Gulf Coast rig leaking buttloads of oil/day

Enough · Post by **Enough** » Wed Jun 23, 2010 6:34 pm

Drew Wheelan from the above BP corporate police state story is the bird conservation coordinator for the American Birding Association (THE go to birding NGO, doesn't get much more mainstream than this). He has a blog documenting the spill here.

BooTx · Post by **BooTx** » Wed Jun 23, 2010 8:10 pm

Looks like they got the top hat back on. You may now resume your regularly scheduled panicking.

Sandpuppy · Post by **Sandpuppy** » Wed Jun 23, 2010 10:35 pm

Let's just hope the relief well drilling goes smoother than that.

LawBeefaroni · Post by **LawBeefaroni** » Thu Jun 24, 2010 2:01 am

Enough wrote:
because Wheelan was acting suspicious and could have been a terrorist.

Well, you can't blame them. He might have been there to poison the water or something.

LordMortis · Post by **LordMortis** » Thu Jun 24, 2010 8:39 am

Off duty officers acting in official capacity, wearing uniforms, while being hired by private companies, essentially to work overtime paid by a corporation to a municipality funneled to the officer is something I have no problem with. I do have a problem with them acting on behalf on the corporation rather than municipality though. You'd think the locals would have a problem with that sort of thing too. But I'm guessing these are company municipalities who think a police state and protecting the corporation is a good thing.

Arcanis · Post by **Arcanis** » Thu Jun 24, 2010 9:23 am

LordMortis wrote:Off duty officers acting in official capacity, wearing uniforms, while being hired by private companies, essentially to work overtime paid by a corporation to a municipality funneled to the officer is something I have no problem with. I do have a problem with them acting on behalf on the corporation rather than municipality though. You'd think the locals would have a problem with that sort of thing too. But I'm guessing these are company municipalities who think a police state and protecting the corporation is a good thing.

I know it was common practice in Lafayette for the bars and clubs to have off duty police officers for security, normally wearing their uniforms. This has recently changed due to an ordnance and tax the owners suggested to the city/parish council, but had been done for years before that. So it is likely what is going on there.

Pyperkub · Post by **Pyperkub** » Fri Jul 02, 2010 6:45 pm

BP refusing skimmers to save money?

“By sinking and dispersing the oil, BP can amortize the cost of the cleanup over the next 15 years or so, as tar balls continue to roll up on the beaches, rather than dealing with the issue now by removing the oil from the water with the proper equipment,” McCallister testified earlier this week before the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce...

...A report released Thursday by the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform included a photo depicting “a massive swath of oil” in the Gulf with no skimming equipment in sight. The report concluded: “The lack of equipment at the scene of the spill is shocking, and appears to reflect what some describe as a strategy of cleaning up oil once it comes ashore versus containing the spill and cleaning it up in the ocean.”

Though I'm at least somewhat skeptical, as McCallister has a financial interest in this...

Kraken · Post by **Kraken** » Fri Jul 02, 2010 7:54 pm

Sorry if this is a duplicate. I know I posted it once before, but I think it was a different thread.

Pyperkub · Post by **Pyperkub** » Tue Jul 06, 2010 6:45 pm

OK, this (too) is fucked up:

In a March report that was not questioned by federal officials, BP said it had the capacity to skim and remove 491,721 barrels of oil each day in the event of a major spill.

As of Monday, with about 2 million barrels released into the gulf, the skimming operations that were touted as key to preventing environmental disaster have averaged less than 900 barrels a day.

Skimming has captured only 67,143 barrels

over the course of almost 3 months.

ChrisGrenard · Post by **ChrisGrenard** » Tue Jul 06, 2010 6:47 pm

Well, they could totally skim that much if the oil spill happened in, say, a dry lake bed in the central united states!

Enough · Post by **Enough** » Tue Jul 06, 2010 7:02 pm

Pyperkub wrote:OK, this (too) is fucked up:

In a March report that was not questioned by federal officials, BP said it had the capacity to skim and remove 491,721 barrels of oil each day in the event of a major spill.

