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The Library => Haley Center Basement => Topic started by: Snaggletiger on April 30, 2010, 01:34:09 PM
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Okay, this thing went from a tragedy on an oil rig out in the Gulf, to a potential eco-catastrophe that most experts are saying will be worse than the Exxon Valdeeeezzz. All those years ago (Many of you are probably too young to recall how bad that was) the Exxon spill was bad news but it was still an event that was seemingly half way around the world and it just didn't hit home. Pull up some stuff on that disaster and it will blow your mind what that did to Alaska's waters and coast. This one is different. This slick could F up the Gulf Coast big time. Wes, what are you hearing? Will it go that far east? Anyone on here living along the coast?
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Okay, this thing went from a tragedy on an oil rig out in the Gulf, to a potential eco-catastrophe that most experts are saying will be worse than the Exxon Valdeeeezzz. All those years ago (Many of you are probably too young to recall how bad that was) the Exxon spill was bad news but it was still an event that was seemingly half way around the world and it just didn't hit home. Pull up some stuff on that disaster and it will blow your mind what that did to Alaska's waters and coast. This one is different. This slick could F up the Gulf Coast big time. Wes, what are you hearing? Will it go that far east? Anyone on here living along the coast?
If'n I was one to believe in such things...I'd be likely to think God has it in for LA. And yes, this is set up to be a VERY BAD and long lasting eco-disaster.
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BP is fucked. Royally and completely fucked.
Cameron (the maker of the BOP that did not work) is also fucked.
The thunderstorms in the GOM rightnow have turned this into a disaster beyond reckoning, with the winds and waves pushing oil over and beyond the containment booms and the currents carrying the flow from the leaks along at a faster rate.
This is now a national problem, which makes this Obama's problem. This is his Katrina. How he and his buncha fucking greenie communists handle this will have an effect on his entire presidency.
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BP is fucked. Royally and completely fucked.
Cameron (the maker of the BOP that did not work) is also fucked.
The thunderstorms in the GOM rightnow have turned this into a disaster beyond reckoning, with the winds and waves pushing oil over and beyond the containment booms and the currents carrying the flow from the leaks along at a faster rate.
This is now a national problem, which makes this Obama's problem. This is his Katrina. How he and his buncha fucking greenie communists handle this will have an effect on his entire presidency.
They will still blame bush. We should hear that this rig was built on his watch, the standards were set while he was in office.
We as people are fucked, you can't forget about anymore offshore drilling for a long time.
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We as people are fucked, you can't forget about anymore offshore drilling for a long time.
You mean we can forget about anymore NEW offshore drilling for a long time. The ban is for new permits, so anyone that already has a permit can drill.
Also, those are federal permits only - for federal waters. Within state waters, you only need a state permit. Louisiana and TX will continue to issue permits.
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You mean we can forget about anymore NEW (my bad meant to say this) offshore drilling for a long time. The ban is for new permits, so anyone that already has a permit can drill.
Also, those are federal permits only - for federal waters. Within state waters, you only need a state permit. Louisiana and TX will continue to issue permits.
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Wes, what are you hearing? Will it go that far east? Anyone on here living along the coast?
Supposed to be here by Monday. Going to royally fuck up our economy for a long time if it's as bad as advertised.
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Supposed to be here by Monday. Going to royally phuk up our economy for a long time if it's as bad as advertised.
Fuck
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I was out in the boat with dad today. They have booms around Ono Island, Robinson Island, and Bird Island in Orange Beach. I think they were starting to put some on the beach as well, so they could quickly drag them out when the storms passed today. There were crews over by where the marine police are stationed with a shitload of booms when I was out. Gulf Shores just got halfassed right, after alot of layoffs, pay cuts, and other shit for employees. We really don't need this bullshit.
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TW, do you know if it's still pumping out 210,000 Gallons a day with the valve at 75% closed? If so, the Gulf Coast seafood industry could go under, along with all of the tourist attractions in the affected areas. It'll take over ten years.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0F8x4i5GYE&feature=player_embedded# (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0F8x4i5GYE&feature=player_embedded#)
It was serious the minute it blew up. I have been de-friended by three people on Facebook because I commented on how this would devastate the economies along the Gulf Coast and how there will be negligence found on the part of many businesses to include Transocean. That was Wednesday night. The main person I was talking to was an engineer for Transocean. They clammed up pretty quick, but no big loss to me, they really don't know me that well anyway. The people who do know me are still my friends because of who I am, and not what others want me to be.
Besides all of the drama "We Are Fucked." And it will take decades to recover our wetland animals if they recover at all. Commerical fishing, oyster, shrimping, the entire ecosystem will be terminated. And, those who use to work those jobs will be flooding the job market on top of what we already have looking for work. This IS the straw.
(http://www.istockphoto.com/file_thumbview_approve/2961685/2/istockphoto_2961685-straw-that-broke-the-camel-s-back.jpg)
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I read some emails at work about how this might affect our Crude Coming in and our Dock Traffic and it won't be pretty. I hope this gets under control very quick.
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The primary negligence will most likely be on the part of Halliburton. They were doing the actual cementing operations.
Once a well is drilled, you place casing (thick pipe) in the hole as a support. You cement the pieces of pipe together. Speculation I have heard is that at such depth (a mile under water and then 2.5 miles under the seabed) the cement is not curing. If it does not cure, it can perforate, and gas can leak in through the perfs and come back up the pipe. There is tremendous static electricity on a drilling rig. One spark...
Word is that they had actually competed cementing operations, and if so, the oddds are good that no one was paying attention to the down hole pressures. During drilling and when there is something actively going on down hole, there are guys sitting in a control booth doing absolutely nothing other than monitoring the downhole conditions - pressure, temperatures, etc. If they were between phases, there might not have been the necessary dilligence. That will all be speculation, of course, since the men who might know about that were all incinerated when the well blew. In actuality, this kind of thing has happened before during cementing operations, but the BOP (blow out preventer) worked and prevented a newsworthy story.
BP's biggest issue right now is that they had NO contingency plan whatsoever for a catastrophic event like this. The question will be - did you not consider how to shut in a well at 5000+feet subsea depth? They literally have NOTHING - no fucking clue - how to shut this well in, and neither do any of the other companies that drill deepwater. "This never happens" so no one has the tools or equipment that could handle this scenario at such depths. BP's own internal risk analysis pooh-poohed the idea of such an event occurring. They determined that the risk was so miniscule, that it was not cost effective to waste time and money to come up with a means of shutting in the well if it did happen. And they were right - to a point. This just does not happen on such a catastrophic scale. But now it has, against the odds, and they are caught with their pants down. They were drilling with fingers crossed and it didn't work this time. It could have just as easily been XOM or Shell or Chevron - it just happened to be BP. So all the investigations in the world are not going to change anything. in fact, even if they wanted to buy equipment to work at this depth, it does not exist. There has never been a need and there is no market for it - until now.
So HAL will catch a lot of the heat, and the rig workers were Transocean hands, and the company man for BP will have some 'splainin to do, but at the end of the day, it is BP that will take 90% of the blame, the PR hit, and the monetary loss.
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I read one idea about angle drilling just below the well head to plug it.
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There are some people I know who are all up in arms at the government and BP. I just really don't understand this. And then you have the hippies who are using this as the justification as why we shouldn't drill in the Gulf. What they fail to understand, as TW has pointed out, is this seems like a one-in-a-hojillion type incident. Some are criticizing the government for their response, but living 10 minutes from the Gulf, I can tell you that it seems that everybody at the local, state, and federal level are all doing a pretty good job, considering there was never any kind of plan drawn up for this.
I think society simple needs to point a finger at somebody. This can't possibly be just some freak accident, it HAS to be somebody's fault. Maybe it is. We will probably never know. Pointing fingers really just doesn't help at this point, though.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oc4lX7ebeiI&feature=player_embedded# (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oc4lX7ebeiI&feature=player_embedded#)
Why didn't BP use "super shears" like they do in Brazil? See comment below from theoildrum.com:
http://www.theoildrum.com/node/6421#more (http://www.theoildrum.com/node/6421#more)
Toolpush on May 3, 2010 - 6:11am
In Brasil before a rig starts a contract, they must land a tool joint on the pipe rams cut the it with the shears rams to prove the shears are capable at depth. The industry has reconized the problem and have moved from 3000psi operating pressure to 5000psi. The introduction of super shears which are designed to cut through nearly anything that needs to pass through the BOP has also been a change. The differance in the super shears to standard shears is they do not cut and seal. They just cut and the standard shear/blinds are used to seal in the well. the Horizon did not have super shears
The non operation of the BOP is does not just involve the shears, as in the pictures a large shooting flame can be seen coming out of the diverter, which infers the annulus is open, ie the pipe rams or the annualar are not closed and sealed. Also the hot stab on the ROV is not working, which basically rules out the probability of a control problem and points to a blockage in the BOP
http://www.energyindustryphotos.com/videos_of_oil_rig_blowouts_and_f.htm (http://www.energyindustryphotos.com/videos_of_oil_rig_blowouts_and_f.htm)
Here's a great read on the subject.
http://www.drillingahead.com/forum/topics/transocean-deepwater-horizon-1 (http://www.drillingahead.com/forum/topics/transocean-deepwater-horizon-1)
Interview with someone who was on the rig.
http://static.ning.com/socialnetworkmain/widgets/video/flvplayer/flvplayer.swf?v=201004131104 (http://static.ning.com/socialnetworkmain/widgets/video/flvplayer/flvplayer.swf?v=201004131104)
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I will not say where I got this so don't ask. But it kind of backs up my speculation earlier that the gas perfed some uncured cement. The only guys who know the truth are gone.
