The Scale of the Deepwater Disaster

Originally posted by RickinVa
I have a personal contact very very high in the management of one of the two companies involved...

Might want to ask your source what the names of the companies involved are again.

It's Transocean, not Transoceanic. Transoceanic was a type of shortwave radio made by Zenith.

As for who the blame belongs to, it's probably not BP. Legally it might be on them, but Transocean owned and operated the rig. BP was leasing the operation at $500,000 a day but neither the equipment nor the workers come from BP themselves. What's happening here is that BP is the biggest name, the one people can identify with so they're the ones who get all the press.

I don't know how the legalities work out in cases like this. Maybe BP is on the hook since they were the ones who stood to profit the most from this operation and they were funding the whole thing, but it wasn't their people building the parts and pulling the levers. My guess is that BP will foot the initial bill and then turn around and sue Transocean to recoup some of their money. The legal battle will be a huge mess.

It's almost as if the Earth has a safety relief when the greed of man has become too great, the Earth has the potential to cleanse itself of the parasites that inhabit her. This could cascade into a real end game scenario if the leak continues and there was a massive fire. There was some talk about burning off the surface oil a few days ago but that never happened once they thought it through. Could you imagine if this did work it's way out to the Eastern Atlantic and caught fire. Horrible.

how would the oil catching fire be worse for the environment that having it pollute the shores and worse yet, the marshes for years to come? I'd think they would have been better off if the rig didn't sink and they could have continued to let a good bit of the oil gushing out burn off. More smoke, but far less mess.

Originally posted by loam
reply to post by mark_price

 

Originally posted by mark_price
Wait a minute, have they any estimation how much oil exists under there?

BP was reportedly days away from announcing a “commercially attractive” oil deposit discovery when the explosion occurred.

Whatever that means...

Haven't we known for decades that the entire gulf of Mexico is rich in crude oil though? There's no way to know exactly how much oil exists in any single potential deposit. It can only be estimated using a variety of different data variables. I live in Alaska where this entire industry is a way of life. My process technology instructor in college actually mentioned the mouth of the mississippi multiple times in my classes 5 years ago as potentially being the largest deep sea oil deposits in the U.S.. Maybe he was right! Wasn't that entire area near the mouth of the mississippi banned from drilling for a long time though?

Apparently, this particular deposit is extremely large. For one, BP is now talking about drilling another well into this deposit to "relieve pressure" which has pretty much already been given the go-ahead even though it will take months to prepare.

If that thing is really spewing the amount of oil being estimated right now, there's no way to know how bad it could get. When you're dealing with these kinds of pressures and temperatures this deep beneath the seafloor it's not exactly as straightforward as popping a cap on a shaken soda bottle. The initial oil release may or may not be the worst of it. Obviously if oil is spewing out at such a rate, sea water is inevitably filling the void it leaves behind and just depending on things like pressure, temperature and rate of seawater influx the variables involved could cause the rate of release to slightly increase over time before going down right?

The time-lapse videos on the internet are pretty shocking.

I did read the story on Fox News from last Friday about how BP paid some separate company to build this giant "chimney" which is designed with flaps underneath to seal out the seawater so they can pump out the crude through a pipe in the top. Hopefully, it works.

As far as these big oil rigs are concerned, technology only helps you to a degree and you can't just ignore "X" because the computer has it covered. When you think about it, the integration of technology can actually make the entire process of drilling and extracting the crude oil more complicated. This can lead to a series of seemingly small events that eventually cause a catastrophic one. But just in general, human error can never be completely removed from the equation. Therefore, these kinds of disasters will continue to happen regardless of what rules and regulations are in place to prevent them. People just overlook stuff.

