5000 barrels a day of oil (210,000 gallons) leak off the coast of Louisiana

[bentom187]

i seen somthing on cnn today,a republican senetor not sure from where but claimed "offshore drilling can be done safley and i know the people here still want it"
i cant find the clip but he was standing next to a pastor,not sure if you guys seen it but i couldnt beleive the stupidity of people,i know whos pocket he's in.

 

[DiscoBiscuit]

It's a tough situation when a moratorium gets slammed on your day job. I don't blame the folks for wanting their job but I can't blame folks that are jobless and did nothing wrong.

Can't these affected workers draw unemployment for 6 mo? I know it's not budget conscious but IMO, this is a disaster of epic proportions. IMO, 6 months seems like a short time to make sure it doesn't happen again. I even doubt it's long enough to make much of a difference if the Gulf really is the new frontier in deep water drilling.

 

[HillBillMt]

should i move to canada right now and buy land?
just saying cause i just read the words DEATH WINDS
now im scared

if you havent started getting out then youd be wise to start

 

[mriko]

27,000 abandoned oil wells in Gulf of Mexico

By Hiram Lee
WSWS
Thursday, Jul 8, 2010

“If the casing is compromised the well is that much more difficult to shut down, including the risk that the relief wells may not be enough. If the relief wells do not result in stopping the flow, the next and drastic step is to implode the well on top of itself, which carries other risks as well.”

-John Hofmeister, former president of Shell Oil and
the current CEO of Citizens for Affordable Energy

There are 27,000 abandoned oil wells in the Gulf of Mexico. In spite of the potential for oil leaks due to corrosion and underground pressure, the wells are not inspected by the US government or any agency within the oil industry. These revelations were uncovered as part of an investigative report conducted by the Associated Press which describes the Gulf of Mexico as “an environmental minefield.”

According to the AP, over half of the 50,000 wells which have been drilled in the federal waters of the Gulf of Mexico have been abandoned, with 23,500 of them considered permanently sealed. As many as 3,500 of the wells are considered “temporarily abandoned.” The oldest of the abandoned wells investigated by the AP date back to the 1940s.

Wells are abandoned by oil companies when they are considered to no longer be profitable, or when the potential for the amount of oil to be drawn from the well is not as high as the company may have initially believed. According to the AP, “Some owners temporarily abandon wells to await a rise in oil prices.”

The standard procedure for plugging a well to be abandoned permanently by an oil company involves cutting riser piping 15 feet beneath the seabed, filling the well with heavy liquid, often referred to as drilling mud, to prevent the flow of oil and capping the well with cement plugs which can be up to 200 feet in length.

Several factors can cause abandoned wells to leak or fail, including erosion or aging in the cement used to plug the wells and repressurization of wells due to changes in geological conditions. Erosion in well casing or other areas of the well structure can allow oil and gas to escape to the surface. This can occur gradually or in a sudden catastrophic blowout.

The permanent sealing of an offshore well is costly and time consuming, costing as much as $200,000 and taking as many as 10 days work. Many oil companies get around this by classifying their wells as “temporarily abandoned,” so they can plug the wells in a less thorough and expensive process. Federal regulations only mandate that companies provide a yearly plan stating their intentions to either return to the well or to seal it permanently in the future.

Using this loophole, companies can leave their wells in a kind of legal limbo for years. They can do so knowing they will face no repercussion from governmental regulating industries. The AP found that the federal Minerals Management Service (MMS) has issued fines of “just $440,000 on seven companies from 2003-2007 for improper plug-and-abandonment work.”

The AP reports that “About three-quarters of temporarily abandoned wells have been left in that status for more than a year, and many since the 1950s and 1960s—even though sealing procedures for temporary abandonment are not as stringent as those for permanent closures.”

BP has abandoned no less than 600 wells in the Gulf of Mexico.

Relief wells could be ineffective

A contractor with BP has said the company is ahead of schedule in drilling its first relief well. Billy Brown, the president of Blackhawk Specialty Tools, a company hired by BP to work on the cementing process of the relief well plan, claims BP is within ten feet of intersecting with its leaking Macado well. Brown recently told reporters “hopefully in the next two weeks we are going to be hearing some very good things.”

National Incident Commander Thad Allen gave reporters a different estimate on Tuesday saying, “They have about 264 feet left to go before they can get to a point where they can potentially intercept the well.” Allen is standing by the timeline which places completion of the first relief well in mid-August, even though he says BP is a week ahead of schedule.

