BP Horizon Deepwater Oil Disaster : Open Thread

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Thad Allen on NPR after the news break.

NPR reports that BP has injected cement into the well. Mud may be next to 'compress' the cement.
 
Saw this on TOD.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/08/us/08mms.html?_r=1&hp

...The clash between the agency’s environmentalists and engineers dominated a project meant to guide the agency into the deep-water age, a two-year study of new risks called an environmental assessment. Published in 2000, it framed the agency’s approach for the next decade. It reads like a document at war with itself.

It counted 151 well blowouts in the previous 25 years, about one every two months. It said a quarter had led to spills. It questioned the effectiveness of chemical dispersants and cited the difficulties of drilling relief wells. In noting that a deep-water blowout could take up to four months to control, it all but forecast the BP disaster: “Of particular concern is the ability to stop a blowout once it has begun.”

Then it quickly silenced its own alarm bells, casting spills as a “very low probability event” and noting that companies had “speculated” that deep-water blowouts might cap themselves (because of loose sediment on the ocean floor). It saw no need for new safeguards or an environmental impact statement, a more rigorous review that would have included public debate.

Why not do one, just to be safe?

“I’m sure industry would have been very nervous,” Mr. Oynes said, explaining that it took “some hand-holding” just to do the assessment. “If you start talking about an E.I.S., their alarm bells start going off a bit stronger: ‘Oh my God, what is going on here?’”...
 
Here is some sad related news. Matthew R. Simmons who has been in the news lately as a supporter of alternate theories died today.

Matthew R. Simmons, founder of the Ocean Energy Research Institute in Rockland, Maine, passed away suddenly on Sunday. He is survived by his wife, Ellen, and their five daughters. Mr. Simmons was also former chairman of Simmons & Company International. Details of services are pending. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to the Ocean Energy Research Institute.

His book on Saudi Arabia - "Twilight in the Desert" is a must read.
 
NPR Science Friday: Science in the Gulf - Are researchers being shut out of gathering valuable data in the wake of the Gulf oil disaster?

On-air now and in the archive:
http://www.sciencefriday.com/program/archives/201008202

Oil and water samples are being confiscated and scientists are being tossed out of the Gulf by federal law enforcement and homeland security personnel. Scientists are being told that they can continue to work only if they sign non-disclosure agreements...
 
As a famous police officer on "Southpark" often is heard saying:

"Nothing to see here, you looky lews, move along"

(quote credit: Officer Bob Brady)
 
I agree, Gary. Do give the podcast a listen, though.

One thing I learned from the report is that because of the legal battle between the government and BP et al, each is collecting info to prove their case. Within that realm, there's 'dueling science at 20 paces'. Moving outside that realm, there's research for the benefit of all - and it appears THAT research is the 'collateral damage' so far. One speaker commented that research lost the battle during the Exxon Valdez spill as well.
 
From: Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Friday, September 10, 2010 4:11 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Constituent Response From Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison

Dear Friend:

Thank you for contacting me regarding S. 3663, the Clean Energy Jobs and Oil Accountability Act. I welcome your thoughts and comments.

On July 28, 2010, Senator Harry Reid (D-NV) introduced S. 3663, which is the Majority Leader’s response to the BP oil spill. This 400-page bill was thrown together behind closed doors, with limited amendments and debate. This legislation would have a direct impact on the Gulf Coast region, but none of the Gulf Coast Senators were able to provide input into Senator Reid’s legislation.

According to a recent report by IHS Global Insight, the Gulf of Mexico offshore oil and gas industry employs approximately 400,000 people. The removal of liability caps in our coastal waters has the potential to eliminate thousands of these jobs and result in billions of dollars in lost tax revenues. In fact, many independent producers will no longer be able to operate in American waters and will likely be forced to relocate overseas.

I believe this to be unacceptable, especially because independent oil and gas companies account for nearly half of all oil and gas jobs offshore in the Gulf of Mexico. Independent oil and gas companies were responsible for $10 billion in federal, state and local industry revenue in 2009.

Additionally, this legislation would increase the per barrel tax by nearly 500 percent. Rather than use that additional revenue for its intended purpose of replenishing the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund, the Majority Leader plans to use the revenues as an offset for other programs. The purpose of the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund is to provide resources for research and development and response ability. I believe the Majority Leader is robbing this important fund to pay for other unrelated government programs.