-ChriS

I cant help but to try and remain optimistic, WHAT IF this happened for a reason? To raise awareness. Since it always takes a horrible tragedy to open the eyes of Earth's dumbest Species (Humans) this a$$hole who demands more drilling and closer to shore even when this is going on? You KNOW He's up to something, it was no accident. If it were he'd really be shaken up and would demand no more drilling. But its the reverse. Lust is what is ruining the world, Lust for Power, Money, Sex, Drugs, and fame. Lust is the root of all evil, and Humans are responsible for helping the roots reach further, and look where its bringing us? Nearer to the death of the entire planet. When Nature Dies, EVERYTHING Dies, even Humans, lets see humans conquor that. So full of the Notion that they Rule the Earth, that they Own it and can do whatever they want to it. God forbid if fire is lit to that oil, it could trigger a massive explosion. Obama supports offshore drilling and demands more drills be made. Goodbye Earth, you kept us alive until Humans decided to Rape and Murder you. I will not miss the pulluting stupidity of Humans, but the Earth itself will be greatly missed. TRAGIC. Im sure the Jedi are feeling this one! Its times like this, that i truly wish Captain-Planet was real. Human opression towards Earth has got to end, before the Planet ENDS. I forsaw this coming, and dont be suprized if the next place oil drilling is ordered to be is at the great Barrier reef, and when that happens, the entire planet with become diseased, deformed and catastrophies will happen every hour of the day. I wont be suprised at all when this happenes and when it does, Obama, and others which think oil drilling is better than free-energy, will be sitting back watching the carnage with a huge smile and a sense of accomplishment. Its almost like these peole have something against the Earth and WANT to destroy it! Theyre Murderers, plain and simple and need to be stopped. I wish Karma was as fast as the speed of light.
I try to think of it this way, humans just MIGHT learn from this tragedy, OR worste case scenario, they wont and will go on to cause a catastrophy that dwarfs this one, and by then, it will all be over. EARTH, RIP

reply to post by SWCCFAN


Great Info! I have heard and read that this particular type of crude mixes easily with water, which will make it harder to detect and clean up, and easier to spread over great distances. Also, if it mixes easily with water, it is likely to get hidden and denied with stupid comments like the "chocolate milk" one.

Dispersed and mixed oil is more dangerous than a thick crude sludge in my opinion. The wildlife may avoid a thick crude cap on the water, but they are likely to absorb and inhale and swim through a mixture of oil and water. Also, a mixture of oil and water will go over and under the long barricades they are putting up. Also a mixture may be hard to spot from the air.

On your conference call, did they mention any new ideas for stopping the leak, and did they mention if the leak is increasing due to erosion of the drill tube or opening?

Oil may reach Loop Current within 24 Hours

GULFPORT, Miss. – Scientists say the Gulf oil spill could get into the what's called the Loop Current within a day, eventually carrying oil south along the Florida coast and into the Florida Keys.

Nick Shay, a physical oceanographer at the University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, said Monday once the oil enters the Loop Current, it likely will end up in the Keys and continue east into the Gulf Stream.

Shay says the oil could affect Florida's beaches, coral reefs, fisheries and ecosystem within a week.

He described the Loop Current as similar to a "conveyor belt," sweeping around the Gulf, through the Keys and right up the East Coast.

Shay says he cannot think of any scenario where the oil doesn't eventually reach the Florida Keys.

[edit on 4-5-2010 by Leo Strauss]

reply to post by Gumshoe


Mmmm, I think theres a Movie in there somewhere.

A Giant Earthquake in Kali-For-Nya , and the great plan was to a use a dozen
Nukes to "WELD" the Fault Line. I though only in Hollywood were Insane plans
thought up.

Almost, Almost as crazy as setting fire to 2,000 square miles of Oil.
How hard can it be?. 2,000 sq miles of black smoke, would make Mt St helens
look like a Pimple.

hey i just wanted to post this for anyone trying to keep up to date with this oil mess, jobs are already showing up on craigs list for laborors to start cleaning up the mess
craigs

The length of employment may last from two weeks to six months depending on the damage.

and although they are not promising a 6 month employment, it seems they are prepared for it to last that long at the time

(though i do personally suspect it's going to be longer than that)

[edit on 5/4/2010 by indigothefish]

LARGER than Florida three days ago???