The relief wells are intended to intersect the blown-out Macado well at a depth of 18,000 feet. Once the wells intersect, a heavy liquid will be pumped into the leaking well in order to stop the flow of oil. The Macado well will then be plugged with concrete.

While BP’s plan to stop the leak with relief wells has been promoted as the ultimate solution to the Deepwater Horizon disaster and the more trustworthy fall-back plan once all other efforts to stop the leak had failed, there is a real possibility the relief wells could also be ineffective.

David Rensink, the incoming president of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists, has discussed the difficulties involved with intersecting the leaking well. Rensink told reporters, “You’re trying to intersect the well bore, which is about a foot wide, with another well bore, which is about a foot wide.” Rensink has said making contact on the first attempt “would truly be like winning the lottery.”

There is a danger that if BP misses its target, it could drill into a high-pressure zone and cause a gas “kick” which might lead to a blowout in the relief well itself. However, even if the company does hit its target on the first try, there is still no guarantee of success.

In an online discussion hosted by the Washington Post, John Hofmeister, the former president of Shell Oil and the current CEO of Citizens for Affordable Energy, discussed the possibility that the Macado well casing could have been damaged during the April 20 blowout or eroded by the leaking oil, putting the success of a relief well in doubt. Damage to the casing could allow the mud to be forced into the well to escape and prevent it from bringing the flow of oil to a halt.

“If the casing is compromised,” wrote Hofmeister, “the well is that much more difficult to shut down, including the risk that the relief wells may not be enough. If the relief wells do not result in stopping the flow, the next and drastic step is to implode the well on top of itself, which carries other risks as well.”


from http://axisoflogic.com/artman/publish/Article_60567.shtml

Irie !

 

[Flying Goat]

Indeed, Mriko... The casing has already been compromised, as evidenced by drilling mud seep from the floor around the pipe when they attempted the capping maneuver.

This relief well is mainly being enacted to appear as if they are doing "something," altho they already know that there's only a tiny percentage of a chance that it will be successful.

I'm worried they will make a bad connect and/or that the casing will blow, causing further fracture of the substrate, and what we end up with is a pit leaking oil from unstable substrate which could possibly blow, throwing the casing & relief wells out onto the sea bed in a belch of black vomit...

Forgive my morbid mood, but it's gonna be interesting to see how this ends up. I'm seeing a huge cavernous opening like Carlsbad Caverns, only belching oil.

BTW = Those reports on air quality were only checking for evidence of dispersants, not general air quality. The "natural" gases that come up from oil wells are bad enough. Those levels are what I quoted earlier.

Yes, I was wrong to say Houma indians... I meant the tribes in the Amazon who were visiting La & touring the area. I struggle with constant "brain farts" & anyone who truly knows me knows that. ;]

For now, we are stocking up on nonperishables, liquor (medicinal purposes), bud (ditto), & ammo... oh, yeah... and clean water with all the lovely pthalates in it!

Dag - Have you been over to Fort Morgan & seen the dead sharks washed up on the beach?

Talk about making rainbows from disaster, perhaps someone should start up a fertilizer plant to process all the dead fish, birds, turtles & mammals that are washing up... Lotsa free raw materials to work with! I could see a fortune to be made here!

Who was it that said there's more money to be made from the destruction of a civilization than from its building up? True!

How about the restaurant at Gulf Shores trucking in all that clean sand to build a mountain so kids could build sand castles & keep active without driving parents nuts? First time I've ever seen 10-year olds playing on a heap of sand when an ocean was available...

I'm eagerly awaiting the arrival of the snakeoil salesmen offering us "guaranteed effective" respirators & filters for our homes... Money to be made there, for sure!

Gee - it's all so easy! I don't know why those shiftless people in the Gulf don't just start new businesses & get rich! In fact, they ought to be GRATEFUL this happened close to them... what with all the new business opportunities...

Morticians must be just rubbing their hands together with anticipation of profits soon to be rolling in... I bet they've ordered a whole new stock of inexpensive, simple caskets for "the small people." Heck, the wholesalers are probably offering special discounts on bulk purchases of "the Small Peoples' Package."

If they were smart, the cleanup workers would have purchased a good Term Life policy before going to work for BP... A small investment - $20 or so per month, & after a few years, your family collects $200,000! Not bad. I know people who would do that for their families...

So, let's not all dwell on the negative effects of this geological mishap... There ARE some positives out there to be found as well! Chin up, all!

Cough! Cough!

