Major Hurricane Will Most Likely Topple BOP. Then What ?

I was curious as to what kind of coverage was being given to the oil-leak from a local perspective , so the following links to a New Orleans Webpage .

It is my understanding that the BOP is leaning already . So , what happens when it is toppled by the excessive currents that will be generated by a hurricane ?

During Hurricane Ivan , seafloor sediment was displaced up to 80-something feet , deepening the seafloor in areas .

If this occurs in the area around the well-head , the BOP is going to topple and most likely break the pipe again .

This is a serious situation that is not going to end anytime soon .

Mankind has finally succeeded in shooting himself in the foot , with no medical remedy readily available .


www.nola.com...



[edit on 14-6-2010 by okbmd]

Hmmm , no replies .

I was hoping to get other's opinions on this , as to how big of a disaster this can really turn out to be once hurricane season sets in .

There is lots of speculation on this in other posts including mine, why stop at hurricane? Why not an earthquake? How about igniting those gases with just ordinary lightening. Why not just light up that Batholith with a nuke? There are dozens of ways this will end and not one of them is pretty.

I don't want to appear mean spirited, your op about the BOP is not the only problem as the oil seems to have found other places to escape, the oil is eating away the pipes holding it, and the earth surrounding it. Hurricane or not it will fall, im just surprised it hasn't already...

I hope that the hurricane pushes all the oil in one direction and deposits it on one beach. This would make it easier to clean up.

I think people haven't replied yet because there are ton of threads on the possibilities of what could happen in various scenarios, hurricanes were one.

I think all possibilities are not good and they say hurricane season this year is possibly going to be a big one. I live in FL and I really don't want any hurricanes at this time, the area I live in couldn't handle it let alone the rest of FL. The economy is horrible and this would make things so much more worse.

reply to post by redeyedwonder


Do you think maybe an earthquake or plate shift could have preceded the blow-out ? wasn't something felt in Florida around that time ?

So , it really is looking like this thing will just have to bleed out ?

reply to post by ExPostFacto


That would be a best-case scenario .

But a hurricane would pick this stuff up and spread it for hundreds of miles inland .

reply to post by mblahnikluver


So sorry for you guys .

My step-mother lives alone in pensacola , now that my dad has passed . And she is too old and stubborn to leave now .

I don't think a hurricane alters the current very much at 5000 feet. A hurricane may affect the ocean floor on the continental shelf, but in the deep ocean, not so much I would imagine. Think about blowing a fan very hard on the surface of a bathtub or swimming pool. It causes ripples on and near the surface, but at the bottom, the water is pretty much undisturbed. Even a lot of wind on the surface can't move the hundreds of millions of tons of water between it and the BOP.

If weather could disturb the ocean depths, hurricanes would present problems for most of the world's BOPs, not just this particular one in the Gulf. Think what would happen to coral reefs if the water was slammed around real hard beneath the surface in a hurricane. They would be destroyed. Yet coral reefs and all of the delicate wildlife living on seem to regularly survive hurricanes just fine, and they're not very deep at all.

[edit on 15-6-2010 by moonwilson]

[edit on 15-6-2010 by moonwilson]

reply to post by okbmd


The one thing they do not mention is yes this is an active area, and there was a 5.+ near Cuba a couple days ago.

The New Madrid fault runs that way, and the speculation of this supposed Batholith isn't helping either.

reply to post by okbmd
The BOP is 5,000 feet deep, I doubt even the biggest cat5 could topple it.

reply to post by okbmd


It will also pick up the escaping gases, not just surface oil. The oil doesnt evaporate the same as water, but who knows with the warming effect of it, the hurricanes might be more intense than usual. We will see.