This bill falls short of the mark by not removing the administration’s moratorium on new offshore developments. As rigs, production, and well-paying jobs depart our waters for other nations, continuing to implement a drilling moratorium only hurts our economy. Keeping the offshore off limits has increased our need for energy imports and is resulting in a less energy independent United States.

I am a cosponsor of the alternative legislation, S. 3643, the Oil Spill Response Improvement Act, which by contrast, is more responsible and less costly than the Majority Leader’s proposal. S. 3643 starts by addressing the root of the problem: the failures within our offshore regulatory system. The bill increases the strict liability cap for offshore projects through a pragmatic assessment based on risk factors such as water depth and the operator’s safety record. In addition, this proposal strengthens the Coast Guard’s ability to respond to oil spills and establishes a bipartisan approach to preventing a comparable disaster to the Deepwater Horizon disaster. This bill was introduced on July 22, 2010 by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and has been placed on the Senate Legislative Calendar.

Should the Senate consider this legislation before the 111th Congress adjourns, I will keep your thoughts in mind. I appreciate hearing from you, and I hope that you will not hesitate to contact me on any issue that is important to you.

Sincerely,
Kay Bailey Hutchison
United States Senator

284 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-5922 (tel)
202-224-0776 (fax)
http://hutchison.senate.gov
 
In other words - irrespective of any recent disaster - let us continue "Business As Usual".

Anyway Reid is stupid. He should have introduced this bill 2 weeks after the blowup. Not now when the memories are already fading ...
 
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129782098

Scientists on a research vessel in the Gulf of Mexico are discovering a substantial layer of oily sediment stretching for dozens of miles in all directions. Their discovery suggests that a lot of oil from the Deepwater Horizon didn't simply evaporate or dissipate into the water — it has settled to the sea floor.

"A lot of fish go down to the bottom and eat and then come back up," Hollander says. "And if all their food sources are derived from the bottom, then indeed you could have this impact."

Thick%20Oiled%20Layer_custom.jpg


"...we haven't even sampled close to the wellhead yet..."

More at the link - and on NPR now.
 
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/20/us/20well.html?_r=1

U.S. Says BP Well Is Finally ‘Dead’

The U.S. government declared BP’s Macondo oil well dead on Sunday, nearly five months after the environmental disaster in the Gulf of Mexico began.

“We can finally announce that the Macondo 252 well is effectively dead,” Thad W. Allen, the former Coast Guard admiral who leads the federal spill response, said in a statement. The well, he said, “poses no continuing threat to the Gulf of Mexico.”

Crews aboard the Development Driller III drill rig conducted a successful pressure test early Sunday on cement that had been pumped into the bottom of the once-gushing well through a relief well. The tests confirmed that the cement formed an effective, and final, seal to prevent oil and gas from coming up from a formation about 13,000 below the seabed.
 
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIWI_KVGxA4[/youtube]

"We achieved an important milestone in our response to the BP oil spill -- the final termination of the damaged well that sat deep under the Gulf of Mexico," President Barack Obama said in a statement today.

Unfortunately, BP's cover-up of the extent of the damage in the Gulf continues.

As you'll see in this video, government officials are still doing everything they can to prevent the public from investigating the state of their national parks and beaches.

Despite Obama's promised to "remain committed to doing everything possible to make sure the Gulf Coast recovers fully from this disaster," many are skeptical that BP will live fulfill its pledge to clean up the oil and to pay all legitimate claims arising from the crisis.

http://www.care2.com/causes/environ...kers-threaten-man-looking-for-beached-bp-oil/
 
Submarine trip to the Gulf floor...

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_Os-WViIB4[/youtube]

We should be seeing a cacophony of life here, with creatures dreamed up for a sci-fi movie. But on this moonscape "there's nothing crawling around on the surface of the bottom; there's just worm tubes that are collapsed over..." Dr Mandy Joy, an oceanographer, is leading this National Science Foundation expedition to the heart of this spill and the grave of many a sea creature...

Core samples show 3-4 inches of oil foam covering the entire surface.
 
A Sierra Club call to action generated this text to Senator Hutchison (R-TX):
With the one year anniversary of the BP oil disaster approaching in April, Gulf Coast communities are still waiting for action from Congress. I am grateful for the work the National Oil Spill Commission and its staff did to recommend a plan for action that includes many elements supported by environmental and community groups, now Congress must implement it.