TALKED TO MY SON, HE IS AT HOME NOW, AND IN GOOD SHAPE, WHAT I WAS TOLD WAS
THEY HAD SET A 9-5/8 TAPERED PRODUCTION LINER, DID THEIR CEMENT JOB, HAD
POSITIVE TESTED, AND ALSO NEGITIVE TESTED, THEY WERE GOING TO SET A BALANCED
PLUG AROUND 3000' BELOW THE WELL HEAD WHICH WOULD BE AT ABOUT 8000', THE
SENIOR COMPANY MAN WANTED TO SET THE BALANCED PLUG IN MUD, BUT THE ENGINEERS
WANTED TO DISPLACE WITH WATER PRIOR TO SETTING BALANCED PLUG, SO THEY
DISPLACED FROM 3000' BELOW MUD LINE, AND WERE GETTING READY TO SET PLUG. THE
DERRICKMAN CALLED THE DRILLER AND SAID HE NEEDED HELP, HE HAD MUD GOING
EVERYWHERE, AND ABOUT THIS TIME THE DRILL FLOOR DISAPEARED, THEN THERE WAS
AN EXPLOSION, THEN A SECOND EXPLOSION.
THE FLAMES ARE NOW GOING STRAIGHT UP ALLOWING EVACUATION OF MEN, THEN YOU
KNOW THE REST.
THE HANDS THAT ARE MISSING ARE THE ONES THAT WERE ON THE DRILL FLOOR AND
PUMP ROOM. YOU KNOW THE RESULTS OF THAT. THIS ALL TOOK PLACE IN LESS THAN A
MINUTE.
RIG WAS EVACUATED IN ABOUT 25 MINUTES.
IT IS BELIVED THAT THE SEAL ASSEMBLY AT THE WELL HEAD GAVE UP. IF THAT IS
THE CASE AND THEY WOULD HAVE SET THE BALANCED PLUG IN MUD THEN DISPLACED THE
RISER, IT WOULD ONLY HAVE DELAYED WHAT HAPPENED BY A COUPLE OF HOURS.
GAS MUST HAVE CHANNELLED THROUGH THE CEMENT JOB AND UP THE BACK SIDE OF THE
9-5/8 PRODUCTION CASING.
THIS IS ALL I KNOW AT PRESENT.
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I will not say where I got this so don't ask. But it kind of backs up my speculation earlier that the gas perfed some uncured cement. The only guys who know the truth are gone.
That sucks. Just seems like one of those once in a lifetime things. I have to give credit to BP though, they seem to be all about spending whatever money they have to; even if it is just CYA and so they don't take such a huge PR hit.
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I will not say where I got this so don't ask. But it kind of backs up my speculation earlier that the gas perfed some uncured cement. The only guys who know the truth are gone.
Good info TW. You got skreets.
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That sucks. Just seems like one of those once in a lifetime things. I have to give credit to BP though, they seem to be all about spending whatever money they have to; even if it is just CYA and so they don't take such a huge PR hit.
BP has no choice - part of the deal about getting federal oil leases is that you are liable for any pollution. The Feds would sue their asses seventeen ways to Sunday if they didn't pay, plus make them forfeit all remaining leases inthe GOM and other US waters, and probably seizze their other domestic assets too. BP is not jsut being "responsible' - they got no fucking choice.
The Feds don't want to have to try and sort out who is at fault, so they make the Operator (BP) eat it all and then let BP and its lawyers sue everyone else to try and recoup losses.
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BP has no choice - part of the deal about getting federal oil leases is that you are liable for any pollution. The Feds would sue their asses seventeen ways to Sunday if they didn't pay, plus make them forfeit all remaining leases inthe GOM and other US waters, and probably seizze their other domestic assets too. BP is not jsut being "responsible' - they got no fucking choice.
The Feds don't want to have to try and sort out who is at fault, so they make the Operator (BP) eat it all and then let BP and its lawyers sue everyone else to try and recoup losses.
Well then, I am pretty thankful they have it setup that way. Whether they want to or not, at least they aren't dicking around about it. I just don't understand why so many people are outraged that BP, government, etc should be doing more. I mean, sure, this boom shit isn't working. We had 6-9 ft seas down here over the weekend with 20-25 kt winds out of the south. Even if the booms could withstand that, you're still going to get oil coming over those booms. Most of the booms were knocked loose over the weekend. I was out on the boat on Friday, and they already had Orange Beach pretty much sealed off. They were already putting sand in the lagoon pass on west beach in Gulf Shores to seal Little Lagoon off.
I guess from the inside looking out, I feel as if everybody seems to be doing everything that can be done down here.
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Can't we just strike a match?
I was kinda cold this winter anyway.
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Here's an Email I received Monday night. The caller "James" was on the rig and he gives descriptions of what went down, how it went down, etc.
On Friday, April 30th 2010, an anonymous caller contacted the Mark Levin Show to clarify the events that preceded the Deepwater Horizon tragedy. Rigzone has transcribed this broadcast for your convenience. To hear the actual radio broadcast please visit www.MarkLevinShow.com (http://www.MarkLevinShow.com).
Mark: Dallas Texas WBAP. Go right ahead, sir.
James: Just want to clear up a few things with the Petroleum Engineer, everything he said was correct. I was actually on the rig when it exploded and was at work.
Mark: Alright, let's slow down. Wait, hold on, slow down, so you were working on this rig when it exploded?
James: Yes sir.
Mark: OK, go ahead.
James: We had set the bottom cement plug for the inner casing string, which was the production liner for the well, and had set what's called a seal assembly on the top of the well. At that point, the BOP stack that he was talking about, the blow out preventer was tested. I don't know the results of that test; however, it must have passed because at that point they elected to displace the risers -- the marine riser from the vessel to the sea floor. They displaced the mud out of the riser preparing to unlatch from the well two days later and they displaced it with sea water. When they concluded the BOP stack test and the inner liner, they concluded everything was good.
Mark: Let me slow you down, let me slow you down. So they do all these tests to make sure the infrastructure can handle what's about to happen, right?
James: Correct, we're testing the negative pressure and positive pressure of the well, the casing and the actual marine riser.
Mark: OK, I'm with you. Go ahead.
James: Alright, after the conclusion of the test, they simply opened the BOP stack back up.
Mark: And the test, as best as you know, was sufficient?
James: It should have been, yes sir. They would have never opened it back up.
Mark: OK next step, go ahead.
James: Next step, they opened the annular, the upper part of the BOP stack
Mark: Which has what purpose? Why do you do that?
James: So that you can gain access back to the wellbore.
Mark: OK
James: When you close the stack, it's basically a humongous hydraulic valve that closes off everything from below and above. It's like a gate valve on the sea floor.
Mark: OK
James: That's a very simplistic way of explaining a BOP. It's a very complicated piece of equipment.
Mark: Basically, it's like a plug. But go ahead.
James: Correct. Once they open that plug to go ahead and start cementing the top of the well (the well bore), we cement the top, and then basically we would pull off. Another rig would slide over and do the rest of the completions work. When they opened the well is when the gas well kicked, and we took a humongous gas bubble kick up through the well bore. It literally pushed the sea water all the way to the crown of the rig, which is about 240 feet in the air.
Mark: OK, so gas got into it and blew the top off of it.
James: Right.
Mark: Now don't hang up. I want to continue with you because I want to ask you some questions related to this, OK? Including, has this sort of thing ever happened before, and why you think it may have happened, OK?
Mark: Alright, back to James, that's not his real name, Dallas WBAP. I'm not going to give the working title of what you did there either, James, but I wanted to finish. So, the gentleman was right about the point that obviously some gas got into the, I'll call it the funnel, OK?
James: Correct, and that's not uncommon, Mark. Anytime you're drilling an oil well, there is a constant battle between the mud weight, the drilling fluid that we use to maintain pressure, and the wellbore itself. There's a balance. The well is pushing gas one way and you are pushing mud the other way. So there is a delicate balance that has to be maintained at all times to keep the gas from coming back in, what we call the kicks. You know, we always get gas back in the mud, but the goal of the whole situation is to try to control the kick. Not allow the pressure to differentiate between the vessel and the wellbore.
Mark: Well, in this case, obviously, too much gas got in.
James: Correct, and this well had a bad history of producing lots of gas. It was touch and go a few times and was not terribly uncommon. You’re almost always going to get gas back from a well. We have systems to deal with the gas, however.
Mark: So, what may have happened here?
James: Well, the sheer volume and pressure of gas that hit all at once which was more than the safeties and controls we had in place could handle.
Mark: And that’s like a mistake on somebody's part or maybe its just Mother Nature every now and then kicks up, or what?
James: Mother Nature every now and then kicks up. The pressures that we're dealing with out there, drilling deeper, deeper water, deeper overall volume of the whole vessel itself, you’re dealing with 30 to 40 thousand pounds per square inch range -- serious pressures.
Mark: Not to offend you, but we just verified that you are who you are, which I'm sure you already knew that. I would like to hold you over to the next hour because I would like to ask a few more questions about this, as well as what happened exactly after the explosion, during the explosion and after. Can you wait with us?
James: Sure, I don't know how much of that I can share, but I'll do my best.
Mark: Alright, well I don't want to get you in trouble. So if you can stay, fine, but if you can't, we understand.
Part 2 of Mark's Interview:
Mark: We are talking to a caller under an assumed name who was on the rig when it blew up, and we've been talking about how it happened. And now James, I want to take you to the point of when it happened. What exactly happened? Where were you standing?
James: Well obviously, the gas blew the sea water out of the riser, once it displaced all of the sea water, the gas began to spill out on the deck and up through the center of the rig floor. The rig, you have to imagine a rectangle, about 400 feet by 300 feet, with the derrick and the rig floor sitting directly in the center. As this gas is now heavier than air, it starts to settle in different places. From that point, something ignited the gas, which would have caused the first major explosion.
Mark: Now, what might ignite the gas, do you know?
James: Any number of things, Mark. All rig floor equipment is what they consider intrinsically safe, meaning it cannot generate a spark, so that these types of accidents cannot occur. However, as much gas that came out as fast as it did, it would have spilled over the entire rig fairly rapidly, you know, within a minute. I would think that the entire rig would be enveloped in gas. Now a lot of this stuff, you can't smell, you can't taste it, it's just there, and it's heavier than oxygen. As it settled in, it could have made it to a space that wasn't intrinsically safe. Something as simple as static electricity could have ignited the first explosion, which set off a series of explosions.
Mark: Alright, so what happened? You're standing where? You're sitting somewhere? What happened?