This website has done an outstanding job of describing the size of the spill on May 1, 2010.

If correct, these pictures say a great deal:







Good grief. I want this to be wrong. But the first picture is fairly convincing.....

See what he says about the Gulf Stream:

Surface ocean current forecast for 8pm EDT Tuesday, May 4 from the NOAA’s RTOFS model run made at 8 pm EDT on Wednesday, April 28, 2010. Note that on Tuesday, northwest winds are expected to create surface currents of about 1 m/s (roughly 2 mph) from the site of the spill towards the southeast. It is possible that these currents will be strong enough to transport oil far enough south that it will enter the Loop Current, which would then transport the oil into northwest Cuba, the Florida Keys, and South Florida.

This is truly a global catastrophe. Just consider the thermal image below of the Gulf Stream, whose path the Gulf Oil Spill will follow once hitting the Gulf Stream.

Source.

See, also:

Scientists: Oil could reach 'loop current' in a day

Ugly.

[edit on 4-5-2010 by loam]

Does anyone have any information about the initial explosion being a result of methane sulfates being destabilized and released? Does anyone have any clue how much methane could be under this site?! Thanks.

WOW....

So, it's currently gushing at a rate of 800,000 litres per day, but if the 'cap' does not work and the leak worsens then this could rise to 9.5 million litres a day... wow - simply wow!

BP has told members of a US congressional committee that up to 9.5 million litres a day could spill if the leaks worsen, AP notes.

Source

More:

Gulf States Ready and Worrying

Federal, state and local officials from Texas to Florida are keeping an anxious eye on the oil gushing from almost a mile underwater since the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig exploded and sank about 40 miles off the Louisiana coast on the night of April 20.

British Petroleum officials told a congressional hearing on Tuesday that the oil could be escaping at a rate of up to 60,000 barrels a day.

Sigh.

[edit on 6-5-2010 by loam]

What people forget is that ALL oil rigs are built with safety features, the oil in the gulf is from the PIPELINE ONLY, there is a shut off valve at the base, if the volume of the oil flow exceeds a limit, the value knows something happened and it shuts off the flow. Anyone with a brain should know this. Why would you build a pipeline straight up with no valve to shut it off should ahurricane or some other force tear the rig apart? Come on man, people use some common sense. There is no oil flowing out of the pipeline under the sea. the spillis from the 5000 foot long foot diameter pipe. That is a huge amount of oil in and of itself. Not to mention what was on the rig platform.

National Geographic did a story three days after stating this. Someone posted in another thread the link.

Originally posted by daddio
What people forget is that ALL oil rigs are built with safety features, the oil in the gulf is from the PIPELINE ONLY, there is a shut off valve at the base, if the volume of the oil flow exceeds a limit, the value knows something happened and it shuts off the flow. Anyone with a brain should know this.

The BOP (Blow Out Preventer) failed.

National Geographic did a story three days after stating this. Someone posted in another thread the link.

That was incorrect initial analysis, since revised.

National Geographic Link

So you are claiming this story is untue or did you just awake from a very long nap?



[edit on 6-5-2010 by kinda kurious]

A long nap indeed, or just trying to keep more people from further researching this topic. 60,000 barrels a day? is this an accurate figure?

Now looks like they have had to move the Cap away due to difficulties...

Not sure how this is going to end.

My God, what a mess! It parallels the UK hung parliament mess, the Greece bail out mess, the volcanic ash mess, the quake mess.
Don't mess with the mess! You'll only make it worse.

mclinking

so, the metal "condom" failed...?
How much more until we are all screwed?
I suppose here in S. America we'll have some time to stock some canned heat...
I know it's a tragedy, but i cannot censor my obvious human morbo each time some sh-t happens, i'm glued to the pc reading how we are all going to die everyday

Just started This Thread

The efforts to contain the flow today has so far been a failure, the containment vessel is proving to buoyant!