As of Monday, with about 2 million barrels released into the gulf, the skimming operations that were touted as key to preventing environmental disaster have averaged less than 900 barrels a day.

Skimming has captured only 67,143 barrels
over the course of almost 3 months.

Sorry that plan was only operative when BP was still planning on actually deploying sufficient skimmers before they discovered the cost saving joys of amortization (per your post earlier).

Carpet_pissr · Post by **Carpet_pissr** » Tue Jul 06, 2010 10:57 pm

What the....?! Oil leak you say? Ahhhh right. NOW I remember. I got distracted by those recent Lohan articles in the "news" and forgot about the oil leak temporarily.

Sandpuppy · Post by **Sandpuppy** » Wed Jul 07, 2010 2:06 pm

"Hey! You sank my oil rig!"

Arcanis · Post by **Arcanis** » Fri Jul 09, 2010 9:08 pm

On my ride into New Orleans this evening I heard on the radio that they have started finding tar balls in Lake Pontchartrain. They apparently have a plan to use some barges to block the entrance to the lake and move them out of the way when ships need to pass in order to help keep the oil out.

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Thu Jul 15, 2010 4:14 pm

Crisis over?

No oil is leaking from BP Plc's blown-out Macondo well into the Gulf of Mexico for the first time since late April, a company executive said on Thursday.

Emphasis added

LawBeefaroni · Post by **LawBeefaroni** » Thu Jul 15, 2010 4:17 pm

I wouldn't say it's over. I'd say the oil flow has stopped, if what they say is correct. The crisis is ongoing. There is still oil out there, along with dispersants and who knows what else. I imagine it will be there for some time to come.

LordMortis · Post by **LordMortis** » Thu Jul 15, 2010 4:17 pm

We can hope. The one line blurb being reported is interesting in itself.

Arcanis · Post by **Arcanis** » Thu Jul 15, 2010 4:21 pm

Smoove_B wrote:Crisis over?

No oil is leaking from BP Plc's blown-out Macondo well into the Gulf of Mexico for the first time since late April, a company executive said on Thursday.
Emphasis added

Well it did explode and sink in mid April. By no means do I think this is over yet. They still have to get the bottom kill executed and not have the containment dome fail. Plus there is always the aftermath of such an event. I'm pretty sure BP is going to fire a lot of people over this and its handling. I hope the government fires a lot of people who hadn't been doing their job in inspecting/enforcing the rules here. I really hope they pull this new moratorium soon too, it is already starting to cost jobs in Louisiana.

Enough · Post by **Enough** » Thu Jul 15, 2010 4:47 pm

Smoove_B wrote:Crisis over?

No oil is leaking from BP Plc's blown-out Macondo well into the Gulf of Mexico for the first time since late April, a company executive said on Thursday.
Emphasis added

Definitely not, but I hope the test succeeds. They are really pushing the PSI, and doing so at a time when the first relief well is within 30 some feet yet they have stopped drilling it for now. Here's more context, warning it's on KOS but FishGrease has emerged as one of the smarter commentators on the BP debacle.

Fellstrike · Post by **Fellstrike** » Thu Jul 15, 2010 5:09 pm

If by "crisis" you mean the apocalypse, then no.

Arcanis · Post by **Arcanis** » Thu Jul 15, 2010 5:20 pm

Fellstrike wrote:If by "crisis" you mean the apocalypse, then no.

Well you can't win them all.

Since i have no idea how reputable helium is i started looking for this article elsewhere and couldn't find anything that seemed legit. I found it on a conspiracy site and some blogs but that was about it.

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Thu Jul 15, 2010 6:53 pm

Via Tree Hugger, Bill Nye explains how this latest fix can go horribly wrong.

Enough · Post by **Enough** » Thu Jul 15, 2010 7:29 pm

Smoove_B wrote:Via Tree Hugger, Bill Nye explains how this latest fix can go horribly wrong.

There's just something about how Bill Nye explains things that rocks. He goes over many of the same issues as FishGrease in my earlier response to you, have to love the prop. Still holding out hope this doesn't make things worse.