 

[SmilinBob]

Bp doesn't want to cap the well. Once it's capped scientists can get an accurate reading of the actual number of barrels pouring from this hole. If the well stays uncapped, and bp 'fixes' it with relief wells then the real number will be unknown. Then, there lawyers can argue it is a smaller number than it actually may be, in court.

 

[Anita Bonghit]

if you havent started getting out then youd be wise to start

you make it like its an easy thing to do, maybe after I graduate in a year

 

[Flying Goat]

Smiling Bob -- BP cannot cap the fucking thing... It's already way out of control. I'm not talking about the famous wellhead you see on TV, I'm talking about high pressure leaks from the sea floor - the largest of which is 8 miles from the one we are "allowed" to see on TV...

Therefore, they choose to "sink" the oil with Corexit 9500, a blend of toxins banned by most of the world, keeping the oil from floating & being seen by the public... If it were floating & successfully "skimmed" by the A. Whale or the wonderful ship offered by Norway, we would measure it & damages would be counted accordingly... That's another charade they're operating under...

They're moving clean sand from the boardwalks down to where the water breaks... How is that cleanup?

The stuff they do manage to get into bags, etc. goes into Waste Management skips lined with the equivalent of giant lawn/leaf bags... And these go into landfills in Summerdale (center of East Bay peninsula) & Clark County (just north of our place)... Sure do hope they don't accidently pierce those bags with their front-end loaders & cranes...

Our groundwater table lies between 15 & 25 feet in most areas (no more than 6 metres down, for you European folks)... Reckon any of that crap could seep down into our water supply in a few years? Anyone remember Love Canal back years ago?

Where are all the Coast Guard boats we were promised? asks Billy Nungesser, President of Plaquemines Parish? Why, they've been diverted to Costa Rica, to support a contingent of ~20,000 Marines there, trying to pick a fight with Nicaragua's Sandinista government, having already successfully completed their little coup d'etat in Honduras...

Don't believe me? Check this link:

http://axisoflogic.com/artman/publish/Article_60568.shtml

Can anyone out there fucking BELIEVE Obama is spreading our military even thinner than it's already stretched? We're in over 70 countries, with 900 bases worldwide... Now we're staging an attack on Nicaragua in the name of the FAILED War on Drugs?

With our economic situation, all of the other stresses we are dealing with as Americans... I have to ask - does anyone out there feel threatened by Nicaragua?

Did anyone feel threatened by Honduras?

Does anyone feel threatened by Afghanistan, Iraq or Iran? North Korea?

I'm more of a realist. I believe in putting out the immediate fires first...

OK, so... I FEEL THREATENED BY THE OIL & DISPERSANTS ON MY BEACHES, IN MY BAY, ESTUARIES & RIVERS...

I FEEL THREATENED BY THE HIGH LEVELS OF HYDROGEN SULFIDE, BENZENE, METHANE & METHYLENE CHLORIDE WE ARE BREATHING!

I feel THREATENED by a corporation that is gonna wipe its ass on the people of the gulf region, claiming, as BP's spokeswoman said the other day "human life in the Gulf is expendable." Wow! I'm included in "Expendable." Anybody wanna join me?

Wish I could post photos of the dead sharks & sperm whales washing up at Fort Morgan... but MEDIA & PUBLIC blackout won't permit...

Where is Greenpeace, Sierra Club, et. al? They've been bought off by massive contributions from BP over the last several years...

Anyone wonder why the environmental groups, even PETA, are so silent just now? Corruption, all of them.

If anyone who lives down here wants to survive, they've gotta get their eyes off their higher government officials & develop a bug-out plan for themselves & their families... I mean, leaving the territory... Go West, young man...

This whole "cleanup" thing is such a sham...

All my goats are pregnant... Due to deliver from 6 weeks to 3 months from now... I have moved their water tank so rainwater cannot contaminate it & am using tap water (so long as our groundwater holds out)... But the food they eat everyday gets rained on, so it's just a matter of time before I get a REAL 5-legged goat, or just some poor deformed messes that can't possibly live...

I don't expect this round of kids to be too badly affected, but what about the next ones in another 10 months?

People - please demand that your state representatives & senators put pressure on Congress & BP to implement Deep Spill II, the research plan designed by Ira Leihy of Santa Barbara, CA, to study the effects of the spill on wildlife and, yes, even on humble HUMANS! Exxon did not do this (or any followup) in Valdez.

It's gonna be interesting watching this thing shake out... from my window, as I can't breathe when I go outside...