James: Well, I was in a location that was a pretty good ways from the initial blast. I wasn't affected by the blast. I was able to make it out and get up forward where the life boats were. The PA system was still working. There was an announcement overhead that this was NOT a drill. Obviously, we have fire drills every single week to prepare for emergencies like this (fire and abandonment drills). Over the intercom came the order to report to life boats one and two, that this was not a drill, that there is a fire, and we proceeded that way.
Mark: So, the eleven men who died, were they friends of yours?
James: Yes sir, they were.
Mark: Did they die instantly?
James: I would have to assume so. Yes, sir. I would think that they were directly inside the bomb when it went off, the gas being the bomb.
Mark: So, the bomb being the gas explosion?
James: Correct. They would have been in the belly of the beast.
Mark: Now, let me ask you, and we have to be careful what we say because there are people that will run wild with ideas, so I just want to make sure
James: Sure.
Mark: So, let me ask you this, why would the government send in a SWAT team to a rig? What’s that all about?
James: Well, believe it or not, its funny you would mention that. Transocean, the drilling company, maintains a SWAT team and that's their sole purpose. They're experts in their field. The BOP, the blowout preventer, they call that subsea equipment. They have their own SWAT teams that they send out to the rigs to service and maintain that equipment.
Mark: Yeah but I'm talking about what are interior SWAT teams? What is that?
James: The interior, from the government now, I don't have an idea about that, that's beyond me. The other gentleman also mentioned the USGS that comes out and does the surveys. I've been on that particular rig for three years, offshore for five years, and I've seen a USGS one time. What we do have on a very regular basis is the MMS, which is the Minerals Management Service.
Mark: They're all under the interior department.
James: OK. Yes. As a matter of fact, we were commended for our inspection record from the MMS. We are actually receiving an award from them for the highest level of safety and environmental awareness.
Mark: Well, I thought you were going to receive that award. Didn't they put it on hold?
James: No, we have actually received that award. We received it last year. We may have been ready to receive it again this year.
Mark: Let me ask you this, so the life boats, how did you get into these life boats? Where are these life boats?
James: There are actually four life boats - two forward and two on the left, depending on where the emergency or the tragedy has taken place.
Mark: Did you wind up jumping in the water to get in to the life boat? Sometimes you have to do that.
James: I'll just say that there were five to seven individuals that jumped and the rest went down in the life boats.
Mark: Alright, I won't ask because you don't want to identify yourself that clearly. Good point. How fast were the rescue efforts? How fast did they reach you?
James: It is common to have a very large work boat standing by, to bring tools out, groceries, and supplies; it's a constant turn around. So we actually have a very large vessel real close by. It was actually along the side with the hose attached, taking mud off of our vessel on its own. It had to emergency disconnect and then pull out about a mile to stand by for rescue efforts. So, it was fairly quick.
Mark: How quick till the Coast Guard got there?
James: Mark, it's hard to say, between 45 minutes to an hour is when I recall seeing the first helicopter.
Mark: Which is actually pretty fast because you are 130 miles offshore right?
James: Correct. If you look at the nearest spill of land which would be Grand Isle, Louisiana, somewhere in that area, we were only about maybe 50 miles where the crew flies up. From civilization, such as New Orleans, it would be 200 miles. The helicopter was more than likely 80 to 100 miles away.
Mark: You are going to be beset by lawyers, with the government, and others looking for an opportunity to make money. It's going to get very, very ugly and the officials going there have really no backgrounds or experience... I mean, to what extent is that going to help anything? It's silly.
James: To me it seems knee jerk. The number one focus right now is containment. I like the idea about the boom. They are going to try to lower it down into the water to capture the leak.
Mark: How long might that take? I've been reading about this boom and it says that it could take 30 days to do that.
James: It very well could. You have to remember that this is a challenging environment. You know its 5,000 feet deep, there's a tangled wreck of a rig with the marine riser still connected and twisted into a big wad down there. So it's going to take some time to get all that stuff in place. The engineering has to be there; obviously they don't want to rush into it. You want to move it expediently but you are risking the lives of those men that are going to go out there and try to attempt it - that’s just not right.
Mark: I was just going say that. That's very dangerous, I mean extremely dangerous.
James: Absolutely, absolutely. There will be oil. There will be natural gases. All the same things that caused us to explode are still present, and they're there. The pressure had been cut off dramatically, from the simple fact of the folding of the riser. Basically take this big garden hose and kink it several times.
Mark: How old is this rig? How long has it been there?
James: It was put in service in 2001. It's a fairly new rig.
Mark: And, what is the sense in shutting down every rig in the Gulf of Mexico in response to this?
James: Absolutely senseless, whatsoever. This literally could very well be a once in a lifetime freak accident, or it could be negligence. That's for other people to figure out. From my position, it just seems like every now and then, you can't win against Mother Nature. She throws a curve ball that you are not prepared for.
Mark: But to shut down every rig in response to this? I mean... I'm not sure why.
James: The BOP tests are literally mandated from the Mineral Management Service and they are conducted like clockwork. I mean, if any of those tests ever failed, they would have immediately stopped operations, sealed the well up, pulled the BOP stack back up on the deck, which is 48 hours minimum, and made the necessary repairs or replacement parts, and then would get it back down, re-connect, re-test, and keep testing it, until it passed or kept on repairing it until it passed.
Mark: So this was a… I mean this must have been harrowing to you. I mean to experience something like this.
James: That’s putting it mildly.
Mark: Anything else you want to tell me?
James: No, I just got into the truck to make a short trip and I heard a gentleman say something about possible terrorism and I want to put that to bed now. I understand you have a large audience. I appreciate your point of view. I try to listen to you as much as I can, the terrorism call just needs to leave everyone's minds and let's focus on the 11 men that are dead and the survivors. That's where the focus of this country needs to be right now.
Mark: Alright my friend, we wish you all the best and I tell you that it's really God's blessing that you survived, it really is.
James: Yes sir, I completely agree.
Mark: Alright James, thank you very much for calling and we appreciate it.
James: Thank you, Mark.
Mark: Alright, God bless
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goodness gracious... :blink: :blink:
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goodness gracious... :blink: :blink:
Just read it and stop ya bitchin'.
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I posted a link to the interview earlier but even I'm having problems getting it to work. I nav'd the show and found the show link. About the 68 minute mark.
http://rope.zmle.fimc.net/player/player.html?url=http%3A%2F%2Fpodloc.andomedia.com%2FdloadTrack.mp3%3Fprm%3D2069xhttp%3A%2F%2Fpodfuse-dl.andomedia.com%2F800185%2Fpodfuse-origin.andomedia.com%2Fcitadel_origin%2Fpods%2Fmarklevin%2FLevin04302010.mp3 (http://rope.zmle.fimc.net/player/player.html?url=http%3A%2F%2Fpodloc.andomedia.com%2FdloadTrack.mp3%3Fprm%3D2069xhttp%3A%2F%2Fpodfuse-dl.andomedia.com%2F800185%2Fpodfuse-origin.andomedia.com%2Fcitadel_origin%2Fpods%2Fmarklevin%2FLevin04302010.mp3)
Son, it ain't an easy job being a worm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXd01nq_HK8&feature=related# (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXd01nq_HK8&feature=related#)
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Spill size and scope is being under reported.
http://blog.alexanderhiggins.com/2010/05/06/video-oil-spill-spread-entire-gulf/ (http://blog.alexanderhiggins.com/2010/05/06/video-oil-spill-spread-entire-gulf/)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHt7EZ460l8&feature=player_embedded# (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHt7EZ460l8&feature=player_embedded#)
Then there are the extreme theories.
http://oilprice.com/Environment/Oil-Spills/The-Cover-up-BP-s-Crude-Politics-and-the-Looming-Environmental-Mega-Disaster.html (http://oilprice.com/Environment/Oil-Spills/The-Cover-up-BP-s-Crude-Politics-and-the-Looming-Environmental-Mega-Disaster.html)
The Corps and Engineers and FEMA are quietly critical of the lack of support for quick action after the oil disaster by the Obama White House and the US Coast Guard. Only recently, has the Coast Guard understood the magnitude of the disaster, dispatching nearly 70 vessels to the affected area. WMR has also learned that inspections of off-shore rigs' shut-off valves by the Minerals Management Service during the Bush administration were merely rubber-stamp operations, resulting from criminal collusion between Halliburton and the Interior Department's service, and that the potential for similar disasters exists with the other 30,000 off-shore rigs that use the same shut-off valve
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NboPLc3oil8&feature=related# (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NboPLc3oil8&feature=related#)
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I agree with the burning idea. Only problem is it's still has to corralled. I don't have the solutions here, but I'm hoping someone does.
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Similar to global warming, much of this may be overblown psuedo-science...
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jxVZPEia62NMX5dlz3lamD6wPv9gD9FMHP000 (http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jxVZPEia62NMX5dlz3lamD6wPv9gD9FMHP000)
Where's the oil? Model suggests much may be gone
By CAIN BURDEAU (AP) – 7 hours ago
NEW ORLEANS — For a spill now nearly half the size of Exxon Valdez, the oil from the Deepwater Horizon disaster is pretty hard to pin down.
Satellite images show most of an estimated 4.6 million gallons of oil has pooled in a floating, shape-shifting blob off the Louisiana coast. Some has reached shore as a thin sheen, and gooey bits have washed up as far away as Alabama. But the spill is 23 days old since the Deepwater Horizon exploded April 20 and killed 11 workers, and the thickest stuff hasn't shown up on the coast.
So, where's the oil? Where's it going to end up?
Government scientists and others tracking the spill say much of the oil is lurking just below the surface. But there seems to be no consensus on whether it will arrive in black waves, mostly dissipate into the massive Gulf or gradually settle to the ocean floor, where it could seep into the ecosystem for years.
When it comes to deepwater spills, even top experts rely on some guesswork.
One of their tools, a program the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration uses to predict how oil spills on the surface of water may behave, suggests that more than a third of the oil may already be out of the water.
About 35 percent of a spill the size of the one in the Gulf, consisting of the same light Louisiana crude, released in weather conditions and water temperatures similar to those found in the Gulf now would simply evaporate, according to data that The Associated Press entered into the program.
The model also suggests that virtually all of the benzene — a highly toxic flammable organic chemical compound and one of the chief ingredients in oil — would be stripped off and quickly vaporize.
