Gulf storm forces ships from oil spill site

Gulf storm forces ships from oil spill site

www.ft.com

A fleet of vessels deployed at the site of BP’s stricken Macondo well began moving to safety on Friday as tropical storm Bonnie headed towards the Gulf of Mexico.

BP and federal officials agreed that the drilling of relief wells - a permanent solution to the three-month-long disaster - would be suspended because of the threat of adverse weather.

(visit the link for the full news article)

Here we go, storm coming.

Finally we can see what a storm can do, what will the effects be.

These are uncharted territories, we only know in theory what is going to happen, let's wait for reality to prove us right, or wrong.

Everything will be suspended.

The cap that has for the past week staunched an estimated 35,000 barrels of oil per day leak from the well will remain in place while relief operations are put on hold. The decision reflected confidence by the company and the authorities supervising its containment efforts that pressure levels beneath the cap were stable enough for it to remain sealed.

This is the dangerous part, if somehow this storm causes the well head to break (through pressure or what ever), there will be absolutely no way to cap it back after.

After that it is either a nuke, or just let it flow and let BP die.

www.ft.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

Those dumb butts probably created it themselves.

This is possible and I am appalled by how they could have stopped katrina but didn't.

Originally posted by Gentill Abdulla
Those dumb butts probably created it themselves.

This is possible and I am appalled by how they could have stopped katrina but didn't.

Katrina was not the problem. The area was fine after the storm passed. It was the weak levees that gave way almost a day later. The officials did not see to the upkeep and the needs of the people. There is also conspiracy that the levees were "triggered" by explosives to deliberately collapse.

reply to post by Alethea


So you don't think the well head could break and cause the worst environmental catastrophe in history of mankind.

How many years do you think the oil would keep gushing if the well head breaks?

There is no way of capping it after.

This storm is a sign of times to come. say no more America, captain America is here to save the day.

Gulf storm forcing ships from oil spill site......,
or the IMPENDING METHANE BUBBLE OF DOOM......mwahahahaaaa.....
Sadly, I actually had this thought cross my mind this morning when I read the news. I think I'm spending waaaaaaay to much time on ATS........

The well head is a MILE under the surface under the ocean. Even a Cat 5 hurricane would have no effect on the well at that depth. Nothing is going to happen to the well head because of this tropical storm

reply to post by oozyism


I do not think that the storm could break the well head 5,000 ft. below the surface. That is a huge distance, for such a weak storm to actually impact it directly.

However, an indirect affect is possible. Without any ships in the area, they will not be able to send the ROV's down there. Now there is speculation on other threads here on ATS that we are not seeing the real feeds anyway, but either way, the fact is that the ROV's will not be able to work during the passing of Tropical Storm Bonnie. With a forced media blackout of the wellhead by the storm (meaning no ROV feeds at all, real or otherwise), who is to say what will happen to the well head if it is left unattended for up to several days.

The 5 leaks that are on it might worsen, if left unattended. There might be additional issues with the sea floor. Really, anything might happen.

However, I do have a hard time in accepting that the Federal Government does not have our own US Navy more involved with this, beyond having the Coast Guard on hand. You would think that there would be at least one US Naval Submarine parked near this thing, reporting back to someone in the government.

So no, I do not think that this storm can directly affect the riser, but yes, I think the riser could have problems on its own. And the public would not know about it.

Where is the truth?



[edit on 23-7-2010 by lasertaglover]

There was a thread here yesterday that said it was possible that BP had capped the "wrong" well (deliberately?). I am going back there now to check up on new info.

Originally posted by lasertaglover
However, I do have a hard time in accepting that the Federal Government does not have our own US Navy more involved with this, beyond having the Coast Guard on hand. You would think that there would be at least one US Naval Submarine parked near this thing, reporting back to someone in the government.

Why? Military subs can't dive that deep and they have no equipment on board capable of monitoring the well. Frankly I think the storm is a good thing. It will break up some of the oil and give more of it a chance to evaporate.

reply to post by JIMC5499


I understand the depth issue, but don't they have sonar packages on board that see everything, in various spectrums as well?

Please correct if I am wrong as I was a ground pounder many years ago, and have no experience with anything Navy, but I would think that a US Sub parked as deep as it can go, with all of its sensors on the riser would be able to detect a great many things.

