Gulf oil plume darker; not good news: expert

[highplainsdem]

Source: AP

Gulf oil plume darker; not good news: expert

The Associated Press

Date: Tuesday May. 25, 2010 12:26 PM ET

WASHINGTON — Live video of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill shows the underwater plume getting significantly darker. A top oil engineering expert says that suggests heavier, more-polluting oil is spewing out.

The color of the oil gushing from the main pipe has changed in color from medium gray to black. Two scientists noticed the change, which oil company BP downplayed as a natural fluctuation that is not likely permanent.

But engineering professor Bob Bea at the University of California at Berkeley says the color change may indicate the BP leak has hit a reservoir of more oil and less gas. Gas is less polluting because it evaporates. Bea has spent more than 55 years working and studying oil rigs.

Oil has been spewing from the site of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig that exploded April 20.

Read more: http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20100525/oil-plume-darker-100525/20100525?hub=SciTech

[mikelgb]

1. heartwarming

[itsrobert]

2. And soon giant Earthquakes will strike

due to all that volume of oil escaping underneath the ground. Houston will fall into the ocean.

[Bette Noir]

6. Well, there's a silver lining.

[Turbineguy]

8. I don't think so

My Social Director lives in Houston.

[SammyWinstonJack]

7. Really?

:shrug:

[woodsprite]

3. Is it possible that it also looks darker due to less

dispersant being mixed in?

[FedUpWithIt All]

4. If that was the case BP certainly would have used it as an excuse.

That would be killing two PR birds with one stone, for them.

[onehandle]

5. Nuke it and close the field.

Fuck BP.

Fuck their stockholders.

(on edit, yes nuking it would be a little extreme, but certainly closing the field would not)

[TheEuclideanOne]

12. Nuke "it". Are you suggesting that we Nuke BP?

Okay, you have my attention and support.

[crikkett]

14. Nuking the well is not the answer. n/t

[intheflow]

16. Sure! Radioactive contamination of the gulf waters is *exactly* what's called for.

:eyes:

It's that kind of thoughtless, reckless, knee-jerk reaction thinking that brought us off-shore drilling. You might be able to close the hole with a nuke, but the "cure" would compound the illness.

[liberation]

17. Maybe the radiation could create oil-resistant mutant species?

It happened in the Toxic Avenger... so who knows... ;-)

[happygoluckytoyou]

9. WE CAN QUIT CALLING IT A SPILL. it is a f'ing monsoon of oil! the mother earth of menstraul cycles!!

[happygoluckytoyou]

10. it is a wonder the earth isn't spinning out of orbit like a released balloon...

[aquart]

13. Oh, please don't make it female.

[intheflow]

20. Yes, it's much more like BP is spewing death semen

after jerking off the earth.

[slackmaster]

11. Since gas forming hydrates in the cold water caused earler capping efforts to fail,

Wouldn't less gas actually be a good thing?

[janx]

15. I went to look at the black oil--

http://www.bp.com/liveassets/bp_internet/globalbp/globalbp_uk_english/homepage/STAGING/local_assets/bp_homepage/html/rov_stream.html

The camera was a lot farther away than it was previously, but I was watching an eel cruise around the oil geyser, and then the feed was gone.

[Boudica the Lyoness]

23. I saw that eel

I wonder if he's okay.

[boppers]

28. I can't see much of anything right now.

Whatever they did, it's either very good, or much, much, worse than before.

Maybe this is why they wanted the blackout.

[flamingdem]

18. Ugh. No wonder they want to turn off the cams nt

[DCBob]

19. Or just that all the gas has escaped and only oil is coming now.

maybe a good sign the pressure is relieving..

[thereismore]

21. Just when you think it can't be any worse. But wait, even this can get a lot worse!

We can have another blowout, let's say, from the relief well! See, it's not so bad now...

[billymayshere]

22. Obama has some splainin to do

I like some of what he has done so far but this oil spill is pissing me off. I want an executive that can govern and so far he is really showing his ass on the oil spill. Flame away at me folks I don't give a shit this administration is showing it's true colors right now. I just wanna know why there aren't supertankers, a whole fucking fleet of them skimming the oil, on the gulf? Why aren't we talking of explosives? Do you mean to tell me they cant bore holes around the well set charges inside and collapse the well? A small tactical nuke? Something?

[Whoa_Nelly]

24. Spewing Oil Darkens; Could Be Bad Sign

Source: AP

Live video of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill shows the underwater plume getting significantly darker. A top oil engineering expert said that suggests heavier, more-polluting oil is spewing out.

The color of the oil gushing from the main pipe has changed in color from medium gray to black. Two scientists noticed the change, which oil company BP downplayed as a natural fluctuation that is not likely permanent.

But engineering professor Bob Bea at the University of California at Berkeley said the color change may indicate the BP leak has hit a reservoir of more oil and less gas. Gas is less polluting because it evaporates. Bea has spent more than 55 years working and studying oil rigs.

Read more: http://www.wdsu.com/news/23669752/detail.html

[complain jane]

25. nothing to see here n/t

[alfredo]

26. Over at political video group there's a video of an "event" from earlier today.

[time_has_come]

27. old news n/t