The model was not designed for deepwater spills like the one at the Macondo well in the Mississippi Canyon now threatening the Gulf Coast. But experts said the analysis might give a close approximation of what is most likely happening where the oil plume is hitting the surface nearly 50 miles south of Louisiana.
The size and nature of the spill also has been altered by response efforts. So far, about 436,000 gallons of chemicals have been sprayed on the oil to break it up into smaller droplets and about 4 million gallons of oily water have been recovered.
Of that recovered mixture, at least 10 percent is oil, BP and NOAA said. Smaller amounts of oil also have been collected after washing ashore, and crews have burned a negligible quantity off the surface.
That would leave as much as 2.7 million gallons at sea as of Friday, with about 210,000 gallons coming up from the well every day.
The 210,000 gallons figure — specifically, about 5,000 barrels — comes from NOAA and has frequently been cited by BP PLC and the Coast Guard. Some scientists have said based on an analysis of BP's video of the leak that the flow rate is much higher, while others have concluded the video is too grainy to draw any such conclusions.
Even with computer models and history as guides, uncertainty reigns.
Doug Helton, the operations coordinator for NOAA's Office of Response and Restoration, said the agency was uncertain how much oil would sink to the bottom. For now, most of it is near the surface.
"This oil is coming from the sea floor and coming up to the surface in droplets and then once it comes to the surface it re-coelesces as a slick," he said.
Ed Overton, a Louisiana State University chemist who's analyzed the spill for NOAA, said he thinks most of the oil is within a foot of the surface.
"Ultimately, you could have a lot of oil on the shoreline. It won't be a black tide coming in, it will be globs coming ashore," he said.
"It's going to be a long, slow summer."
Wilma Subra, a chemist and MacArthur Fellow affiliated with the Louisiana Environmental Action Network, said there was a risk that the effort to break up the oil with dispersants would simply sweep it to the ocean bottom and contaminate the food chain, a possibility that has shrimpers on edge.
Merv Fingas, who has studied oil spills for 35 years and has worked for Environment Canada, that nation's environmental agency, predicted a bit of both: some would wash up, and some would stick to sediment and mud and sink slowly to the bottom, much of it likely settling near the spewing well.
"That's the fate of a lot of oil spills: sedimentation on the bottom," Fingas said.
Overton disagreed, saying the oil from the Deepwater Horizon spill is too light to sink all the way.
A common refrain among experts and officials is that every oil spill is unique.
Larry McKinney, director of the Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, said the Deepwater Horizon spill reminds him of the last catastrophic oil flood in the Gulf.
In 1979, Mexico's Ixtoc I in the western Gulf blew out and spewed about 420,000 gallons of oil a day for nine months. Large quantities of oil did not reach Texas beaches.
"This was a problem we ran into with Ixtoc, we never found the oil," McKinney said. "But I think even today if you dig down in some sandy beaches you can find a layer of Ixtoc oil."
Copyright © 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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Just read it and stop ya bitchin'.
I did....thats what my post was in reference to. Thats some complex chit!
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I have been busier than a one armed paper hanger lately - seems like now EVERYONE is demanding mega-pollution indemnity in all their contracts.
Because I am incredibly far-sighted and feel like it is my job to always think of the worst case scenario, all of my contracts with my customers already have a protection for my company for catastrophic pollution and related fines and penalties - the customer eats it all, including costs of control and removal. It was easy to get before because "nothing ever happens...". Now? A duel to the death.
And on behalf of my operating entity (we have one subsidiary that is a producer, like BP) I am being a hardnosed bitch to my own subcontractors who expect me to go back and just give them blanket protection in their pre-existing contracts - should have thought of that back in the day, Skippy. I am not giving you shit now.
Power is a helluva drug.
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(http://blog.bubble.ro/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/booby-power.jpg)
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Token.
That fucking ROCKS...
I am so printing that to hang on my office wall...
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(http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g150/dasmybaby/funny/woman_true_power.jpg)
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(http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g150/dasmybaby/funny/woman_true_power.jpg)
Dear F.B.I.,
I love the President.
Signed,
Token
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An article written by local attorney:
Search is just beginning for culprit in Gulf spill
By MICHAEL H. COOPER
As we have sadly come to expect, the political blame game has certainly raged in the wake of the recent, tragic explosion and oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Washington is terrific when it comes to pointing fingers and looking for scapegoats, but less adroit when it comes to getting real answers.
So who really is responsible for these tragic events? After all, Transocean owned the rig. BP leased and operated it. Halliburton was responsible for cementing the drill hole. Other parties were involved as well.
The federal government currently looks to BP as the responsible party for damages. Why? Because BP holds the lease issued by the government under the supervision of the Minerals Management Service (MMS) of the Department of the Interior. Generally, those leases contain a provision that requires the lessee (BP) to reimburse the lessor — in this case the federal government — for any damages resulting from BP's operations.
Sounds straightforward, right? Not so fast.
There may also be a provision in BP's lease that does not require such reimbursement if the damage results from the negligence of the lessor, or the government. Rest assured those representing BP will carefully review the performance of MMS in regulating the drilling operations. Don't be surprised if BP's legal team attempts to document multiple instances of lax oversight.
What about third parties like Transocean and Halliburton? Some analysts have speculated that Transocean, Halliburton, Smith International and Cameron are “likely” protected by contractual provisions or the practical difficulties of investigating the incident. Notice the word “likely.” The Oil Pollution Act of 1990 contains a provision that third parties can be found to be a “responsible party” if BP, in this case, can establish that the discharge and resulting damages were caused solely by an act or omission of one or more third parties. If so, BP might recover from Transocean or any other third party any amounts that BP pays out. (Bear in mind that the financial exposure of the responsible parties is limited by law to the costs of removal plus $75 million.)
What may never be conclusively determined is the actual cause or causes of the failure of the operating structure. Was it a malfunction of the blowout preventer due to faulty design, faulty fabrication or faulty installation? Was it the chemical composition of the cement or incorrect application or use of the cement? Was it insufficient or inadequate supervision of the operations of the platform? Did lax regulatory oversight play a role?
There will be informed speculation, but we should anticipate that various experts will offer conflicting testimony. A jury may, and in all likelihood will, offer its own opinion of what transpired.
So it's important for us to dig deeper and ask more specifically who is responsible and for what. For example, there will be costs for the tragic loss of life and injuries to employees working on the platform.
There are also serious costs attendant to stopping the flow of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, and containing and cleaning up any oil that drifts onshore or into tidelands.
There are the costs of the platform and related equipment now resting on the ocean floor, and possibly additional costs to recover and reclaim the platform and equipment.
There will be substantial losses as well for the seafood and hospitality industries that line the Gulf coast.
And, as long as the oil remains in U.S. waters, applicable federal and state laws will dictate the allocation of the costs of recovery and damage claims. If the oil drifts into international waters, however, then other countries will get into the act as well — trying to impose on all possible responsible parties their own claims under their own laws.
At this point, of course, it's impossible to quantify the final extent and cost of the oil spill. The estimates of the amount of oil that have spewed into the Gulf of Mexico are truly just estimates.
In the end, the responsible party for each of the categories of costs will differ depending upon the relevant factual, contractual, statutory, and regulatory context of each claim for damages.
Already, members of Congress have issued pronouncements of their proposed solutions. Governors are issuing mandates prohibiting drilling off their shores. Everyone, not just BP, Transocean and Halliburton, is scurrying for whatever cover is available in an attempt to avoid a pointed finger.
However, until there is further reasoned examination of, and not mere speculation regarding, the facts surrounding the event, the appropriate legislative and regulatory responses cannot be formulated.
We are just at the start of this process; and as the song says, the legal road ahead promises to be a “long and winding” one.
Cooper is a member of the Texas-based law firm Looper Reed & McGraw.
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We on the Gulf Coast are officially or unofficially FUCKED!
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We on the Gulf Coast are officially or unofficially phukED!
BP is coming across as looking like morons.Totally unprepared.
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We on the Gulf Coast are officially or unofficially phukED!
Read the article that I posted. I won't believe it until there's real proof. The fishing reports on just about all of the forums are still coming in strong for the entire Gulf. I just don't buy into this doom-and-gloom politics. I have no doubts that this is a bad thing, but until we see something tangible, I'm not going to whine about it. Eleven men died on that platform, but the way the media is reporting it, you’d think the greater tragedy is the 13 birds and two turtles that have been found dead over the last several weeks.
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Read the article that I posted. I won't believe it until there's real proof. The fishing reports on just about all of the forums are still coming in strong for the entire Gulf. I just don't buy into this doom-and-gloom politics. I have no doubts that this is a bad thing, but until we see something tangible, I'm not going to whine about it. Eleven men died on that platform, but the way the media is reporting it, you’d think the greater tragedy is the 13 birds and two turtles that have been found dead over the last several weeks.
True.
But what kills me here is that a company with the brains and resources such as BP CANNOT stop this leak!! They look like TOTAL buffoons. Heyward is a MORON. Shooting old tires and golf balls into a hole? ARE YOU FUGGIN KIDDIN ME?? Good grief. Incompetence I tell ya. They look like a govt agency out there handling this.
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True.
But what kills me here is that a company with the brains and resources such as BP CANNOT stop this leak!! They look like TOTAL buffoons. Heyward is a MORON. Shooting old tires and golf balls into a hole? ARE YOU FUGGIN KIDDIN ME?? Good grief. Incompetence I tell ya. They look like a govt agency out there handling this.
Agreed. And why is it left solely up to BP to get this thing stopped. We should have used every resource possible, called in every favor owed...whatever. Hey Russia, got any ideas? Hey Exxon...how would you handle this? Bearing Sea Crab Fishermen...help out here. We sit idly by while BP fucks itself and the Guld right in the ass. No one else knows how to get this mess stopped?
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No one is sitting back sipping tea waiting to see what BP does. Every oil company out there has people on this thinking up ideas to stop this. This is not a BP disaster. This is now an oil industry disaster. I guarantee you that ideas are being floated around. The problem is that no one knows how to stop it. This was not supposed to happen and had not been planned for by ANY oil company or government.The people drilling are using the latest technology and safety procedures. A series of events caused this. The industry thought it had things in place to stop problems at each level. But the failure of these precautions in a series is unprecedented. I promise if you have a novel idea, they would listen to it.
