The Scale of the Deepwater Disaster

reply to post by loam


True... too early to answer i suppose...

What we need is a real "Superman" to come sort it out!!

The worse thing is, now this has happened, is that it can happen again with all the oil rigs out there... this is a massive problem and it will spew a whole lot more but for how long?

It's gaining less attention than the attempted bombing in NY and also behind the 'snooker scandal'...



[edit on 2-5-2010 by TruthxIsxInxThexMist]

reply to post by discl0sur3


Its not the Tiber field referenced in that article. This oil leak is occurring in an area called the Macondo Prospect.

BP has not publicly released the numbers regarding the reserves in the affected area.

Originally posted by TruthxIsxInxThexMist
this is a massive problem but it's getting less attention than the NY attempted bombing!

True, but terrorism is always a top priority, especially when people have forgotten to live in a perpetual state of fear.

Now you may get the networks more involved in this oil spill if it can be proven that it was an act of terrorism!

Otherwise it just will not get the top billing... There is no fear-factor in it.

Hard to believe but Bill Kristol, neocon scum, was on Fox News today calling for more drilling including ANWR! He also wants to drill closer to shore. So Bill Kristol's foremost thought on this terrible disaster "more drilling".

Utter madness!!!

Link to article and video.

reply to post by brill


These dispersants are petroleum based I believe and are made by the same petroleum companies. So they buy this from each other. One thing that is going to happen is that a lot of this bound up sweet crude/dispersant is going to float to the bottom of the Gulf poisoning the sea bed and every thing that spawns there. The shrimp and oyster industry in the affected area will disappear. If the estimates are correct and the spill goes to the eastern seaboard, then the fishing industry (cod and lobster especially) will be affected.
Who's going to want to eat carcinogenic seafood?
It going to be very tricky trying to close up the wellbore. Very sad.

Well... I'm a firm believer that if you make your own bed you go and sleep in it!

Unfortunately the powers that be have dropped an absolute clanger now. Sabotage or a freak accident, who cares this will be no doubt a testing time. That leak needs to stop and fast. Drilling for oil may be the only way to cut the leak down as I dont think they can stop it providing nothing but a miracle. A large earthquake in the area could be our only hope... then again it could make it worse...

There is no HAARP, There are no Aliens it's up to Mother nature to save us or we save ourselves... but we do not have the means to save ourselves. Mankind faces it's toughest challenge yet... an oil leak thousands of feet below the sea. After all the scenarios we have thought of over the last few years... Who would have thought it would be something like this...

Originally posted by unityemissions
DOes anyone have a reliable source that can verify how much oil is beneath the Deep Horizon wellhead? I don't know much abou oil drilling. One poster on another site commented that 400 billion barrels are thought to be in the gulf coast. Is this correct?! If so, could all of this potentially leak out if efforts to cap this sucker fail?! If not, what perentage is in this general area which could be spilled? I'm just trying to get an estimate for how huge of a scale this disaster is, and can become. Thanks.

Since this spill is gushing and spreading more than we can contain it. The spill will become very wide spread as a ripple that will push out the oil in all directions further and further away. The bigger the area of a spill, the faster and bigger it gets.

The disadvantage with this is that the hole they drilled is very wide, and leaking 5,000 feet below. No man could go this far down. They would be nuts to go down that far. A reasonable action to cap it temporarily, is to get a big big vacuum over the gushing area, and to pump it either back underground, or to put it on another vessel. Which it would fill up very quickly. Or to get a very very big clamp to narrow the leak. Which can be very risky, because the pipe could make a bigger crack. Using explosives will be more of a risk, to damage the pipe even more, because using light explosives might not even dent it. But too much explosive can puncture another hole.

I'm wondering how much pressure this thing is putting out?

My solution is for the robots to cut the pipe clean and cap the hole by welding small sections of metal plates one at a time over the hole. Then cap it off by sealing it off completely by concrete and metal plating. Hoping that it won't explode during the welding process.


[edit on 2-5-2010 by Shrukin89]

Given the magnitude of this disaster it may be time to think "outside the box." The well head (or the hole where it used to be) is still a pipe. If we can't shut off the pipe because the valve is gone could we not collapse the pipe into the ocean floor? I'm sure BP would not be happy with that idea but drastic times require drastic action.

I would suggest we quickly drill a second well hole very close to the one that is leaking the oil. Drill it down 500 or 1000 feet and then fill it with explosives. The explosion would crush the leaking pipe and shatter the surrounding rock. The weight of the shattered rock would hopefully be enough to stop any flow of oil. Somebody with all of the right information would have to calculate if that was possible and how it could be done.

