Oil Spill Off of the Gulf Expected to be Worse Than Exxon Valdez

[magekillr]

An oil spill that threatened to eclipse even the Exxon Valdez disaster spread out of control with a faint sheen washing ashore along the Gulf Coast Thursday night as fishermen rushed to scoop up shrimp and crews spread floating barriers around marshes.

 

The spill was bigger than imagined — five times more than first estimated — and closer. Faint fingers of oily sheen were reaching the Mississippi River delta, lapping the Louisiana shoreline in long, thin lines.

 

[...]

 

Government officials said the blown-out well 40 miles offshore is spewing five times as much oil into the water as originally estimated — about 5,000 barrels, or 200,000 gallons, a day.

 

At that rate, the spill could eclipse the worst oil spill in U.S. history — the 11 million gallons that leaked from the grounded tanker Exxon Valdez in Alaska's Prince William Sound in 1989 — in the three months it could take to drill a relief well and plug the gushing well 5,000 feet underwater on the sea floor.

 

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5g5gnWbqZ9SqBHvSYqJeE2AT5KebwD9FD3SV81

 

Adding on, BP and oil companies opposed regulations because, GASP, offshore drilling wouldn't be profitable with them in place:

 

BP America, whose well in the Gulf of Mexico is spewing 1,000 barrels of oil each day after a rig explosion last week, joined with other oil companies last year to oppose stricter safety and environmental rules.

 

http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2010/04/27/27greenwire-bp-other-oil-companies-opposed-effort-to-stiff-38887.html

 

Not only is this supposed to surpass Exxon Valdez in the amount of oil spilled, but I expect it to far surpass the amount of cost in damage. I think it's safe to say that this is an ecological apocalypse and it's going to destroy the fishing industry on the Gulf Coast and cost billions (perhaps a trillion) to clean up as best we can. It can't be completely cleaned up, and you can't fix species extinction.

 

Of course, the dirty f***ing hippies like myself warned Obama not to take up support of offshore drilling as a plank on his energy policy. He could have used this disaster to catapult his energy and climate change agenda, but now he's stuck defending offshore drilling; he now owns it. Maybe he should listen to the environmentalists next time. He still can use it to launch his energy policy, but rather than mocking and scorning Sarah Palin and her minions, he's part of that crowd.

 

I only have one thing left to say, and it's a quote from Bill Maher:

 

"Every [wagon] who ever chanted 'Drill baby drill' should have to report to the Gulf coast today for cleanup duty."

 

Discuss the disaster and energy policy as you will; climate change ties into that.

[Shangdi]

Oh noes! where will all my fish (that i eat) come from now?! :o

[Bloodstain]

No mention of the 11 people who died in the article?

[obfuscator]

What I find interesting is there's still no mention of what caused the disaster in the first place.

 

I like the gov. response, but its also clear BP is woefully unprepared for something like this.

[Skeptical]

Oh noes! where will all my fish (that i eat) come from now?! :o

 

The same drag-nets and polluted, heavy metal laden fish farms that they came from before.

[fastortoise]

Wow, just wow. :thumbdown:

[OldJoe]

I think the environment is one of the few things we agree (or have similar views at least) on heh.

I can't imagine how pissed off i'd be if i lived in Louisiana. I still am, but it's hard to grasp. The seas are already on their way to being out-fished , and this environmental catastrophe will only speed it up. If we talk political issues, the environment is, among a couple of others, something that i feel strongly for. Especially when it comes to water life, since i'm a sport fisher.

 

This is yet another example on why hydrogen fuel cell technology should be pushed forward even more (yes i know oil is used to alot of other things besides cars).

I haven't bought the idea of recharging cars from the plug, since i don't think that batteries is the way to go. Let's not forget from where the electricity comes from, and recharging batteries takes too long and are way too heavy when it comes to extracting any significant power from 'em.

[Bloodstain]

What I find interesting is there's still no mention of what caused the disaster in the first place.

 

I like the gov. response, but its also clear BP is woefully unprepared for something like this.

 

Well I mean, it IS sunk right? No way to know for sure at the moment, or maybe ever

[Lenticular_J]

This is why I'm proud of what my brother-in-law does for Exxon. He alone has already designed three complete projects for renewable energy in a year.

[Giordano]

The only thing I feel for is the fishermen. Your income ruined because of this stupidity.

[Sam]

Where shall my tuna come from now?

[magekillr]

I'm still not sure of the cause, but:

 

Regulators have previously identified problems in the cementing process as a leading cause of well blowouts, in which oil and natural gas surge out of a well with explosive force. When cement develops cracks or doesn't set properly, oil and gas can escape, ultimately flowing out of control. The gas is highly combustible and prone to ignite, as it appears to have done aboard the Deepwater Horizon, which was leased by BP PLC, the British oil giant.

 

Concerns about the cementing processand about whether rigs have enough safeguards to prevent blowoutsraise questions about whether the industry can safely drill in deep water and whether regulators are up to the task of monitoring them.