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No one is sitting back sipping tea waiting to see what BP does. Every oil company out there has people on this thinking up ideas to stop this. This is not a BP disaster. This is now an oil industry disaster. I guarantee you that ideas are being floated around. The problem is that no one knows how to stop it. This was not supposed to happen and had not been planned for by ANY oil company or government.The people drilling are using the latest technology and safety procedures. A series of events caused this. The industry thought it had things in place to stop problems at each level. But the failure of these precautions in a series is unprecedented. I promise if you have a novel idea, they would listen to it.
THIS.
While I agree as a risk management person that you should always have a plan for disaster, there is no way to plan adequately for a one in a bajillion chance event. This type of chain reaction disaster is unprecedented. And it could have happened to ANY Major Oil Company and the outcome would be the same right now. NO ONE knows how to stop a leak at this depth because the odds of it happeneing are beyond astronomical. This is the asteroid hurtling toward Earth scenario - do you think the All Powerful Obama has a contingency plan for that? Doubtful - there are ideas that we might try and things that we "think" might work, but truth is, they might NOT work - who knows? And how do you plan for the unknown? Right now, BP - a British company, remember, and not "technically" at war with Islam - would even take help from Iran if offered. But no one has a plan, and it would not be in anyone's best interests to sit on any ideas, as the increased regulations that will come out of this disaster will affect them ALL. And I also guarantee you that every oilfield service company geek with an engineering degree is frantically trying to gin up some miracle fix so he and his company can be the hero riding to the rescue. EVERYONE wants to be the one who saves the day here. Imagine the marketing potential of that!!
The whole "golfballs" thing is actually a sound idea given the density of a golfball. Gotta remember about the extreme pressure at depth. A golfball, with the dimples and the dense core, won't crush like other items would. If they can slow the flow, they can possibly cement it shut.
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I understand that it's a situation where most likely, they're taking all kinds of advice. It's just that every headline, every single day says BP tries this...BP tries that...BP... and I'm thinking, where's the fucking cavalry? I also understand that it's the 1 in a million scenario...as far as it ever happening. But you can't tell me that as long as this has been going on...as many jeenyus enjineers that work with these companies...no one has ever considered the possibility of....
We go to ocean floor and drill hole in ocean floor to get to oil. We insert pipes into ocean floor to suck out oil. What we do if pipe break? Mmmmm...no worry...never happen...hope.
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It's already been stated that Trans-Ocean and BP neglected their duties to repair the BOP and will suffer the consequences. The people who died are dead, but it's the living that must deal with this tragedy. Their families and the families of everyone else has to deal with this shit. Hell, I was thinking of moving to Naples, FL but am rethinking that decision. Oh, and TigerWrench, Iran did offer but was ignored. It's fucked up that's all there is to it. Even if it doesn't wash up on the shores or wetlands, the dispersant they used alone will screw up the animal and human life for a long time. I know I'm still pissed and I think that our government's position here should be Libertarian by seizing all assets of everyone involved if they don't volunteer them.
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http://www.wwltv.com/news/Worst-nightmare-realized-for-Plaquemines-president-as-oil-reaches-marshes-94332629.html (http://www.wwltv.com/news/Worst-nightmare-realized-for-Plaquemines-president-as-oil-reaches-marshes-94332629.html)
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It's already been stated that Trans-Ocean and BP neglected their duties to repair the BOP and will suffer the consequences.
They got permission from the MMS - meaning the FEDERAL GOVERNMENT - to deviate from the normal inspection and repair protocols. MMS signed off on that. It was not deliberate, negligent disregard. They applied for and got permission. That is what they are required to do - that is ALL they are required to do. The biggest change that will come out of all of this is a reorg of the MMS. MMS has oversight of the mineral leases, but they are also responsible for managing the royalties received by the govt from the lease operators. Kind of a conflict of interest. There is already talk of separating MMS into individual compliance and a leasing sections.
Look, I am not on BP's side but at the same time, this was an incomprehensible situation. My asteroid heading for earth scenario is about as close to a comparison as you could get.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vx8kMXufu3w# (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vx8kMXufu3w#)
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**sigh**
BF, you DO realize that your record of past posting leaves you with ZERO credibility on this board, especially with me, ESPECIALLY because in this case, I know completely what the fuck I am talking about?
There is no way to compare anything that happened in the GOM last month to ANYTHING that has happened in the oil industry EVER. Deep water drilling on this scale is a new thing. NO WAY to compare these apples to any oranges that ever existed???
Your conspiracy theories and tinfoil hat wearing comments are worth even less in this instance that they were on Gheynation many years ago.
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**sigh**
BF, you DO realize that your record of past posting leaves you with ZERO credibility on this board, especially with me, ESPECIALLY because in this case, I know completely what the fuck I am talking about?
There is no way to compare anything that happened in the GOM last month to ANYTHING that has happened in the oil industry EVER. Deep water drilling on this scale is a new thing. NO WAY to compare these apples to any oranges that ever existed???
Your conspiracy theories and tinfoil hat wearing comments are worth even less in this instance that they were on Gheynation many years ago.
At this point it's not my credibility in question, but that of our government and an entire industry. Did you see 60 minutes the other night?
My post wasn't meant as an attack on your knowledge of the industry at all. It was posted to bring to light that the ineptitude we all know exists within our own government and the influence that Big Oil has on government authority. I realize you know a lot more than the average person, and myself, so please don't take it as a jab at you specifically. And, yes I do believe in conspiracies. There may be something going on here that no one is aware of, or maybe not. My point of view comes from a stand point that someone(s) is always trying to hide something because that is usually the case.
So in all fairness, at this point we should define conspiracy:
1. a secret agreement between two or more people to perform an unlawful act
2. a plot to carry out some harmful or illegal act (especially a political plot)
3. a group of conspirators banded together to achieve some harmful or illegal purpose
4. a civil conspiracy or collusion is an agreement between two or more parties to deprive a third party of legal rights or deceive a third party to obtain an illegal objective.
Could deception or lying to the public be considered a conspiracy? YES.
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At this point it's not my credibility in question, but that of our government and an entire industry. Did you see 60 minutes the other night?
My post wasn't meant as an attack on your knowledge of the industry at all. It was posted to bring to light that the ineptitude we all know exists within our own government and the influence that Big Oil has on government authority. I realize you know a lot more than the average person, and myself, so please don't take it as a jab at you specifically. And, yes I do believe in conspiracies. There may be something going on here that no one is aware of, or maybe not. My point of view comes from a stand point that someone(s) is always trying to hide something because that is usually the case.
So in all fairness, at this point we should define conspiracy:
1. a secret agreement between two or more people to perform an unlawful act
2. a plot to carry out some harmful or illegal act (especially a political plot)
3. a group of conspirators banded together to achieve some harmful or illegal purpose
4. a civil conspiracy or collusion is an agreement between two or more parties to deprive a third party of legal rights or deceive a third party to obtain an illegal objective.
Could deception or lying to the public be considered a conspiracy? YES.
Moonbat ALERT
Just a quick observation... It was that same government under the mischievous influence of those diabolical BIG BAD OIL companies that likely forced them to put this rig so far out in 5,000 feet of water in the first place. At half that distance and/or at half that depth, the probability of anything like this occurring would have been substantially less. Congratulations to all parties involved... While the government is on their witch-hunt scapegoating everyone else in this mess, I wonder if they'll ever take any of the responsibility for this disaster.
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Moonbat ALERT
Just a quick observation... It was that same government under the mischievous influence of those diabolical BIG BAD OIL companies that likely forced them to put this rig so far out in 5,000 feet of water in the first place. At half that distance and/or at half that depth, the probability of anything like this occurring would have been substantially less. Congratulations to all parties involved... While the government is on their witch-hunt scapegoating everyone else in this mess, I wonder if they'll ever take any of the responsibility for this disaster.
We all know the government can do no wrong and there are no conspiracies. The government has a website dedicated to debunking conspiracy theories. If there are none, then why would the government use taxpayer dollars to fund misinformation campaign against them? There have been 33 proven conspiracies so far that I know of. The rest are either false or are very well covered up.
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We all know the government can do no wrong and there are no conspiracies. The government has a website dedicated to debunking conspiracy theories. If there are none, then why would the government use taxpayer dollars to fund misinformation campaign against them? There have been 33 proven conspiracies so far that I know of. The rest are either false or are very well covered up.
I should introduce you to the nice lady who calls on a weekly basis that reports her neighbor shooting electricity through her body from across the street, the government trying to break into her house, and the helicopters that shoot laser beams into her house while shouting her name over a loud speaker.
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I should introduce you to the nice lady who calls on a weekly basis that reports her neighbor shooting electricity through her body from across the street, the government trying to break into her house, and the helicopters that shoot laser beams into her house while shouting her name over a loud speaker.
GFY. Some here probably either work for the government or some entity that deals directly with the government so I would expect nothing less.
GRAND ISLE, La. - Jefferson Parish Emergency managers say they have commandeered all of BP's hired boats in Grand Isle.
A representative for Jefferson Parish Emergency chief Deano Bonano said they requested immediate action after oil moved into the marsh passes and onto the beaches in Grand Isle.
He said more than 40 boats were sitting idle while he watched the oil rush into the passes.
At around 5:30 p.m., Jefferson Councilman Chris Roberts confirmed the boats have been commandeered by JP emergency managers.
http://www.wwltv.com/news/gulf-oil-spill/JP-officials-commandeer-BPs-hired-boats-in-Grand-Isle-94668304.html (http://www.wwltv.com/news/gulf-oil-spill/JP-officials-commandeer-BPs-hired-boats-in-Grand-Isle-94668304.html)
Inept government employees need to take a cut as do the inept CEOs of Big Oil.
http://www.lvrj.com/opinion/america-faces-a-big--fat-greek-style-bankruptcy-94686509.html (http://www.lvrj.com/opinion/america-faces-a-big--fat-greek-style-bankruptcy-94686509.html)
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GFY. Some here probably either work for the government or some entity that deals directly with the government so I would expect nothing less.