 

[DiscoBiscuit]

Best wishes with the situation, Flying Goat. Gotta link for that 8-mile seep?

 

[Smoke Buddy]

Im so with YOU Flying Goat! My heart is breaking every day for our Gulf, its creatures and all the people like yourself. Im praying for the relief wells to work. But the damage is not done and will continue... The more I find out about the situation the more distressed and angry I get. Hang tough Goat.

 

[Danks2005]

I'd just go down there and shoot my camera. They can tell me to leave, tell me give them my camera, and I can tell them to piss off. If they try to force me to leave, or forcefully take my camera. I can shoot somthing other than my camera. Wish I was closer, I'd show these security guards/police/whoever what the 1st ammendment is all about. It would be up to them, whether want to learn about the 2nd or not.

 

[rabid]

Make sure to get photos of the sperm whales washed up at Fort Morgan. Haven't heard 'bout them yet

 

[Kalicokitty]

I'd just go down there and shoot my camera. They can tell me to leave, tell me give them my camera, and I can tell them to piss off. If they try to force me to leave, or forcefully take my camera. I can shoot somthing other than my camera. Wish I was closer, I'd show these security guards/police/whoever what the 1st ammendment is all about. It would be up to them, whether want to learn about the 2nd or not.

They will scoop you up so fast it will make your head spin.
You pull your pistol and we'll never hear from you again.
We won't hear about the outraged man who started shooting at the clean up site, in fact, we won't hear anything at all, you will just disappear.

 

[dagnabit]

ive posted hundreds of pictures i took on facebook....

there is no "blackout"

if you have pictures you are scared to publish send them to me ill post them everywhere.

 

[localman]

Horse Shit smells cleaner then the air in Florida, I live in Colorado and visited and old X GF last month, she is moving to Co to escape the possible future outcome. GET OUT WHILE YOU CAN! Didnt we all see just how much the GOVT cares about the gulf when KATRINA hit ... I am just saying Kanye West said it best "Bush don't care about black people" he should of said, "the RICH don't care about the poor or the future" either way its totaly fucked up what OUR GOVERNMENT has let happen!

 

[hoosierdaddy]

I am just saying Kanye West said it best "Bush don't care about black people" he should of said, "the RICH don't care about the poor or the future" either way its totaly fucked up what OUR GOVERNMENT has let happen!

Kanye West is a racist bastard and about as smart as a block of wood.
So are the rest of the bigoted people. Oh, and we can be bigoted against rich people, and make outlandish blanket claims about them as well. But then, we would be just about as ignorant as Kanye West.

The truth of why NO has a bad route during Katrina is because it is the epitome of the socialist state. A failure waiting to happen, no matter what the circumstances.
Now, how is it that NO was fucked by Bush, yet MS wasn't? Let me guess...maybe some of you think there are no black people in MS?

 

[mean mr.mustard]

Or we could make bigoted blanket statements about an entire political party.

 

[DiscoBiscuit]

Robert L. Cavnar is a 30 plus year energy industry veteran based in Houston, a regular commentator on national network television, and is active in local and national politics. He brings a pragmatic business perspective to his commentary, often going contrary to traditional industry political positions in expressing his opinions on energy, healthcare, media, and politics. He has deep experience in operations, start-ups, turn-arounds, and management of both public and private companies, and was most recently President and Chief Executive Officer of Milagro Exploration, a large, privately held oil and gas exploration firm based in Houston, Texas with operations along the Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi Gulf Coast and offshore Gulf of Mexico. Prior to Milagro, he served as Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Mission Resources from August 2002 until July 2005 when Mission was merged with another energy company.

Here's an article from Cavnar with perspective on BP's capping process (taking place atm.) The BP demo video is included. It's probably a good idea to watch the video first to get a visual of what Cavnar discusses.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-l-cavnar/explaining-bps-explanatio_b_642132.html

Here's a link to Cavnar's "Daily Hurricane" blog. Lots of good articles from a former oilman that gives good perspective w/o all the crap.
http://dailyhurricane.com/energy/

 

[elmanito]

I found this which is not so pretty scenario if this will happen

http://www.youtube.com/user/celtickev999#p/u/0/pZCvMQhbH-8

Namaste

 

[mriko]

Not so pretty indeed...

Shall I add some... this not pretty either, about Corex-shit.
http://www.theworldsprophecy.com/toxicologists-corexit-%E2%80%9Cruptures-red-blood-cells-causes-internal-bleeding%E2%80%9D/

Take care ya'll Gulfers (or Gulfies ?)

Irie !