Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill 'Very Serious'

[G_j]

http://news.softpedia.com/news/Gulf-of-Mexico-Oil-Spill-Very-Serious-140619.shtml


Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill 'Very Serious'
According to the US Coast Guard
By Tudor Vieru, Science Editor
April 26th, 2010, 13:58 GMT




The oil spill that resulted from the incident on April 20 involving the Deepwater Horizon drilling platform is constantly increasing in size. Officials in the United States say that the extent of the damage is still unclear, but add that as much as 1,000 barrels of crude may be seeping into the Gulf of Mexico each day. At this point, estimates place the size of the contaminated area at around 1,500 square kilometers, and the oil stain is currently very close to the coast of Louisiana, the BBC News reports.

The drilling rig wasn't located too far off from Venice in the first place. According to official documents from British oil company BP, which had a lease on the platform until September 2013, the installation was located some 84 kilometers (52 miles) southeast of the city when the powerful explosion occurred, on April 20. In spite of efforts from the Coast Guard, the semi-submersible platform sunk into the waters of the Gulf two days later, on April 22.

Originally, it was believed that the wellhead the engineers on the rig drilled some 1.5 kilometers (1 mile) under the surface of the sea was contained and not leaking crude. However, as boats were conducting rescue missions in the area, it was revealed that the structure was not fully closed, and that it was leaking oil at a very high rate. BP responded to this emergency by deploying submersible robots (ROV) to seal the wellhead remotely, and also sent hundreds of workers, four airplanes and more than 3 ships at the location, in order to contain the spill. However, efforts appear to be in vein for now.

Unfortunately, during the weekend, the oil company had to ground its airplanes and retire its clean-up vessels due to poor atmospheric conditions. However, at the same time, waves were favorable to the rescue effort, keeping the oil stain away from the sensitive shores beyond. Inspections of the Deepwater Horizon, carried out by workers of the US Mineral Management Services over the past three months evidenced no sings of wrongdoings on the platform, and so the cause of the explosion is still under investigation. For now, efforts are being focused on containing the oil, and breaking up the heavy crude. If this is successful, the oil will harden and sink into the ocean.

[notadmblnd]

1. There should be no socialistic federal $$ going to clean this up.

Oil company, please schedule a meeting with the affected states and decide how to to pay for the mess you all made.

[SidDithers]

2. Agreed...

BP and Transocean should be on the hook for this.

Sid

[FarCenter]

3. 1000 barrels fills a pool about 6 feet deep by 30 feet square

[dixiegrrrrl]

4. I gotta find another source for this. The bad english and poor spelling puts me off.

[dixiegrrrrl]

5. Here is a more detailed story and a map.

from nytimes:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/26/us/26rig.html?src=mv


The coastal shrimping industry is gong to be affected.

Not to mention those lovely white beaches and the casinos along the Gulf coast.
Our winds are coming from the SE this time of year.

[G_j]

6. thank you

[dixiegrrrrl]

7. Thank YOU for pointing out how serious this spill really is.

And pls. do pardon me for being "old school" about sloppy news writing.

I live in SW Ala. and have watched the Gulf Coast fisheries being devastated time after time.
We used to have the most beautiful and easily accessible pristine beaches where anyone could enjoy them.
Now developers and casinos have taken over most of the area, pollution is killing of the fishing,
the shrimpers are going broke.
All we need is this oil spill.
From BP no less, who, under Palin's watch, managed to keep using un-inspected leaking oil pipes all over the Tundra.

[G_j]

8. no problem

I was looking for some news on the robot attempting to shut down the leak. I guess that is happening today.
I am very concerned also.

[Greyskye]

9. delete

[Greyskye]

10. "efforts appear to be in vein for now"

In 'vein'? Really? Looks like they're hemorrhaging to me. :eyes:

[dixiegrrrrl]

11. oohh..I just took a serious look at your sig line names.

Hot Club SF is a huge favorite of mine.
Esp. Postcards from Gypsyland.

thanks for the links.

another edit to add I have Pandora...shall add you to my channels.

:bounce: :bounce:

[Greyskye]

14. Cool, hope you enjoy them! :D n/t

[bobthedrummer]

12. Kick

[scentopine]

13. more info...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/04/26/deep-horizon-oil-well-gus_n_552491.html