I totally just shot electricity through you when you hit "Quote". See you tonight. Same time, same landing zone?
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Whatever. Compare and contrast. Since the word conspiracy is associated with being a nut job, let's just replace it with the word collusion. They mean the same damn thing. Even defense contractors admit they are in collusion with the Federal Government. And so are the oil companies with respect to safety and regulations. We now see our Chernobyl.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1Tr0m2gOjY&feature=player_embedded#ws (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1Tr0m2gOjY&feature=player_embedded#ws)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdLiHWt9RDk&feature=player_embedded#ws (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdLiHWt9RDk&feature=player_embedded#ws)
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I have been busier than a one armed paper hanger lately - seems like now EVERYONE is demanding mega-pollution indemnity in all their contracts.
Because I am incredibly far-sighted and feel like it is my job to always think of the worst case scenario, all of my contracts with my customers already have a protection for my company for catastrophic pollution and related fines and penalties - the customer eats it all, including costs of control and removal. It was easy to get before because "nothing ever happens...". Now? A duel to the death.
And on behalf of my operating entity (we have one subsidiary that is a producer, like BP) I am being a hardnosed bitch to my own subcontractors who expect me to go back and just give them blanket protection in their pre-existing contracts - should have thought of that back in the day, Skippy. I am not giving you shit now.
Power is a helluva drug.
Just don't yall fuck up my Ouachita river with a storage tank collapse.
May not be too bad to eat some crappie that are already salted. :)
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rs-nHQYY6Fg# (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rs-nHQYY6Fg#)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vvu2Xk8BVPk# (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vvu2Xk8BVPk#)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsPDT5qHtZ4#ws (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsPDT5qHtZ4#ws)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDfmeKhaT0s# (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDfmeKhaT0s#)
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Moonbat ALERT
Just a quick observation... It was that same government under the mischievous influence of those diabolical BIG BAD OIL companies that likely forced them to put this rig so far out in 5,000 feet of water in the first place. At half that distance and/or at half that depth, the probability of anything like this occurring would have been substantially less. Congratulations to all parties involved... While the government is on their witch-hunt scapegoating everyone else in this mess, I wonder if they'll ever take any of the responsibility for this disaster.
Q: Who is the happiest that this is going on?
A: Toyota
from one witch hunt to the next.
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Off with their heads 2.0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSCy46BWZJs&feature=player_embedded# (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSCy46BWZJs&feature=player_embedded#)
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Whatever. Compare and contrast. Since the word conspiracy is associated with being a nut job, let's just replace it with the word collusion. They mean the same damn thing. Even defense contractors admit they are in collusion with the Federal Government. And so are the oil companies with respect to safety and regulations. We now see our Chernobyl.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1Tr0m2gOjY&feature=player_embedded#ws (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1Tr0m2gOjY&feature=player_embedded#ws)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdLiHWt9RDk&feature=player_embedded#ws (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdLiHWt9RDk&feature=player_embedded#ws)
Yeah... Our Chernobyl is public education (aka gubme't indoctrination centers).
What a bunch of members... Greed is bad. Capitalism supports greed. Capitalism is bad...
(http://anglopapist.files.wordpress.com/2008/02/tin-foil-hat.jpg)
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BP is announcing that the "top kill" is working.
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BP is announcing that the "top kill" is working.
The live feed shows massive spewing still, but BP is claiming it's more mud and gas than oil. Second part is the concrete injection into that hole.
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The live feed shows massive spewing still, but BP is claiming it's more mud and gas than oil. Second part is the concrete injection into that hole.
It is my opinion that they still don't have a fucking clue. They are praying that it's working.
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WWL reporting that the oil leak has stopped "for now."
http://www.wwl.com/Allen---Oil-leak-stopped----at-least-for-now/7337556 (http://www.wwl.com/Allen---Oil-leak-stopped----at-least-for-now/7337556)
Allen: Oil leak stopped... at least for now
Dave Cohen Reporting
There is currently no oil leaking into the Gulf of Mexico from the well that had been spewing crude into the sea for more than a month.
"They've stopped the hydrocarbons from coming up," National Incident Commander Thad Allen told WWL First News. "They've been able to stabilize the well head, they are pumping mud down it."
Allen says now they have to make sure the heavy drilling fluids, or mud, will hold back the oil and natural gas in the well long enough for them to be able to cap the well.
"The goal is to put enough mud down the well bore to the point where there is no pressure exerted back by the hydrocarbons and then allow a cement plug to be put in place."
The Coast Guard admiral says when they feel things are stable enough, engineers will try to inject the cement into the equipment on top of the well and seal it off.
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Then keep cramming shit down there. Hell, sink Andre Smith's fat ass on top of it. One man teetay should cover about half of it.
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It is my opinion that they still don't have a fucking clue. They are praying that it's working.
That is not an opinion - it is fact. Top kill has never been tried at this depth. And if they get any kind of blowback - i.e., the mud is not heavy enough to hold down the oil until the cement can be pumped in - the resulting blowout will make the first one look like a lawn sprinkler. THAT's why they have not tried this before. This is about their last ditch effort here. This is the kid sticking his finger in the hole in the dike.
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This is about their last ditch effort here. This is the kid sticking his finger in the hole in the dike.
Umm... I think you meant dyke. And, why bring Rosie O'Donnell into this?
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Umm... I think you meant dyke. And, why bring Rosie O'Donnell into this?
Hey, sink her bloated ass down there too.
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My question is will they be low enough to cover the vent holes and has the casing broken down at all? If the answer is no then this could work and I hope it does for all of us.
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Hey, sink her bloated ass down there too.
This will also cause sea levels to rise. Win-Win.
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Hey, sink her bloated ass down there too.
Slowly... We don't want to cause a tsunami.
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"...bp to call their next contraption the finger bang."
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"...bp to call their next contraption the finger bang."
Damnit, I have a copyright on that phrase.
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There have been some developments at the BOP.
(http://i890.photobucket.com/albums/ac103/BatShit_Crazy/Picture324.png)
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There have been some developments at the BOP.
(http://i890.photobucket.com/albums/ac103/Batpoop_Crazy/Picture324.png)
:pwnd:
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If you guys want to read serious discussion about solving the geyser then you can go here:
http://www.theoildrum.com/node/6522 (http://www.theoildrum.com/node/6522)
http://www.theoildrum.com/node/6524 (http://www.theoildrum.com/node/6524)
http://www.theoildrum.com/node/6524#comment-633178 (http://www.theoildrum.com/node/6524#comment-633178)
PNG image
http://370223774160972932-a-1802744773732722657-s-sites.googlegroups.com/site/deathbeginsatforty/Home/top-kill-schematic/TopKillSchematic.png?attachauth=ANoY7coohMsjTL1L4JxC115MBWX5ds6_sxPZEKqOtjQPo5YDuoggoRT6nhU8mlG5U-IYLcqgjhRkCiK2vdNOsviEgeUsGc8jHYanM3tz62xJDGZZeUFkv5rWwj1StFHh1wLyyrct_vU68RUnakKdQzf964_3FVCAdISCyaDNrNEHmNxymhNNxhVQqZG-SdrOBM1wJZGsJC3WmccVPBWv6xVt8d9lXiD97Isuxdb0_eVIqTDxJMwaaTJW-8-vqehIZowfg5mAJYOA&attredirects=0 (http://370223774160972932-a-1802744773732722657-s-sites.googlegroups.com/site/deathbeginsatforty/Home/top-kill-schematic/TopKillSchematic.png?attachauth=ANoY7coohMsjTL1L4JxC115MBWX5ds6_sxPZEKqOtjQPo5YDuoggoRT6nhU8mlG5U-IYLcqgjhRkCiK2vdNOsviEgeUsGc8jHYanM3tz62xJDGZZeUFkv5rWwj1StFHh1wLyyrct_vU68RUnakKdQzf964_3FVCAdISCyaDNrNEHmNxymhNNxhVQqZG-SdrOBM1wJZGsJC3WmccVPBWv6xVt8d9lXiD97Isuxdb0_eVIqTDxJMwaaTJW-8-vqehIZowfg5mAJYOA&attredirects=0)
http://www.theoildrum.com/node/6522#comment-632728 (http://www.theoildrum.com/node/6522#comment-632728)
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There have been some developments at the BOP.
(http://i890.photobucket.com/albums/ac103/BatShit_Crazy/Picture324.png)
Why did they blow up R2D2?
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r2d2 was seen as a threat to national security and was overheard (in subtitles of course) plotting the demise of a government official. I do not have a mug shot to share from the arrest. Sorry!
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Critical Factors
1. Loss of Integrity of the 9 7/8" x 7"
casing created a path for
hydrocarbon (HC) influx
2. Unrecognized well conditions
Influx unrecognized - Integrity test failed
to identify communication with the
reservoir
Operations allowed HC influx to enter
and move up the well bore - well
became capable of flowing
Response failed to control the well
3. BOP & Emergency Systems failed
to isolate the HC source
4. Gas Plume Ignited
http://energycommerce.house.gov/documents/20100527/BP.Presentation.pdf (http://energycommerce.house.gov/documents/20100527/BP.Presentation.pdf)
Here's a good example from a layman's pov.
http://www.theoildrum.com/node/6531#comment-634209 (http://www.theoildrum.com/node/6531#comment-634209)
Interesting:
Idly – Lost circulation is an event. It doesn’t necessarily imply a specific set of underground conditions. LC just means all the mud pumped down the drill pipe doesn’t return to the surface. Why it didn’t return is an interpretation. The mud might have squeezed out of a failed cement shoe at the bottom of the previous casing run. It might have been pumped into a porous sandstone reservoir because the pressure of the mud exceeded the pressure in that sandstone. The LC could have been in a fault plane that fractured a shale. In this case the pressure of the mud might not have been greater than the rock pressure: fractured shales take mud very easily.
