BBC (Since our media isn't interested): Growing concern Gulf oil spill could be historical

[Bluebear]

A US Coast Guard official says if leaks from an oil well in the Gulf of Mexico are not stemmed soon, they could cause one of the worst spills in US history.

Rear Adm Mary Landry, who is in charge of the government clean-up effort, said work on sealing the leaks using several robotic submersibles could take months. ...

Workers on a nearby oil platform were evacuated by the US authorities on Monday after the oil slick came dangerously close...

The resulting oil slick now has a circumference of about 600 miles (970km) and covers about 28,600 sq miles (74,100 sq km).




http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8648004.stm

[lonestarnot]

1. Unbelievable. Not even a peep.

[Rex]

2. They really can't make fun of us Texans over this one.

Otherwise this thread would be filled with the 'go away Texas' crowd cheering on our demise. This is horrendous and getting worse.

[lonestarnot]

7. Rah rah Texas.

:evilgrin:

[Rex]

9. That's better!

[nadinbrzezinski]

10. I can.... as the wetland

die....

:evilgrin:

Don't dare people on DU. or some of us with a very dark sense of humor just might go there.

[lonestarnot]

16. And you know that someone didn't how?

:evilgrin:

[nadinbrzezinski]

18. Touche

[Whisp]

13. the peeps I've heard on CNN are downplaying the spill a Lot!

saying its not as bad as Valdez, etc., definate tone of 'not to worry'. fuckers.

[nadinbrzezinski]

15. Until it reaches the coast

and Ixtoc I was also downplayed until they realized how bad it was. Part of it might be hope.

[roguevalley]

22. welcome to exxon valdez redux. it will never go away. no matter

where you dig when it makes landfall, you will find it. also, they will be putting millions on the books for 'clean up' but it won't mean crap.

[pscot]

3. This can't happen

so there's realy nothing to report. The oil companies have assured us that new technology in the awl bidness makes spills like this impossible, so just move along. There's nothng to see here.

[Bluebear]

5. So safe and beneficial that we are opening up MORE coastal drilling!

Yay! Yay!

:silly:

[csziggy]

4. This made me curious - the second largest oil spill in history was also in the Gulf

The largest was the Gulf War oil spill with the damage to so many oil wells spilling oil into the Persian Gulf. But the largest single well oil spill was Ixtoc I:

Mexico's government-owned oil company Pemex (Petróleos Mexicanos) was drilling a 2-mile (3.2 km) deep oil well, when the drilling rig lost drilling mud circulation. In modern rotary drilling, mud is circulated down the drill pipe and back up the casing to the surface. The goal is to equalize the pressure through the shaft and to monitor the returning mud for gas. Without the circulating mud, the drill ran into high pressure gas which blew out the oil (known as a blowout). The oil caught fire and the platform collapsed.

In the next few months, experts were brought in to contain and cap the oil well. Approximately 10 thousand to 30 thousand barrels per day were discharged into the Gulf until it was finally capped on March 23, 1980. Prevailing currents carried the oil towards the Texas coastline. The US government had two months to prepare booms to protect major inlets. Mexico rejected US requests to be compensated for cleanup costs.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ixtoc_I

Gee, this sounds horribly similar to what is happening now.

[Bluebear]

6. Postcard from Ixtoc I

Tar mat remaining after ONE YEAR and after Huricane Allen.

[Strelnikov_]

17. Water depth at Ixtoc I was 150 ft. Water depth at wellhead this event is 5000 ft.

How this ends is unknown. We just need to hope the pipe from the wellhead to the 'kink' acting a a flow restriction holds up.

[csziggy]

19. The depth is going to be a serious problem

Even with remote submersibles, it is going to be hard to work on that damn thing.

I can't see this ending well - there has already been an immense amount of oil released into the Gulf.

[nadinbrzezinski]

8. NPR had an extensive report today

and Madow went there today as well

[lonestarnot]

14. Listening to Rachel now re same.

[amborin]

11. K&R and we're still intent on drilling....

[Robeson]

12. Thank you for keeping this on the front burner...

...this really highlights the devastation this shit can bring.

[onestepforward]

20. K&R

[Incitatus]

21. 28K square miles .The entire Gulf of Mexico is 600K sq miles

If this could take months to fix, does that mean the entire Gulf of Mexico could be covered in an oil slick?

It looks like the effect on the ecosystem will be catastrophic. Will there be anything left alive in the Gulf when this is over?

If this kills off the plankton and the shrimp and then all the species that depend on them.....?

[Moochy]

25. Yay offshore driling is safe, clean and patriotic

Hooray for democratic undersea drilling plans!

[flyarm]

23. Tampa news tonight: Relief well could take 4 months to build , in meantime possible 4 million +

gallons of oil could spill into the gulf in that time period.

The slick as forecast tonight on Tampa news..the oil slick is now 90 miles off the Pensacola coast.

St Petersburg Fl paper this morning .( I have posted numerous times today )

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Please look at the front page of the ST Pete Times..at this link..other links don't show the loop currents of the Gulf of Mexico..and how this could go all the way down to the Keys wrappng around to the Atlantic

The air yesterday where I am on the Beach in Fla near Tampa..smelled like rotten onions all day yesterday..or rotten B.O...the smell gagged me..it was so horrible..and our local Tampa news last night said they got thousands of calls yesterday about the smell..they broadcast that it was smoke and air from the spill..and the smell was from Tampa down to Ft Meyers ( for those that don't know the area..Tpa to Ft Meyeres is approx a 3 hour drive down the west coast of Fla) By last night the smell turned to a smokey smell..

WE got no warnings about the air quality..or the health risks for seniors or those infirmed..we only got info during the weather reports about the stinking air smells ..


If you don't know how to get this link to the real copy of the front page of the ST Pete Times....you will get the Tampa bay edition without the pictures of the Loop Currents.


http://www.tampabay.com/specials/publication/Times_1A/20100427.pdf

see the pictures there of the Gulf Loop currents..

St Pete Times:

Gulf oil spill could
threaten Florida


Officials predict winds will push the oil spill closer to Florida by today.
Oceanographers fear that if the spill gets caught in the gulf's powerful
loop current, the oil could wind up on the beaches of the Keys and then
be swept north along the state's Atlantic coast.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

the air today has changed..what smelled like rotten Onions yesterday, today and tonight smells like a combo of smoke and chemicals.


We are facing a eco system disaster ..

[Oldtimeralso]

24. K & R

Should Caribou Barbie now worry about; SPILL, BABY, SPILL!

[Blue_In_AK]

26. If the EXXON VALDEZ is any example,

BP will pay minimal damages for this. Alaskans received a mere fraction of the damages originally awarded by the jury in the Exxon case. Thousands of people's livelihoods and families were impacted, and there is still oil under the rocks around Prince William Sound. The Supreme Court thinks that's just fine.

My heart goes out to the people who will be impacted by this. It's a sickening feeling.

[bvar22]

27. If the rig sank on top of the BOPs (most likely) in 5000' of water,

they will never be able to activate the BOPs (Blow Out Preventers) with any kind of robotic submersible.
The only alternative is to drill a Relief Well, which would take about a month or so...minimum.
.
.
.
.
I was a Directional Driller a long time ago, and drilled several Relief Wells in the Gulf of Mexico.


http://www.onepetro.org/mslib/servlet/onepetropreview?id=00003581&soc=SPE

[Junkdrawer]

28. Winds change Thursday / Friday - Could be in LA by the weekend....

http://www.accuweather.com/blogs/news/story/30918/smoke-from-oil-burn-off-could.asp