I'm sure this action would not totally seal off the oil leaks and could result in many smaller leaks. But a number of smaller leaks would be better than 100,000 barrels per day. The relief well would still need to be drilled to relieve the pressure and stop the remaining leaks.

This is, of course, a horrible idea considering the damage it would do to the sea life in the immediate area. But the sea life in the area is probably already dead or dying from the affects of the oil so the choice would be one of the bad or worse.

I'm sure I will be immediately ridiculed for this idea and maybe rightly so - but I think somebody needs to step up and do something soon. Calling lawyers and news conferences doesn't count.

It appears the amount of oil spewing, may be increasing...

The Coast Guard and BP have said it's nearly impossible to know exactly how much oil has gushed since the blast, though it has been roughly estimated the well was spewing at least 200,000 gallons a day.

Even at that rate, the spill should eclipse the 1989 Exxon Valdez incident as the worst U.S. oil disaster in history in a matter of weeks. But a growing number of experts warned that the situation may already be much worse.

The oil slick over the water's surface appeared to triple in size over the past two days, which could indicate an increase in the rate oil is pouring from the well, according to one analysis of images collected from satellites and reviewed by the University of Miami. While it's hard to judge the volume of oil by satellite because of depth, images do indicate growth, experts said.
"The spill and the spreading is getting so much faster and expanding much quicker than they estimated," said Hans Graber, executive director of the university's Center for Southeastern Tropical Advanced Remote Sensing.

More worries...

Louisiana State University professor Ed Overton, who heads a federal chemical hazard assessment team for oil spills, worries about a total collapse of the pipe inserted into the well.
If that happens, there would be no warning and the resulting gusher could be even more devastating.

"When these things go, they go KABOOM," he said. "If this thing does collapse, we've got a big, big blow."

More sadness...

In Pass Christian, Miss., 61-year-old Jimmy Rowell, a third-generation shrimp and oyster fisherman, worked on his boat at the harbor and stared out at the choppy waters.

"It's over for us. If this oil comes ashore, it's just over for us," Rowell said angrily, rubbing his forehead. "Nobody wants no oily shrimp." (1)

Words fail me ...

I don't know how many others have addressed these points, but I thought they should be made.

It seems strange to me that no effort is being made to plug the oil well. Wouldn't that be the quickest means of taking action. It seems that cost of the losses of the oil company are being given priority of our coastlines, and all the other businesses that will lose out due to this environmental disaster.

From this article, all they seem to be doing is trying to keep the stuff from going to the surface, but is that any kind of solution at all?

news.yahoo.com...

During the test Friday, an underwater robot shot a chemical meant to break down the oil at the site of the leak rather than spraying it on the surface from boats or planes, where the compound can miss the oil slick.

Another major factor to consider here is to question just how safe are these deep water wells?

abcnews.go.com...

BP, the company that owned the Louisiana oil rig that exploded last week, spent years battling federal regulators over how many layers of safeguards would be needed to prevent a deepwater well from this type of accident.

One area of immediate concern, industry experts said, was the lack of a remote system that would have allowed workers to clamp shut Deepwater Horizon's wellhead so it would not continue to gush oil. The rig is now spilling 210,000 gallons of oil a day into the Gulf of Mexico.

In a letter sent last year to the Department of the Interior, BP objected to what it called "extensive, prescriptive regulations" proposed in new rules to toughen safety standards. "We believe industry's current safety and environmental statistics demonstrate that the voluntary programs…continue to be very successful."

Good ole deregulation, will BP be held responsible for their screw up?

You know, I really hate to bring up another downer on an already down situation....

but how many of you follow the "web bot" predictions?

I know, not many of you believe in them....but not too long ago, they forecast a "global coastal event."

Now, a few months ago, when the freaky algae bloom happened in the arctic, people thought it was that. But the web bot guys (Cliff and George) said no....whatever the "global coastal event" is...it is much bigger than an algae bloom.

And then, I thought of this:

It kept talking about "new lands coming up from the ocean".

Hmmm...maybe it wasn't land, but something ELSE coming up from the ocean.

I will try to go over my web bot data set analysis and find the exact predictions as they relate to the "global coastal event."


EDIT to add:

Ok, I found one prediction from data set analysis #14. Remember how I posted earlier about my fear about the ocean currents shutting down? Well, it must have been here in their data set that I first read it, and that made me think about it.

Here is the quote from the web bot report #14:

The oceans are described as being not unlike as before the Autumnal/Fall equinix. While confusing, the concept that this coming fall of 2010, after a disastrous summer (from both terra and humans), the weather/climate that used to be expected for fall is lacking. The disappointment is described as being apparent by very early in the fall. The data sets go to the idea that oceanic convection currents will shut down across the planet, and thus will trigger similar levels of changes in the atmospheric currents. Bearing in mind that the summer of 2010 will produce a record year for natural disasters, and freakish weather, such that it will also be among the worst years for (food crops production) in the northern hemisphere. Further impacts from earth changes most notably deep ocean warming are indicated to have significiant and crushing impacts on planetary fishing operations.