As others have mentioned the difference in mud weight between LC and having a DW well kick can be very small…maybe just 0.2 or 0.3 lbs. What makes drilling with such a slim margin more difficult is the ECD…effective circulating density of the drilling mud. The mud weight might be 16.5 ppg. But when I have the mud pumps on it add pressure to the bottom of the as if I had 16.9 ppg in the hole. So the well might not kick when the pumps are on (formation pressure is 16.6 ppg compared to my ECD of 16.9 ppg). But when I turn my pumps off to add another section of drill pipe the ECD is now 16.5 ppg (less than the reservoir pressure) and the well begins to flow. That’s why you always check for flow when you turn your mud pumps off. This is exactly why it was so critical for BP to monitor mud returns when they began displacing the riser. As they replaced drill mud with seawater the ECD at the bottom of the well decreased greatly…far below the reservoir pressure. That means if the csg shoe failed there was a 100% certainty that the well would flow oil/NG. And when it began to flow it would have to push the mud out of the well to reach the surface. Had they seen the mud flowing back with the pumps off they could have shut the well in. That doesn’t mean activate the BOP…just shut of all the return valves. If those valves held they could have pumped a kill pill down and returned the ECD to a safe level and stopped the flow of oil/NG. But that doesn’t always work. If those valves had failed they still could have gone to the BOP. There were a minimum of two safety checks between preventing the blow out and what we see today in the GOM.
http://www.theoildrum.com/node/6531#comment-634579 (http://www.theoildrum.com/node/6531#comment-634579)
miss -- Could certainly be an option to start a relief well when you start a new drill. But how would the relief well be less risky than the primary? IOW, what if the relief well blows out? Also, how deep do you drill the relief well? The primary could blow out at 3,000' or 28,000'.
Another way to consider your idea: drilling a relief well with the primary means drilling twice as many wells as would be normally done. If regs and procedures are not changed then you've just doubled the possibility of another major blow out/spill.
THE critical question is how did the well blow out. If the story is correct it was due to displacing the heavy mud in the csg/riser with seawater before the cmt was properly tested. A judgment call. A very easy fix there: change the rules for testing cmt jobs before you displace. And how do make sure operators follow the new rule: independent third party observers on board. An insignificant cost compared to the price of a typical DW well. And even after the cmt failed and the oil/NG started flowing up BP could have still prevented the blow out had they known the well was kicking. And how hard is that to know that? Very easy and done dozens of times every day on all the other DW wells currently drilling in the GOM. You monitor the mud when you turn off the mud pumps. I know this sound stupidly simplistic but you just measure how much mud you have in the mud pits. If the oil/NG begins to flow it has to push the mud out of the hole. If you turn a faucet off tite and the water continues to flow out of the spigot do you think you might suspect a problem? We can debate till the cows come how the judgment of displacing the riser/csg given what was known at the time about the qualityof the cmt. And neither side of that argument will change their positions. That wasn’t the proven sin by BP. THE sin was not monitoring the mud returns. How much money did BP save by not insuring that the personnel responsible for watching the mud returns were doing their job? Not one damn penny. I’ve been on DW rigs when a well was in its last stage. A great rush to shut down, pack up and get on the boat. I’m sure those hands responsible for keeping an eye on the mud returns weren’t kicking back in the galley with a cup of coffee. They were busting their butts rigging down and not paying attention. And why pay attention? They were told the cmt was tested and all was safe. Another easy fix: mandatory monitoring the mud returns AT ALL TIMES. Cost? Completely insignificant. Last January I drilled an 18,000’ well in S. La. There was one hand responsible for watching mud returns. Did I trust him 100%? No…I had a second hand monitor him. Good enough, eh? No…when ever we turned the mud pumps off my company man made that 30 yard walk to double check the mud returns. Cost to my company for this redundancy = $0.
I’ve tried to keep my criticism of BP on the light side since we’re still many months away from confirming the stories we’ve pieced together. But when the BP hand invoked the 5th to avoid self incrimination my attitude changed significantly. No more Mr. Nice Guy. I’ve sat in those meetings in the company man’s office on a rig and watched these technical debates. I’ve heard the “we don’t want to piss the office folks off” argument more times then I can remember. I’ve been told not to report my analysis because it would only up set someone. I’ve had my written reports tossed in the trashcan while I stood there and watched. I’ve been run off more than one job because I wouldn’t “be a team player”.
BP wants to hide behind the 5th…OK. But as far as I’m concerned I free to offer my very personal and very prejudiced feelings on this matter.
http://www.theoildrum.com/node/6531#comment-634452 (http://www.theoildrum.com/node/6531#comment-634452)
History repeats itself. I'm not a fan of Rachel Maddow, but she did a good job here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHmhxpQEGPo#ws (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHmhxpQEGPo#ws)
http://www.incidentnews.gov/incident/6250 (http://www.incidentnews.gov/incident/6250)
http://www.theoildrum.com/node/6531#comment-634288 (http://www.theoildrum.com/node/6531#comment-634288)
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It looks as if the cap is doing absolutely nothing.
http://bp.isevil.org/ (http://bp.isevil.org/)
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3ltFHcdZko&feature=player_embedded# (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3ltFHcdZko&feature=player_embedded#)
I found an explanation for what's currently happening.
The Top Hat Seal
For a number of reasons the top hat seal is NOT a pressure seal. It is designed to try to
keep seawater out, not to keep oil in.
Any water that can get in at the bottom of the top hat will form methane hydrates and
probably block up the pipe. If that happens as they are beginning to start a slow flow it
just means another setback.
But it is much more likely to happen when there is substantial flow going up the line and
they are starting to “pull suction”. At that point there is a high flow rate and the “water
hammer” effect of suddenly stopping a mile long slug of oil and gas could easily start
tearing the equipment apart, probably at the top hat or onboard the ship so it becomes a
safety issue not just another failure.
The top hat is not designed to take any significant pressure, certainly not the pressure
that could result from sealing to the BOP so that pressure must be able to escape - through
the seal area. Even 1,000 psi would blow the top hat apart and there is potentially about
9,000 to 13,000 psi at the BOP
And at this point I think they are scared enough of the integrity of the well head and BOP
connection that they don’t want to have any pressure build up which would happen if you
sealed the top hat to the flange.
There are other safety issues that are solved by not having a solid seal.
1. The rig must be able to shut off the flow on deck at any time and the resultant flow has
to go somewhere - which is out the top hat seal
2. The rig must be able to pull away from the well at any time in an emergency and just
raising the top hat off the BOP solves this problem.
Flow to the Surface
The flow to the surface is through a drill pipe from the top of the top hat. The drill pipe
should be able to flow between 20,000 to 30,000 bpd or more if it was 100% oil – NO PUMPS
NEEDED. With gas in the flow the amount of potential flow is even greater. In any case the
processing system on the ship cannot handle as much as the pipe can transport.
The oil is about 0.85 specific gravity. If the drill pipe was filled just with oil the
buoyancy of the oil will raise the pressure at the surface to close to 400 psi. If filled
with gas the pressure would be about 2,000 psi.
The problem won’t be to get the oil to flow but to keep it from flowing too fast. They will
throttle (choke) the flow back to get the volume they are comfortable with and then pipe the
oil and gas, still under some pressure, into a separator vessel where the pressure will be
reduced and the gas will go to the flare to be burned and the oil will go into a storage
tank.
The product flowing from the bottom will be a mixture of oil (with dissolved gas), NGLs and
super-critical methane gas. Hopefully there will be no water as that can really mess things
up. During its journey to the surface, and through the processing system there will be a
number of changes as gas dissolves out of the oil, the methane goes from super-critical to
gas, some of the NGL will turn to gas and all the gas will eventually expands about 150
times before it hits the flare.
The optimum flow at any time will have to be determined by trial and error on the rig. If
they were to open it up quickly they might get lucky and obtain a stable flow quickly. The
downside of trying to do it quickly is that you could suck in water setting back the whole
process for hours or days or worst case end up with an uncontrolled flow on the ship
resulting explosion and fire with fatalities and another disaster.
So the fact that it could take a period of days to reach maximum flow is no surprise.
The oil gas ratio in the flow from the well will probably keep varying all the time and
coupled with the phase changes and gas expansion will be a continuing problem for the
processing crew on the rig. I expect that is the reason we saw daily changes in the amount
of oil recovered by the RITT.
http://www.doomers.us/forum2/index.php/topic,68178.msg1073135.html#msg1073135 (http://www.doomers.us/forum2/index.php/topic,68178.msg1073135.html#msg1073135)
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http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100609/ap_on_bi_ge/us_gulf_oil_spill_sketchy_plans (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100609/ap_on_bi_ge/us_gulf_oil_spill_sketchy_plans)
AP IMPACT: BP spill response plans severely flawed
VENICE, La. – Professor Peter Lutz is listed in BP's 2009 response plan for a Gulf of Mexico oil spill as a national wildlife expert. He died in 2005.
Under the heading "sensitive biological resources," the plan lists marine mammals including walruses, sea otters, sea lions and seals. None lives anywhere near the Gulf.
The names and phone numbers of several Texas A&M University marine life specialists are wrong. So are the numbers for marine mammal stranding network offices in Louisiana and Florida, which are no longer in service.
BP PLC's 582-page regional spill plan for the Gulf, and its 52-page, site-specific plan for the Deepwater Horizon rig are riddled with omissions and glaring errors, according to an Associated Press analysis that details how BP officials have pretty much been making it up as they go along. The lengthy plans approved by the federal government last year before BP drilled its ill-fated well vastly understate the dangers posed by an uncontrolled leak and vastly overstate the company's preparedness to deal with one.
Sen. Bill Nelson, a Florida Democrat, said in an e-mail Wednesday to the AP that he and Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-California, have asked for a criminal investigation of some of the company's claims.
"The AP report paints a picture of a company that was making it up as it went along, while telling regulators it had the full capability to deal with a major spill," Nelson said in an e-mail. "We know that wasn't true."
In its Deepwater Horizon plan, the British oil giant stated: "BP Exploration and Production Inc. has the capability to respond, to the maximum extent practicable, to a worst case discharge, or a substantial threat of such a discharge, resulting from the activities proposed in our Exploration Plan."
In the spill scenarios detailed in the documents, fish, marine mammals and birds escape serious harm; beaches remain pristine; water quality is only a temporary problem. And those are the projections for a leak about 10 times worse than what has been calculated for the ongoing disaster.
There are other wildly false assumptions in the documents. BP's proposed method to calculate spill volume judging by the darkness of the oil sheen is way off. The internationally accepted formula would produce estimates 100 times higher.