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Thu Jul 15, 2010 7:47 pm

Yeah, I didn't think it was anything new but Bill Nye is awesome so I figured I'd post it. And so the wait begins...

Odin · Post by **Odin** » Sat Jul 17, 2010 11:51 am

Fellstrike wrote:If by "crisis" you mean the apocalypse, then no.

If that doesn't end up as a sci-fi channel movie, I'll be shocked.

Arcanis · Post by **Arcanis** » Mon Jul 19, 2010 11:02 am

Lt. Gov. was on the radio this morning. He said Ocean Energy Group (I don't remember the whole name, but it is the Fed. agency that approves offshore wells) has refused to authorize any of the shallow water wells since the Deep Horizon accident. He said there was a brief period where the oil companies re-evaluated their plans to meet with new requirements and regulations and then submitted the revised plans to them. Normally the turn around on these for shallow water wells is quick, but none have been approved for anyone. The Lt. Gov. thinks it is because none of them wants to be the first person to approve a well in case something happens.

msduncan · Post by **msduncan** » Mon Jul 19, 2010 1:28 pm

Along the worst-case scenario world destruction line:

Methane levels millions of times higher than normal, and levels not seen except in exinction level events

Crabbs · Post by **Crabbs** » Wed Jul 21, 2010 9:58 am

msduncan wrote:Along the worst-case scenario world destruction line:

Methane levels millions of times higher than normal, and levels not seen except in exinction level events

Hmmm.... giving me a 404 error. Let's throw another log or two onto the conspiracy fire.

Arcanis · Post by **Arcanis** » Wed Jul 21, 2010 10:08 am

For those who are interested the rally against the moratorium will be broadcast on the internet. Here is the link, broadcast starts soon but rally starts in about hour and a half to 2 hours.

On the schedule that i saw it includes the Governor, Lt. Governor, Sammy Kershaw (musician that has gone into politics recently), and a few others.

silverjon · Post by **silverjon** » Wed Jul 21, 2010 11:21 am

Crabbs wrote:
msduncan wrote:Along the worst-case scenario world destruction line:

Methane levels millions of times higher than normal, and levels not seen except in exinction level events
Hmmm.... giving me a 404 error. Let's throw another log or two onto the conspiracy fire.

It was there yesterday. The people and the research appear to be real.
http://tamunews.tamu.edu/2010/05/26/pro ... nsf-grant/" target="_blank
http://tamunews.tamu.edu/2010/06/15/res ... attention/" target="_blank
http://tamunews.tamu.edu/2010/06/28/kes ... -research/" target="_blank

Google cache
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/s ... us&strip=1" target="_blank
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/s ... clnk&gl=us" target="_blank

silverjon · Post by **silverjon** » Wed Jul 21, 2010 11:30 am

I am assuming MSD heard about this page through the Drudge Report, where it apparently featured the other day. The research doesn't seem quite as scary as they make it sound.

1. Of the spilling material, 40% by weight is natural gas.

2. The main chemical component of this natural gas is methane.

3. Methane is a very potent greenhouse gas and the seafloor worldwide stores massive amounts of methane.

4. This spill is too small to influence the methane content in the atmosphere and thus will not influence modern climate.

5. Massive eruptions of natural gas from the seafloor have occurred in the geological past and this spill simulates one of those eruptions. Thus we can study this spill to understand if these previous (natural) massive eruptions in the past influenced climate and how they might behave in the future.

6. Microorganisms in the water eat natural gas and methane. This process consumes oxygen dissolved in the water. We will measure how much oxygen is being removed by natural gas and methane in the waters of the Gulf.

(Edit: cache link for quoted material http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/s ... =firefox-a" target="_blank)

LawBeefaroni · Post by **LawBeefaroni** » Mon Jul 26, 2010 9:39 am

Hayward expected to step down.

On Monday, BP's board is expected to announce that Hayward, 53, will step down on Oct. 1. The departure, say people close to the company, will be his decision as much as the board's. Hayward, a geologist who has spent his entire career working for BP, is said to recognize that he has become a liability as the company tries to move forward.

The board will probably turn to Robert Dudley, who grew up in Mississippi and who joined BP from Amoco after the two firms merged. Dudley would be the first American to run the company once known as British Petroleum.