The supporting aspect/attributee sets for the oceans being unlike their former selves include descriptors for even more severe weather this coming fall and winter in the northern hemisphere than has been experienced this year. The forecast for 2010 includes a winter that will go down in history as being brutal, and that will follow a fall that will be wild and unpredictable.

The oceanic currents at the heart of the climate change phenomena will show even more erratic behavor over late spring and into summer, and that will set up the disruption of old patterns for teh upcoming fall and winter. The crosss links over global ppop and populace of usa entities have very extensive rops of linguistic threads around damage from climate change and food shortage from crop failures and energy shortage leading to frozen humans and animals across usa and eu for fall and winter 2010.

The data set is 81 pages long, so I can't recopy it all here, but I'll try to find more predictions as it relates to oceans, coastal events, etc...

[edit on 2-5-2010 by nikiano]

reply to post by Shrukin89


The problem to your solution is, there will be zero visibility down there with all the oil gushing out. Patching up this hole is not option, therefore.

reply to post by loam


Not to distract from the ramifications of the ongoing disaster but... this is a conspiracy site. Has anyone considered this was not an accident?

Lets get some facts straight. The component that failed on the rig was the "Blowout Preventer" that is manufactured by Cameron International Corp that is based in Houston Texas. This valve is supposed to work automatically. In this case it didn't so a pocket of natural gas got through and hit the rig killing 11 people and fractured the pipe up stream. They are now trying to enable the valve manually using robotic subs but this isn't working either. So I agree that the company that caused this incident/accident should pay. That company is "Cameron International Corp" which coincidentally didn't even have a negative affect on its share price unlike BP!

reply to post by Hemisphere


Yep. The MSM has actually been talking about it being sabotage....3 or 4 different sources. I even heard it on talk radio this morning, talking about it being possibly sabotage.

This is a man made disaster of biblical proportions, just the sheer size and scope of is just mystifying. Personally, I think the response by all those involved is just a drop in the bucket, and they have no idea how to tackle this epic disaster. I saw the map on the television, and this spill is going to contaminate the entire coast of the Gulf of Mexico. People's livelihoods are going to be gone, then goes the homes, ecosystems are going to become wastelands, and on and on. This is like a an end times scenario for the Gulf Coast.

Moreover, the oil is still flowing from after this accident. It is most assuredly going to raise gas and oil prices. However, oil is still the only known avenue for energy at the moment. I know many have talked about alternative energy, and what not, but to physically put it into use will take many many years. Just think about plastics, pesticides, tires, heating, fuel for transport, and other necessities have their origins from oil . So, at present, oil is but a necessary evil at this time. It is not feasibly possible to abruptly substitute oil with an alternative energy source. However, more research needs to be done and discussions on how to phase something in as alternative to oil is essential, given the debilitating circumstances of this disaster.

This is no longer a fanatic environmental or true-hugger issue, but a crusade to protect our food supply, livelihood, and our oceans. This is a nightmare, and it looks as though Gulf of Mexico is going to have to be cordoned off indefinitely. Then there is a thing called ocean currents which will most assuredly spread this muck elsewhere, thus contaminating other coastal areas and fisheries. This is truly a terrifying scenario, and I mean that literally. Great thread OP!

All i can say is this mostly one to keep your eye on.I wonder how long will it be before they evacuate the gulf coast because of eco reasons.a mass relocation of more folks

Originally posted by Darkblade71
I wonder if it is at all possible to take a sub and launch a large torpedo at the hole where the oil is coming out of and cave it in enough to stop and seal it back up? I would think it should be possible.

That's a good idea, someone should look into that.

reply to post by nikiano


Linguistics are a funny thing, but I believe this is finally the "global costal event." Every few days the projected amount of flow is increased, and eventually this will be large enough to affect the entire globe.

A global food chain collapse is now almost imminent, not to mention the thermohaline effects since this is oil. This could very well be the largest disaster of any kind in modern human history. As others have said, time will tell, and I hope it doesn't tell us too much more.

Originally posted by Lebowski achiever
reply to post by Shrukin89

 

The problem to your solution is, there will be zero visibility down there with all the oil gushing out. Patching up this hole is not option, therefore.

Sure it will be murky, but you need some robots that could be able to work in zero visibility conditions. Some kind of scanner that can see and detect metal objects. Or use a Sonar device to map it out. Whatever the case, they have to cover it up one way or another.

[edit on 2-5-2010 by Shrukin89]