The Gulf's loop current, which is projected to help eventually send oil hundreds of miles around Florida's southern tip and up the Atlantic coast, isn't mentioned in either plan.
The website listed for Marine Spill Response Corp. — one of two firms that BP relies on for equipment to clean a spill — links to a defunct Japanese-language page.
In early May, at least 80 Louisiana state prisoners were trained to clean birds by listening to a presentation and watching a video. It was a work force never envisioned in the plans, which contain no detailed references to how birds would be cleansed of oil.
And while BP officials and the federal government have insisted that they have attacked the problem as if it were a much larger spill, that isn't apparent from the constantly evolving nature of the response.
Billy Nungesser, president of Plaquemines Parish, La., says there are "3,000 acres (of wetlands) where life as we know it is dead, and we continue to lose precious marshland every day."
Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., asked Interior Secretary Ken Salazar during a Senate hearing Wednesday about findings in the AP's reporting, specifically that BP's response plan included references to walruses and what Barrasso called a minimal discussion about how to stop a worst-case scenario.
Considering such obvious problems with plans already on file with the U.S. government, Barrasso wondered whether a six-month federal moratorium on offshore deepwater drilling after the spill should be lifted even that soon.
Salazar responded that he did not know the answer.
This week, after BP reported the seemingly good news that a containment cap installed on the wellhead was funneling some of the gushing crude to a tanker on the surface, BP introduced a whole new set of plans mostly aimed at capturing more oil.
The latest incarnation calls for building a larger cap, using a special incinerator to burn off some of the recaptured oil and bringing in a floating platform to process the oil being sucked away from the gushing well.
In other words, the on-the-fly planning continues.
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Some examples of how BP's plans have fallen short:
• Beaches where oil washed up within weeks of a spill were supposed to be safe from contamination because BP promised it could marshal more than enough boats to scoop up all the oil before any deepwater spill could reach shore — a claim that in retrospect seems absurd.
"The vessels in question maintain the necessary spill containment and recovery equipment to respond effectively," one of the documents says.
BP asserts that the combined response could skim, suck up or otherwise remove 20 million gallons of oil each day from the water. But that is about how much has leaked in the past six weeks — and the slick now covers about 3,300 square miles, according to Hans Graber, director of the University of Miami's satellite sensing facility. Only a small fraction of the spill has been successfully skimmed. Plus, an undetermined portion of the spill has sunk to the bottom of the Gulf or is suspended somewhere in between.
The plan uses computer modeling to project a 21 percent chance of oil reaching the Louisiana coast within a month of a spill. In reality, an oily sheen reached the Mississippi River delta just nine days after the April 20 explosion. Heavy globs soon followed. Other locales where oil washed up within weeks of the explosion were characterized in BP's regional plan as safely out of the way of any oil danger.
• BP's site plan regarding birds, sea turtles or endangered marine mammals ("no adverse impacts") also have proved far too optimistic.
While the exact toll on the Gulf's wildlife may never be known, the effects clearly have been devastating.
More than 400 oiled birds have been treated, while dozens have been found dead and covered in crude, mainly in Louisiana but also in Mississippi, Alabama and Florida. On remote islands teeming with birds, a visible patina of oil taints pelicans, gulls, terns and herons, as captured in AP photos that depict one of the more gut-wrenching aspects of the spill's impact. Such scenes are no longer unusual; the response plans anticipate nothing on this scale.
In Louisiana's Barataria Bay, a dead sea turtle caked in reddish-brown oil lay splayed out with dragonflies buzzing by. More than 200 lifeless turtles and several dolphins also have washed ashore. So have countless fish.
There weren't supposed to be any coastline problems because the site was far offshore. "Due to the distance to shore (48 miles) and the response capabilities that would be implemented, no significant adverse impacts are expected," the site plan says.
But that distance has failed to protect precious resources. And last week, a group of environmental research center scientists released a computer model that suggested oil could ride ocean currents around Florida and up to North Carolina by summer.
• Perhaps the starkest example of BP's planning failures: The company has insisted that the size of the leak doesn't matter because it has been reacting to a worst-case scenario all along.
Yet each step of the way, as the estimated size of the daily leak has grown from 42,000 gallons to 210,000 gallons to perhaps 1.8 million gallons, BP has been forced to scramble — to create potential solutions on the fly, to add more boats, more boom, more skimmers, more workers. And containment domes, top kills, top hats.
___
While a disaster as devastating as a major oil spill will create some problems that can't be solved in advance, or even foreseen, BP's plans do not anticipate even the most obvious issues, and use mountains of words to dismiss problems that have proven overwhelming.
In responses to lengthy lists of questions from AP, officials for BP and the Interior Department, which oversees oil rig regulator Minerals Management Service, appear to concede there were problems with the two oil spill response plans.
"Many of the questions you raise are exactly those questions that will be examined and answered by the presidential commission as well as other investigations into BP's oil spill," said Kendra Barkoff, spokeswoman for Salazar. She added that Salazar has undertaken transformational reforms of MMS.
Rep. Darrell Issa of California, the top Republican on the House Oversight and Government Reform committee, is investigating failures by MMS that contributed to the disaster and said Wednesday during the congressional hearing that if there had been a serious effort to reform the service in the past 15 months, the "mistakes" in BP's report would have been caught.
"This is yet another example of MMS acting as a rubber stamp for industry, and industry settling for the lowest possible standard of safety at the expense the environment and economic vitality of the Gulf region," he said.
Said BP spokesman Daren Beaudo from Robert, La.: "We expect that a complete review of the regional response plans and planning process will take place as part of the overall incident investigation so that we can determine what worked well and what needs improvement. Thus far we have implemented the largest spill response in history and many, many elements of it have worked well. However, we are greatly disappointed that oil has made landfall and impacted shorelines and marshes. The situation we are dealing with is clearly complex, unprecedented and will offer us much to learn from."
A key failure of the plan's cleanup provisions was the scarcity of boom — floating lines of plastic or absorbent material placed around sensitive areas to deflect oil.
From the start, local officials all along the Gulf Coast have complained about a lack of supplies, particularly the heavier, so-called ocean boom. But even BP says in its regional plan that boom isn't effective in seas more than three to four feet; waves in the Gulf are often bigger. And even in calmer waters, oil has swamped vital wildlife breeding grounds in places supposedly sequestered by multiple layers of boom.
The BP plans speak of thorough resources for all; there's no talk of a need to share. Still, Alabama Gov. Bob Riley said his shores were left vulnerable by Coast Guard decisions to shift boom to Louisiana when the oil threatened landfall there.
Meanwhile, in Louisiana's Plaquemines Parish, Nungesser and others have complained that miles of the boom now in the water were not properly anchored. AP reporters saw evidence he was right — some lines of boom were so broken up they hardly impeded the slick's push to shore.
Some out-of-state contractors who didn't know local waters placed boom where tides and currents made sure it didn't work properly. And yet disorganization has dogged efforts to use local boats. In Venice, La., near where the Mississippi River empties into the Gulf, a large group of charter captains have been known to spend their days sitting around at the marina, earning $2,000 a day without ever attacking the oil.
But perhaps the most glaring error in BP's plans involves Lutz, the professor, one of several dozen experts recommended as resources to be contacted in the event of a spill.
Lutz is listed as a go-to wildlife specialist at the University of Miami. But Lutz, an eminent sea turtle expert, left Miami almost 20 years ago to chair the marine biology department at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton. He died four years before the plan was published.
___
Contributing to this report were Associated Press writers Ted Bridis and Eileen Sullivan in Washington, Brian Skoloff in Grand Isle, La., Harry R. Weber in Houston, and Jason Bronis in New Orleans. Lush reported from New Orleans. Pritchard reported from Los Angeles.
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My problem is with this....
Sen. Bill Nelson, a Florida Democrat, said in an e-mail Wednesday to the AP that he and Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-California, have asked for a criminal investigation of some of the company's claims.
Cart before the horse. These things can be sorted out AFTER the spill is dealt with. Just another preemptive example of scapegoating 101 - politics at its finest.
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Agreed totally, but I feel like this whole damn clean up effort is being run by the Keystone Kops.
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My problem is with this....
Sen. Bill Nelson, a Florida Democrat, said in an e-mail Wednesday to the AP that he and Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-California, have asked for a criminal investigation of some of the company's claims.
Cart before the horse. These things can be sorted out AFTER the spill is dealt with. Just another preemptive example of scapegoating 101 - politics at its finest.
Exactly.
What is apparent to me is the government does not do any kind of check on the information provided in the response plans. You can't have it both ways. Either the government didn't do it's job in checking this data, or if they did, then this truly is one of those "shit happens" moments that nobody could have seen coming. So, how can the government start pointing fingers when they are partially responsible in the first place?
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Exactly.
What is apparent to me is the government does not do any kind of check on the information provided in the response plans. You can't have it both ways. Either the government didn't do it's job in checking this data, or if they did, then this truly is one of those "shit happens" moments that nobody could have seen coming. So, how can the government start pointing fingers when they are partially responsible in the first place?
The are equally to blame.
Government for they lack of oversight and drug abuse, and BP for spewing bullshit concerning the reality of the gusher.
The toxic bullshit, which began to spew from the mouths of BP executives shortly after the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig in April, has completely devastated the Gulf region, delaying cleanup efforts, affecting thousands of jobs, and endangering the lives of all nearby wildlife.
"Everything we can see at the moment suggests that the overall environmental impact of this will be very, very modest," said BP CEO Tony Hayward, letting loose a colossal stream of undiluted bullshit. "The Gulf of Mexico is a very big ocean, and the volume of oil we are putting into it is tiny in relation to the total volume of water."
According to sources, the sheer quantity of bullshit pouring out of Hayward is unprecedented, and it has thoroughly drenched the coastlines of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida, with no end in sight.
Though no one knows exactly how much of the dangerous bullshit is currently gushing from BP headquarters, estimates put the number at somewhere between 25,000 and 70,000 words a day.
http://www.theonion.com/articles/massive-flow-of-bullshit-continues-to-gush-from-bp,17564/ (http://www.theonion.com/articles/massive-flow-of-bullshit-continues-to-gush-from-bp,17564/)