via a drill-pipe.

The technology has been used a few times in shallow waters, but never at such extreme depths and under such high pressure.

HOW THE OIL FUNNEL WORKS
# The funnel is a 40ft tall iron box, weighing 98 tonnes
# It will be placed over the leak, 5,000ft down on the seabed
# BP hopes it will collect 85% of the leaking oil and pipe it to the surface

There is also a chance that the device could damage the well and make the leak worse.

Other risks include the drill-pipe becoming clogged with ice, and explosions when separating the mix of oil, gas and water on the surface.

BP Chief Executive Tony Hayward denied his company had been slow to react, saying the firm had mobilised immediately to contain the threat.

"It's a military operation and we are thinking of it as a battle on three fronts: beneath the sea, in the sea, and on the shore," he added.

Mr Hayward said 100 ships were involved in an operation to skim oil from the sea's surface - including 20 of the world's largest skimming vessels.

Thousands of feet of boom were being used as a barrier to contain the slick and a small air force was deploying dispersants, he added.

Earlier, BP said it had sealed the smallest of the three leaks spilling oil. Favourable weather conditions also allowed crews to burn off more of the oil where it is most heavily concentrated.

PROJECTED SPREAD OF OIL SPILL ON 7 MAY
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/a ... 666276.stm

[WeatherLovingDoc]

Per The Associated Press (the only news media permitted on board the ship) BP's "Containment Box" is hovering 200 feet above the seabed location of the oil leak they hope to cover. Let's hope the drop goes well, assisted by the robotic subs.

[WeatherLovingDoc]

AP:

ON THE GULF OF MEXICO — A spokesman for BP PLC says a 100-ton concrete-and-steel box has been placed over a massive oil leak at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico and is settling down into the mud.

BP spokesman Bill Salvin said Friday it may take as many as 12 hours for the containment box to settle in place but everything appears to be going as planned.

If the box settles properly, crews will then turn their attention to hooking up a pipe to pump the oil out. Salvin cautions though that there are still many challenges ahead as BP makes this first-of-its-kind attempt.

Officials have said it may take two days for crews to hook the device up to a tanker on the surface and begin to siphon off the spewing oil.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information.

[Dionne]

If BP pulls this off it will be an engineering and application solution beyond comparison.

[srainhoutx]

Adm. Thad Allen had a great discussion today concerning the technical 'challenges' via NOLA.com...

http://www.nola.com/news/gulf-oil-spill ... d_all.html

[StormingB81]

Anyone thinks the concrete box will help?

[Sanibel]

Anyone thinks the concrete box will help?

Read the comments on the "oildrum" site. They know their stuff.


This casing should collect the leak from the break in the pipe that went from the wellhead on the sea floor to the oil rig. When the oil rig sank it crumpled the riser pipe causing the break that has been covered and another one out the open end. They put a plug on the open end on May 4th but that only sent the oil out the other two holes. This casing went over the other hole in the riser pipe. The last leak is in the blow out preventer stack itself. That one is a tougher fix. They might try a viscous liquid that will clog the flow and stop it. It has never been tried before.


I wonder if they could rig a submersible cutter that would lop the riser pipe right off the blow out preventer stack and put a big casement right over the whole thing covering the leak at the source?