http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=43768&src=imgrss
Posted on 04/28/2010 9:39:41 AM PDT by thackney
Coast Guard officials said they are scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. today lighting afire parts of a massive oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico to halt its spread to coastal ares from Louisiana to Florida. (See a map of the spill here.)
Weather conditions were favorable to start burning of pockets of thick, clumpy oil, which pose the biggest threat to shorelines, Coast Guard Senior Chief Steve Carlton said.
Light wind out of the northwest is providing good conditions for a controlled burn because it will blow the smoke out to sea, he said.
Under the plan as it now stands, workboats will coral oil into a fire-resistant boom about 500 feet long and tow it to remote ares where it will be lit and burned.
The plan calls for "small, controlled burns of several thousand gallons of oil lasting approximately one hour each," the Coast Guard said in a statement today.
The huge slick — estimated to be 600 miles in circumference — began last week when the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig sank into the Gulf after an apparent blowout sent the facility up in flames on April 20. The rig, owned and operated by Swiss-based Transocean, had been drilling a well at BP’s Macondo prospect some 40 miles off the coast of Louisiana when the accident occurred.
The spill continues to grow as a damaged well on the sea floor, 5,000 feet below the water’s surface, leaks up to 42,000 gallons, or 1,000 barrels, per day of crude oil into the Gulf. As of Tuesday afternoon, it had crept within 20 miles of Venice, La., the Coast Guard said.
(Excerpt) Read more at chron.com ...
Map of oil slick/spill
http://blogs.chron.com/newswatchenergy/archives/2010/04/gulf_spill_hold_1.html
Are there any crack reporters out there who are investigating the cause of this explosion? Amazing how incurious they are.
Earlier Article
Coast Guard considers burning off some of spilled oil
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/energy/6978896.html
April 28, 2010, 8:16AM
excerpted:
Doug Suttles, chief operating officer of BP exploration and production, put the $6 million-a-day estimated price tag on the cleanup. “We’re hitting this thing as hard as we can,” he said, noting the 1,000 people, 50 boats and five planes corralled for the job.
BP said it was still using robot submarines to try to engage shut-off valves on a huge piece of equipment called a blowout preventer, or BOP, that sits atop the well on the sea floor. If successful, the well could be sealed off immediately. Suttles said BOPs typically have just three access points on a control panel, but that BP engineers are working to find new options for engaging the valves.
Second oil rig arrives
BP is also working on backup plans to build a subsea oil collection system that could be installed on the sea floor in four weeks or less, although such systems have been used only in shallower waters before now. Grote described the device as a large canopy, or “inverted funnel,” that would cover the wellhead and send oil to a facility on the surface to be processed.
In addition, the Deepwater Discovery III drilling rig arrived on the scene late Monday night, so BP could prepare to drill a relief well into the damaged one, inject it with heavy fluids and then seal it with cement.
Grote said the well, which could take two to three months to drill, would have been drilled anyway, since commercial quantities of oil had been discovered at the Macondo prospect and further development was warranted.
The Coast Guard’s Landry said while the effort was making progress on several fronts, “we’re probably 90 days out from securing this source permanently.”
Where did i put those marshmallows?
OK, I’ll be patient.
I know this creates some duplicate information but I wanted to put it all into one thread rather than create multiple threads each day.
UPDATE 11- Controlled burn scheduled to begin
http://www.deepwaterhorizonresponse.com/go/doc/2931/532827/
April 28, 2010 10:17:02 CST - Coast Guard
The response to BP/Transocean’s Deepwater Horizon incident continues as responders have scheduled a controlled, on-location burn to begin at approximately 11 a.m. CDT today—a strategy designed to minimize environmental risks by removing large quantities of oil in the Gulf of Mexico following the April 20 explosion.
Part of a coordinated response combining tactics deployed above water, below water, dozens of miles offshore, as well as closer to coastal areas, today’s controlled burn will remove oil from the open water in an effort to protect shoreline and marine and other wildlife.
Workboats will consolidate oil into a fire resistant boom approximately 500 feet long. This oil will then be towed to a more remote area, where it will be ignited and burned in a controlled manner. The plan calls for small, controlled burns of several thousand gallons of oil lasting approximately one hour each.
