GOM Oil Spill - BP Stops Oil Leak

[cycloneye]

The situation is very grave as still they can't close the leak yet.

http://www.deepwaterhorizonresponse.com ... 317867.jpg

[brunota2003]

Why is there no plan for a situation like this? A floating ring of material that is lighter than water, but heavier than oil that could be deployed immediately after a spill to prevent the oil from leaking beyond it perhaps?

[Dionne]

Why is there no plan for a situation like this? A floating ring of material that is lighter than water, but heavier than oil that could be deployed immediately after a spill to prevent the oil from leaking beyond it perhaps?

There are numerous vessels with containment booms on site. How do you keep up with 42,000 gallons per day with a well head at 5000 feet below the sea surface? You don't. It's like trying to put out the fire at the World Trade Center with a garden hose.

Don't confirm any vacation plans on the gulf coast this summer.

[CajunMama]

Setting the oil on fire...

NEW ORLEANS (AP) - The Coast Guard planned to set fire to oil leaking from the site of an exploded drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday, a last-ditch effort to get rid of it before it reaches environmentally sensitive marshlands on the Lousiana coast. Fire-resistant containment booms will be used to corral some of the thickest oil on the surface, which will then be ignited, said Coast Guard Petty Officer 2nd Class Prentice Danner. It was unclear how large an area would be set aflame, what would used to do it and how far from shore the first fire would burn. The slick was about 20 miles east of the the mouth of the Mississippi River.

About 42,000 gallons of oil a day are leaking into the Gulf from the blown-out well where the Deepwater Horizon exploded and sank
last week. Eleven workers are missing and presumed dead. The cause of the explosion has not been determined. A graphic posted by authorities fighting the slick shows it covering an area about 100 miles long and 45 miles across at its widest point. It could reach land within three days, depending on the weather. State Widlife and Fisheries Secretary Robert Barham told a legislative committee Wednesday morning that National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration projections show a "high probability" oil could reach the Pass a Loutre wildlife management area Friday night, Breton Sound on Saturday and the Chandeleur Islands on Sunday.

The decision to burn some of the oil comes as the Coast Guard and industry clean-up crews run out of other options to get rid of it. Crews operating submersible robots have been trying without success to activate a shutoff device that would halt the flow of oil on the seabottom 5,000 feet below. Rig operator BP Plc. says work will begin as early as Thursday to drill a relief well to relieve pressure at the blow-out site, but that could take months. Another option is a dome-like device to cover oil rising to the surface and pump it to container vessels, but that will take two weeks to put in place, BP said. Winds and currents in the Gulf have helped crews in recent days as they try to contain the leak. The immediate threat to sandy beaches in coastal Alamaba and Mississippi has lessened. But the spill has moved steadily toward the mouth of the Mississippi River, home to hundreds of species of wildlife and near some rich oyster grounds. The cost of disaster continues to rise and could easily top $1 billion. Industry officials say replacting the Deepwater Horizon, owned by Transocean Ltd. and operated by BP, would cost up to $700 million. BP has said its costs for containing the spill are running at $6 million a day. The company said it will spend $100 million to drill the relief well. The Coast Guard has not yet reported its expenses.

http://www.katc.com/news/setting-the-oil-on-fire/

From the KATC fb page:

KATC-TV 3: Acadiana's Newschannel FROM Chris Paulsen KATC: The plan to set the oil in the Gulf on fire stands. Right now they are collecting the oil in floating pools surrounded by special booms. Before setting the fires they will pull the oil out further offshore to lessen enviromental imapct. No smoke is expected to drift inland.

[Dionne]

The burn is happening......WOW....what a trip!

EDIT.....I'm seeing conflicting reports. See....

http://www.deepwaterhorizonresponse.com

[attallaman]

Were there discussions months ago by our current White House admininstration to open up or allow more rigs to drill for oil and natural gas in the GOM? After this most recent incident in the GOM those plans might not go forward as planned.

[WeatherLovingDoc]

In pictures: Gulf of Mexico oil leak

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_pictures/8650069.stm

[Stephanie]

This will be devastating to the wildlife and ecosytems, not to mention the livelihoods of those along the coast.

Is it me, or does it seem like they never had a true backup plan in case something like this ever happened to stop the leak from 5,000 feet down?

The back up plan was the BOP valve. Which failed. When the well "kicked" the valve either failed to activate or simply could not handle the explosive pressure. Not all BOP valves are created equal. The reliability of subsea BOP valves has been an issue for decades.

...and they wouldn't really know if its reliability until it is actually tested.

Thanks for the info. At least I have a better understanding of it now.