And if they have not had one there until now, I would think that some kind of 'eyes on' intel would be important and they would be positioning one there now.

Right now, they are showing the hurricane to be headed toward Louisiana! I just don't understand why this is happening to Louisiana. I understand if God wants to destroy evil, but there are so many good people on the Gulf Coast, just trying to make an honest living. It breaks my heart to see the Brown Pelicans, covered in oil. That's our State Bird. I just don't "get" it!

reply to post by lasertaglover


Nope. Active sonar won't show anything and passive sonar will be washed out by noise from the storm.

reply to post by JIMC5499


I read somewhere that most Naval subs can reach depths of 2,000 ft, and some as deep as 3,000 ft. If that is true, would the storm really be able to drown out the arrays reception at those depths?

reply to post by Blueangel7


It's not God who is against Louisiana. It is the greed of the powers that be. I have heard that Congress wouldn't pay for an earthen dam to protect the ninth ward area, the just got stuck with the substandard levee system (concrete). And it is the same now, will only hold to a Cat 3, the earthen dams in other areas of New Orleans hold well, it all comes down to money. BP's greed (if that's what really happened) caused this, not God. Human nature can be bad, God cannot and is not bad. Before Jesus came, he had to deal with people in a certain way, but after Jesus's sacrifice, He took on our sin upon himself. So God is not angry with Louisiana or anyone else. Lets put the blame where it lies. On eartly people. I was in New Orleans last week, went down to Grande Ilse. I love New Orleans would live there if possible. Now God loves more than I possibly can, so think how much God loves Louisiana and her people. I saw on a documentary where back in, I believe the 30's, they did breach the levee's so it wouldn't flood New Orleans, but they had told the people of the farms they flooded they would pay them for damages. Which of course they renigged on. Could have possibly happened again, but this time, no vote. (By the City Leaders)

Originally posted by lasertaglover
reply to post by JIMC5499

 

I read somewhere that most Naval subs can reach depths of 2,000 ft, and some as deep as 3,000 ft. If that is true, would the storm really be able to drown out the arrays reception at those depths?

Let's not put the cart before the horse. What would a sub be listening for? I don't know of anything that would make a noise. Even if the cap started to leak, what kind of noise would it make?

At a sub's max depth, it would still be over a half of a mile from the well.

reply to post by JIMC5499


All good points. So the bottom line, is that there will be nothing monitoring the riser at all, since the ships are getting out of the way of Bonnie?

I was hopeful the Navy could do something.

reply to post by lasertaglover


I don't think that there is anything to be concerned about.

There is no good way to send information through the water. That is why the ROV's working on the well have cables attached to them and why torpedos are still wire guided.

i gotta say this is just so odd how this situation just gets worse and worse even if the cap holds its far from permanent and now the hurricanes are vamping up i dont beleive in harrp but something is just not right im kinda psychic and see bad bad juju comin are way SOON.!!!!!!!!!!

The coming storm also has the potential for bigger problems.

At present the MC 252 well head pipe that comes out of the ground has a riser pipe that leads to the BOP structure. That structure is 450 tons plus the new well cap and to make matters even worse, the whole BOP structure is all resting on a single pipe coming out of the ocean floor. That pipe currently has a 17* degree lean. Lean as in Leaning tower of Pisa.

When the hurricane comes through it has the potential to further lean the support pipe and if the turbulence is severe enough it could fall like a tall tree. When and if this happens, the oil spill will become an unrestricted flow of oil into the ocean. If the well when it collapses triggers an explosion, that is when it will be "game over".

This hurricane has more than just bad weather associated with it because if the oil structure collapses in the middle of a hurricane it will sling oil all the way to Canada.

Anyway, engineers contend that the 17*degree lean had been increasing and that would imply that the ocean floor is rising in a spot that has tilted the BOP structure.

Oh well, we will find out pretty soon what the hurricane does, but I for one would get ready for the worst. A hurricane with high winds spreading Corexit and oil all over the place is going to be a danger for some time to come.

I am distressed that no one in the media is discussing the damage that the hurricane could do to the BOP structure. They already know that in time it is going to fall over. This storm could be the final straw. Time will tell.

Thanks for the posting.