LawBeefaroni · Post by **LawBeefaroni** » Mon Jul 26, 2010 3:49 pm

He gets sent to Siberia:

BBC wrote:BP chief executive Tony Hayward will get an immediate annual pension worth about £600,000 ($930,000) when he leaves in October, the BBC has learned.

Mr Hayward is to stand down after sustained criticism of his handling of the Gulf of Mexico oil leak.

However, a BP source said he would be nominated for a non-executive position at the firm's Russian joint venture.

Guardian wrote:But the expected unveiling of a new job for Hayward – albeit a far less important one as a non-executive director at its Russian joint venture TNK-BP – could risk diluting the public relations impact of his exit from the top.

The surprise send-off to Siberia where BP has a share in the huge Kovykta field has an added twist because Hayward is being replaced as chief executive at BP by Bob Dudley. The softly spoken American was himself the former chief executive of TNK-BP before he was forced out of the country by the Kremlin two years ago in a dispute over control of the company.

WTF? It's like three card monte. We're the marks.

Freezer-TPF- · Post by **Freezer-TPF-** » Mon Jul 26, 2010 4:43 pm

It's like MLB/NCAA/NBA/NFL coaches.

stessier · Post by **stessier** » Mon Jul 26, 2010 5:32 pm

LawBeefaroni wrote:
Guardian wrote:The surprise send-off to Siberia where BP has a share in the huge Kovykta field has an added twist because Hayward is being replaced as chief executive at BP by Bob Dudley. The softly spoken American was himself the former chief executive of TNK-BP before he was forced out of the country by the Kremlin two years ago in a dispute over control of the company.
WTF? It's like three card monte. We're the marks.

I remember reading about that Russian thing in Businessweek and on CNBC way back then. It was a pretty big deal. Russia basically nationalized their operation and when BP balked, it started claiming Dudley was a spy and stuff like that. He left rather quickly at that point.

LawBeefaroni · Post by **LawBeefaroni** » Mon Jul 26, 2010 5:43 pm

So maybe Hayward getting sent out there to be Putined?

This is him in London after the announcment/meeting.

Pyperkub · Post by **Pyperkub** » Mon Jul 26, 2010 7:00 pm

Did anyone else catch the NatGeo specials last week?

The Gulf Oil Spill (Encore 7/27 - tomorrow)

Fighting back - Stories from the Spill (Encore 7/27 - tomorrow).

We watched the 2nd one, and the first is still on the DVR. The one we watched about the cleanup was really interesting.

msduncan · Post by **msduncan** » Mon Jul 26, 2010 9:34 pm

Where is the oil?

Several weeks ago I did some research on the biggest oil spills. There was a spill into the Gulf from Mexico some years back that dumped a ton of oil straight from a well much like this spill.

The same thing was observed in that spill. The oil seemingly disappeared. The ecosystem bounced back pretty quickly, and hardly any oil ever washed up. It's still a mystery where the oil went.

tjg_marantz · Post by **tjg_marantz** » Mon Jul 26, 2010 10:08 pm

msduncan wrote:Where is the oil?

Several weeks ago I did some research on the biggest oil spills. There was a spill into the Gulf from Mexico some years back that dumped a ton of oil straight from a well much like this spill.

The same thing was observed in that spill. The oil seemingly disappeared. The ecosystem bounced back pretty quickly, and hardly any oil ever washed up. It's still a mystery where the oil went.

It's the damned Chinese and their oil ladles!

Enough · Post by **Enough** » Wed Aug 18, 2010 6:15 pm

tjg_marantz wrote:
msduncan wrote:Where is the oil?

Several weeks ago I did some research on the biggest oil spills. There was a spill into the Gulf from Mexico some years back that dumped a ton of oil straight from a well much like this spill.

The same thing was observed in that spill. The oil seemingly disappeared. The ecosystem bounced back pretty quickly, and hardly any oil ever washed up. It's still a mystery where the oil went.
It's the damned Chinese and their oil ladles!

This missing oil has been found lounging down low in Desoto Canyon.