[Stephanie]

Were there discussions months ago by our current White House admininstration to open up or allow more rigs to drill for oil and natural gas in the GOM? After this most recent incident in the GOM those plans might not go forward as planned.

The discussions also included exploring and opening rigs off of the East Coast from Virginia southward. I REALLY had a problem with that even before this tragedy. My main concern was due to the storms, particularly the Nor'easters that form off of the coast. I know that there's rigs that are located in areas with worse weather conditions but the affect that it could have along our coastline would be devastating as well, much like what we maybe seeing with the GOM right at this moment. My hope is that this tragedy was our reminder of what could happen and my wish is that the GOM sees as little damage as possible.

[funster]

Update: 5,000 barrels a day now leaking, up from 1,000 barrels a day.

The Coast Guard said a new leak was found at the site where an oil platform exploded and sank in the Gulf of Mexico.

Rear Adm. Mary Landry gave a new estimate of 5,000 barrels a day leaking. Officials had been saying for days that it was 1,000 barrels a day.

[cycloneye]

This quote is terrible news if confirmed.

http://www.oilpubs.com/oso/article.asp?v1=9469

"So great does the leak now appear that in less than two months it could match the 11 million gallon spill from the oil tanker Exxon Valdez off Alaska in 1989,"

[Dionne]

http://magicseaweed.com/msw-surf-charts ... &type=wind


Fairly obvious which way the winds will push the ongoing spill.

[Dionne]

"It's premature to say this is catastrophic," said Coast Guard Rear Adm. Mary Landry. "I will say that this is very serious."


Gimme a break! 11 workers dead. A $700,000,000 rig suffered a catastrophic failure and is lying on the ocean floor. An unknown amount of crude is leaking out of control. The weather forecast is certainly not in our favor. When will she change her mind?

[cycloneye]

Its getting closer to the Louisiana coast. Image from University of Wisconsin.

http://ge.ssec.wisc.edu/modis-today/

[Ivanhater]

Florida's income is highly dependent on beach tourism. Good luck trying to get oil rigs built off the coast of Florida now.

[vbhoutex]

"It's premature to say this is catastrophic," said Coast Guard Rear Adm. Mary Landry. "I will say that this is very serious."


Gimme a break! 11 workers dead. A $700,000,000 rig suffered a catastrophic failure and is lying on the ocean floor. An unknown amount of crude is leaking out of control. The weather forecast is certainly not in our favor. When will she change her mind?

Probably not till she is told to.

[WeatherLovingDoc]

As of this morning (Thursday), I heard 14 miles from nearest point of shore cycloneye.

I don't know why BBC get's such great coverage, but they do. Please feel free to scroll down the linked page and listen to Mike Miller, CEO of Safety Boss ( 2 minute audio): "I expect this will be the biggest oil spill in the world by far".

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8651624.stm

President Obama might wish to fly down and see it now.

WLD

[cycloneye]

Close-up image

I post only the link as image is very big. Is the same image I posted above.

http://cyclops.marine.usf.edu/modis/lev ... er.rgb.png

[WeatherLovingDoc]

Well, now they say there is a good chance of oil landfall tonight due to the winds. Can't wrap my head around the scale of this yet, but can and do feel so sad for the people still suffering loved one's loss and for the Louisiana people who suffer yet a second blow.

I found a little bit about the "dome" idea, as I've been wondering what that involves:

"the "dome-type" recovery system remains a viable option for containing the oil.

"If you can think of an upside-down champagne float where you cut off the base and hook a hose to the surface the oil floats on the water, it goes up in there the pumps pick it up, take it to the ship and then separate it into oil and water," said Eric Smith, Associate Director of Tulane University's Energy Institute.

Smith is also a chemical engineer who spent more than 20 years in the offshore drilling and construction industry. He said the dome containment system was tried unsuccessfully in the 1970s after a similar explosion in the Bay of Campeche. "What wasn't available were these big drill ships that have onboard oil storage."

Now those type vessels are available and BP's Chief Operating Officer Doug Suttles said the company has already identified one to be used with the dome. However, the construction of the dome may not be completed for a couple of weeks. Professor Smith believes the odds of the dome containment succeeding this time are hugely better" (http://www.fox8live.com)

Slightly O/T, I'm curious of others thoughts on the impact of this Gulf oil slick on hurricanes? Does the slightly greater density of the Gulf water alter the water surface temperature and wind formation/propagation dynamics?

[Terry]

I'm rather disappointed to not see more up-to-date info on the oil mess here on S2K. This is a terrible disaster for the Gulf Coast.