 

The scrutiny on cementing will focus attention on Halliburton Co., the oilfield-services firm that was handling the cementing process on the rig, which burned and sank last week. The disaster, which killed 11, has left a gusher of oil streaming into the Gulf from a mile under the surface.

 

http://crooksandliars.com/karoli/deepwater-horizon-disaster-directly-links-h

 

Thanks, Halliburton! It seems deregulation, once again, was a big problem.

[H2PM]

Well.

Louisiana is screwed.

[SeanyTheSailor]

I suppose that one of the few ways it could get worse is if New Orleans flooded again.... and then set of fire.

[Joes_So_Cool]

True shame really, wish I could lend a hand personally with the cleanup.

[Kaphias]

The sad thing is that we here in Alaska are still seeing the effects of the Exxon Valdez spill even some 20 years later. These types of things do not go away after a few years, their impact is long term and can be quite devastating to the area.

[Nero]

I love it how their solution was to just set the thing on fire.

 

'Look at all this oil, how the hell are we going to clean all this [cabbage] up?!'

'What's the deadline...until it hits the beaches?'

'Like...a day? Not long enough'

'Waiiit a minute!'

'What?'

'Oil is flammable right?'

'By God you're a genius!'

 

Oh fire...is there anything you can't solve?

[lordkafei]

Just to stir the pot a bit...

 

A grim report circulating in the Kremlin today written by Russia's Northern Fleet is reporting that the United States has ordered a complete media blackout over North Korea's torpedoing of the giant Deepwater Horizon oil platform owned by the World's largest offshore drilling contractor Transocean that was built and financed by South Korea's Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. Ltd., that has caused great loss of life, untold billions in economic damage to the South Korean economy, and an environmental catastrophe to the United States.

 

ref: http://www.whatdoesi...m/index1367.htm

[Tim]

Better not fork up fuel prices. $1.40 AU is already too much to begin with...

 

(Except the Garage I go to. $1.20 all the time. God I <3 them.)

[Lenticular_J]

Just to stir the pot a bit...

 

A grim report circulating in the Kremlin today written by Russia's Northern Fleet is reporting that the United States has ordered a complete media blackout over North Korea's torpedoing of the giant Deepwater Horizon oil platform owned by the World's largest offshore drilling contractor Transocean that was built and financed by South Korea's Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. Ltd., that has caused great loss of life, untold billions in economic damage to the South Korean economy, and an environmental catastrophe to the United States.

 

ref: http://www.whatdoesi...m/index1367.htm

I thought it was a BP oil rig? Or were there two rigs, this one attacked and the other just leaking?

[Saru Inc]

I'm still not sure of the cause, but:

 

Regulators have previously identified problems in the cementing process as a leading cause of well blowouts, in which oil and natural gas surge out of a well with explosive force. When cement develops cracks or doesn't set properly, oil and gas can escape, ultimately flowing out of control. The gas is highly combustible and prone to ignite, as it appears to have done aboard the Deepwater Horizon, which was leased by BP PLC, the British oil giant.

 

Concerns about the cementing processand about whether rigs have enough safeguards to prevent blowoutsraise questions about whether the industry can safely drill in deep water and whether regulators are up to the task of monitoring them.

 

The scrutiny on cementing will focus attention on Halliburton Co., the oilfield-services firm that was handling the cementing process on the rig, which burned and sank last week. The disaster, which killed 11, has left a gusher of oil streaming into the Gulf from a mile under the surface.

 

http://crooksandliars.com/karoli/deepwater-horizon-disaster-directly-links-h

 

Thanks, Halliburton! It seems deregulation, once again, was a big problem.

 

 

So aggravating when companies rush things to save money, as I'm assuming they did with the cementing. Or on the other hand, they use obviously flawed mechanics to save money.

[lordkafei]

I thought it was a BP oil rig? Or were there two rigs, this one attacked and the other just leaking?

 

BP was renting it from a company named Transocean, but it was built by South Korea's Hyundai Heavy Industries. The story is a conspiracy theory (IMO), but I thought it was interesting enough to pass along.

[Lenticular_J]

Oh, okay. I was about to say - if North Korea had done something like that, causing such damage to the US (and attacking practically in our territorial waters), I would be amazed that we weren't at war yet.

[jasignhagj]

Drill baby drill!!

 

Honestly, this pisses me off. America acts like its their god given right to drill wherever they want, and then pollute other countries water. Id love to tie up the [wagon] who runs the oil company that owns the rig, and give him a lash for every animal he killed.

[SeanyTheSailor]

Drill baby drill!!

 

Honestly, this pisses me off. America acts like its their god given right to drill wherever they want, and then pollute other countries water. Id love to tie up the [wagon] who runs the oil company that owns the rig, and give him a lash for every animal he killed.

Are you for real? We aren't even allowed to drill more than 10 miles off our own shore....

 

And by the way the guy who owns the rig..... that would be BP, a British company. And it was built by a non-American company.... No offense but I really hope you were joking.