In particular, the establishment of a Gulf of Mexico Regional Citizens Advisory Council will give Gulf Coast residents a voice in oil industry decisions. Directing that 80 percent of Clean Water Act fines from the BP disaster must be used for ecological restoration in the Gulf Coast, where a Public Advisory Committee will have a say in their use, will ensure that affected communities have the resources and input necessary for restoration. Last, regulatory reforms that increase environmental and safety protections, while also strengthening industry accountability and emergency preparedness, are essential to prevent future oil drilling disasters on U.S. coasts.

I urge you to act quickly on the Oil Spill Commission's recommendations to both support necessary restoration in the Gulf Coast and to protect our shores from Big Oil negligence.
The Response:
January 12, 2011 10:54 AM Subject: Constituent Response From Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison

Dear Friend:
Thank you for contacting me regarding the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. I welcome your thoughts and comments.

The Deepwater Horizon caught fire on April 20, 2010 after an explosion. It sank into 5,000 feet in the Gulf. Nearly four months after oil began leaking into the ocean, BP has temporarily capped the well. However, the well will not be permanently sealed until BP can complete its relief well and the damaged well can be pumped full of cement.

In early July, “tar balls” washed ashore in the Galveston area. This resulted in minimal damage. My staff coordinated with the U.S. Coast Guard, the Texas General Land Office and the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) to determine whether more oil was making its way to the shores of Texas. I am happy to report that the Coast Guard and the DOI determined that the tar balls had clung to a ship responding to the clean up and oil slicks were not expected to wash onto our Texas shores.

In light of the spill, BP has set up a $20 billion escrow fund to pay clean-up costs and damage claims to people impacted by the oil leak. The $20 billion escrow account is currently managed by President Obama's pay czar, Mr. Kenneth Feinberg. To date, BP has paid more than $6 million worth of claims to Texans. This month, I met with the Chairman and President of BP, Mr. Lamar McKay, to ensure BP paid all legitimate claims to those impacted by the oil spill.

This disaster demonstrated that BP and the Administration lacked a clear and effective response plan. The oil may be temporarily halted; however this disaster is far from over. Until all claims are satisfied and the tragic reminders of this spill are gone, I will continue to hold BP responsible.

I believe that responsible legislation is required to prevent an event like this from occurring in the future. In order accomplish this, industry and lawmakers from both sides of the aisle must work together to guarantee that proper safeguards are in place. I am committed to work with my colleagues to develop sensible legislation that will address safety concerns, without putting our nation’s domestic energy suppliers out of business.
If you have any problems with your claims to BP, or any other problems related to the oil spill, please contact one of my local offices so we may best assist you. A complete list of my state offices can be found at http://hutchison.senate.gov/offices.html.

You may be certain I will keep your views on the Gulf oil spill in mind. I appreciate hearing from you, and I hope that you will not hesitate to contact me on any issue that is important to you.

Sincerely,
Kay Bailey Hutchison
United States Senator

Should someone let Washington know that the well was sealed, and then stick around to teach geography? Not to mention that the letter was about the spill commission findings, not about how to process a claim. :roll:
 
http://www.loe.org/shows/segments.htm?programID=11-P13-00006&segmentID=3

Months after BP’s well was capped, the health effects of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill may just be starting to surface. Residents across the Gulf Coast report mysterious ailments, and some blood samples show traces of chemicals related to the oil. But as Living on Earth’s Jeff Young reports, firm answers are hard to come by and frustration is growing in coastal communiti
 
http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-02-microbes-oil-afraid.html

http://academy.asm.org/images/stories/documents/Microbes_and_Oil_Spills.pdf

Everything you wanted to know about microbes and oil spills but were afraid to ask

February 17, 2011 Is it true that microbes cleaned up the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico? Can bacteria really "eat" oil, and if so, how? To help clear up the confusion the American Academy of Microbiology has brought together the nation's leading experts to consider and answer some of the most frequently asked questions regarding microbes and oil spills.
 
http://www.louisianarecord.com/news/233482-gulf-drilling-can-resume-in-30-days-judge-rules

I put down my reservation for the Leaf on the same day as the BP oil disaster occurred in the Gulf of Mexico. The oil industry has made their way through all the red tape to allow themselves to resume oil drilling in the Gulf faster than I can get my non oil consuming car parked in the garage.
 
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