25 replies to this topic

[Damo]

Just heard an update of this unfolding tragedy on the radio this a.m.
The implications for Louisiana - and indeed the environ of the gulf of Mexico - is just terrible to contemplate. :-(

http://news.yahoo.co...l_rig_explosion

[manfishmatt]

Please join Jean-Michel Cousteau and his non-profit organization, Ocean Futures Society, in letting our legislators know enough is enough.

The Gulf of Mexico is in a state of emergency. Take Action Now. http://bit.ly/aElBma

[Balrog]

Well that's a noble thing to do but anyone typing a letter needs to figure where the fuel for the postal truck and the plastic for their computer keyboard comes from.
We need to do these things gradually not in a knee jerk fashion.

Oil exploration and production is driven by demand - which is where our conservation efforts should be concentrated imo.

Edited by Balrog, 04 May 2010 - 10:59 PM.

[davelew]

Well that's a noble thing to do but anyone typing a letter needs to figure where the fuel for the postal truck and the plastic for their computer keyboard comes from.
We need to do these things gradually not in a knee jerk fashion.

Oil exploration and production is driven by demand - which is where our conservation efforts should be concentrated imo.

There's a huge middle ground between what happened with the Deepwater Horizon rig that exploded, and banning all new oil exploration.

For example, BP got a blanket exemption from ALL environmental and safety regulations for Deepwater Horizon (the US Minerals Management Service grants 250 to 400 such waivers a year in the Gulf of Mexico alone). It would be a great improvement if the US started enforcing the environmental laws that have already been passed.

[meister]

reef.org has a link on their site related to the situation...

[james]

I would start with the official government response website:

http://www.deepwater...m/go/site/2931/

Check out the video from the Skandi Neptune's ROV - it's a good overview of what's happening down there.

As someone who knows - the press is getting a lot of the facts wrong on what's going on. The official response website seems to be presenting good correct info though without spin in either direction.

Cheers
James

[fotoscubo714]

Somebody is getting the picture.

'Titanic' director Cameron joins effort to plug Gulf spill

and also here

Edited by fotoscubo714, 01 June 2010 - 10:40 PM.

[HaleyV]

Given the recent oil spill news we are listening to about day soon after day, I'm sure by now we all know who BP is, even if we didn't before. I just hope that their new cleaning procedure called "Top Kill" be successful because it has brought a lot of destruction not only to the environment but it also brought danger to people's lives in the coastal area.

[Balrog]

It's a terrible tragedy that all are working towards containing, rightly without regard for cost.

As a Brit I feel simultaneously very sorry and proud for BP who seem to be stepping up to the plate and carrying all the bad publicity as well as the financial burden. BP are just the discoverer of the block and would have operated the field once the wells were completed. The well was being drilled on their behalf by Transocean, a US drilling company (and the largest in the world).

It was Transocean's drillship, equipment and operators who suffered the tragedy and their sub-sea blow out preventer that failed to safely shut down the well as it was supposed to. It has to be said that we haven't heard a peep out of Transocean.

It is right to focus on sorting the pollution without a blame culture but I'm sure once contained this will become an issue. If BP have no redress to Transocean there's something wrong with the contracting strategy or US law.

2c

Edited by Balrog, 03 June 2010 - 12:55 AM.

[John Bantin]

It is undeniably a terrible disaster - but it's not the worst oil spill. There have been a couple much much bigger but they didn't affect American voters, only Third-World people - so who cares? As long as we get OUR oil. If we stopped consuming cocaine it might be better in a few other countries too. Am I a cynic?

[MDB]

It is undeniably a terrible disaster - but it's not the worst oil spill. There have been a couple much much bigger but they didn't affect American voters, only Third-World people - so who cares? As long as we get OUR oil. If we stopped consuming cocaine it might be better in a few other countries too. Am I a cynic?

Wow John you are a cynic

[echeng]

Check out the video from the Skandi Neptune's ROV - it's a good overview of what's happening down there.

Do you have a link for that video, James? I found a live stream at Ustream:
http://www.ustream.t...ve-rov-video/v3

Here's a recorded video that shows the leak in action. Crazy.
http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/7225649

[Balrog]

http://bp.concerts.c...elong053110.htm

[ATJ]

The unfortunate thing about the spill (which is terrible in itself) is the publicity and the politicisation is going to result in a far worse outcome for the environment. As damaging as crude oil can be, it is not as bad as the dispersant being used nor the combination of oil & dispersant (which is the worst).

[meister]

http://abcnews.go.co...c-soup-10735329

[james]

Here is an attachment w/ link to see all of the ROV cameras on one screen (the ones that are in the water. The ones on deck for maintenance don't show).


As of now, the tophat has been placed over the cut off riser pipe on top of the LMRP. It is siphoning up over half of the oil and hopefully will get up to 75% of it soon.

I don't really understand the purpose of the dispersant either Andrew. The government and BP have decided it should be used to keep the oil from floating on the surface. But why?

Cheers
James

Attached Files

•  cams.htm   5.08K   167 downloads

[loftus]

Some heartbreaking images here
http://lens.blogs.ny.../assignment-35/

[John Bantin]

Heartbreaking - true. But...
http://www.thedailym...e-201006102804/

"Martin Bishop, a West Wing fan from Hitchin, said: "This morning I saw a quote from Norman Tebbit - Norman Tebbit - saying that the Americans do seem to have forgotten how one of their corporations dealt with the disaster at Bhopal.

"So anyway, here's some interesting facts. The Bhopal gas leak killed an estimated 16,000 people and directly affected around 500,000. Union Carbide eventually paid out $450m in compensation. Which is an average of $900 per person. So, as you can see, they really did somethin' to help those folks down there in India."

[rtrski]

John:

All quite true. But I cringe a little at the quote's apparently drawing equivalence between our currently hapless ("whose asses to kick", really?) leadership and the media frenzy as being somehow the hypocritical rallying cry of "{all} the Americans".

It's a tragic accident that's going to take some time to repair, plain and simple. If the initial blowout could've been avoided thru different techniques, one hopes that comes out and the industry learns. Some heads may (and perhaps should) roll if they actively circumvented known and approved procedures that contributed to the original event, or if the BOP wasn't properly installed or maintained...but in the main the company/operator -- and the industry at large -- shouldn't be vilified solely for infotainment or political purposes.

In fact, thinking about the engineering hurdles involved in working a mile deep (not to mention trying to hit what is probably about a 7-10" target up to THREE miles deep for the relief well bores!!), I don't really see that people can correctly abuse them for not stopping the flow yet. Mitigation of the oil plume itself earlier might've been done better (firebooms, skimmers, etc) but that's as much the host country's disaster preparedness as the company -- they're in business which means they're only going to go so far above and beyond the requirements or else they'll be undercut by someone else who doesn't. Was reading recently that the Dutch govt offered skimmers, equipment, and a plan (including sand berms, etc) within 3 days and was initially told "thanks for the advice, STFU" in slightly more diplomatic words by the administration. Frankly I'm more appalled by THAT than I am with BP's performance as I understand it to date.

That's the opinion of *this* American.

[james]

Did y'all know that it took the EPA THREE DAYS to grant BP a permit to start drilling the relief wells? Someone in the EPA didn't want to give it to them because of the air pollution that would have been caused by the rig...

I know I'm biased because I'm in the industry...but it also means that I get facts that aren't in the mainstream media.

So did you know that it took the MMS an additional FOUR DAYS to grant the drilling permit for the relief wells? That's a total of SEVEN DAYS wasted.

Cheers
James