No populated areas are expected to be affected by the controlled burn operations and there are no anticipated impacts to marine mammals and sea turtles. In order to ensure safety, the Environmental Protection Agency will continuously monitor air quality and burning will be halted if safety standards cannot be maintained.
The Minerals Management Service is in contact with the oil and gas operators in the sheen area to discuss any concerns with operations that may arise from their activities with the response efforts underway. Currently, no production has been curtailed as a result of the response activities.
The vast majority of this slick will be addressed through natural means and through use of chemical dispersants. Today’s burn will not affect other ongoing response activities, such as on-water skimming, dispersant application, and subsurface wellhead intervention operations. Preparations are also underway in Louisiana, Mississippi, Florida and Alabama to set up a protective boom to minimize shoreline impact.
These efforts are happening concurrently with BP/Transocean’s continued efforts to stop the crude that is still leaking from the well. BP is the responsible party due to the fact that they own the oil that was leaking from their well.
Emphasizing the importance of continued vigilance and interagency coordination in the response to BP/Transocean’s Deepwater Horizon incident in the Gulf of Mexico, Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano and Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar yesterday announced the next steps for the investigation that is underway to determine the causes of the explosion, which left 11 workers missing, three critically injured, and an ongoing oil spill that the responsible party and federal agencies are working to contain and clean up.
Assistant to the President for Energy and Climate Change Carol Browner, White House Senior Advisor Valerie Jarrett, Secretary Napolitano, U.S. Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Thad Allen, Secretary Salazar and DOI Deputy Secretary David Hayes also held meetings yesterday with BP, the responsible party in the oil spill, to discuss the response effort.
A coordinated response continues by federal, state and local partners while BP and other contractors work to stop the flow of oil and minimize its environmental impact. Approximately 1,100 total personnel are currently deployed and have used approximately 56,000 gallons of oil dispersant so far. Approximately 260,000 gallons of oily water have been collected. Nearly 50 vessels—including 16 skimming boats, four storage barges, 11 support vessels—and multiple aircraft are conducting containment and cleanup operations in the area.
A Web site has been established where photos, press releases and fact sheets are available at www.deepwaterhorizonresponse.com. A toll free number has been established to report oiled or injured wildlife. To report affected wildlife, call (866) 557-1401. Individuals are urged not to attempt to help injured or oiled animals, but to report any sightings to the toll free number.
Not like we have any other choice...
I’m wondering how many wind turbines, hybrid cars, electric cars, high speed trains, solar energy collectors and geothermal power plants are going to have to be placed into service in order to counter the negative atmospheric side effects of burning all this oil?
Kind of like the Icelandic volcano, no media I heard or saw ever discussed the greenhouse-gas emission element of the eruption.
The miniscule effect of environmentalists’ planned efforts would stand out too clearly
Flame thrower???
Flare gun???
It will need to be a hot source as the many light ends are dispersed already.
Mmmm Blackened redfish, my favorite.
Can’t say I’ve ever tried it... but I’d soak some rags in gas, light them... and use a stick to lay them on the thickest part of the oil. Or maybe float some road flares on little pieces of styrofoam.
Rig Personnel Evacuated from Ocean Endeavor
http://rigzone.com/news/article.asp?a_id=91787
On Monday, April 26, rig personnel were evacuated from Diamond Offshore’s Ocean Endeavor semisubmersible drilling rig, located on Mississippi Canyon Block 211.
An oil slick spreading from the nearby Mississippi Canyon 252 area, where the Deepwater Horizon semisub sunk on April 22 in approximately 5,000 ft of water, spurred Exxon Mobil Corp. to take precautionary measures to ensure the safety of its offshore personnel
Mighty curious timing for this explosion, eh? Last time something like this happened was in the '60s, right?
All of a sudden we've got Congresscritters reversing their "pro drill" stance.
It's like the airport body scanners. Prior to the "underwear bomber", nobody wanted these things. Now, they're clamoring for them left and right.
Methinks we're being played.
I was informed this morning that if the spill reaches Venice I will have to send my crews to do beachfront cleanup. Lord, I sure hope not.
Sadly, they happen all to often. This was just one of the worse since Piper Alpha.
Oil Rig Disasters
http://home.versatel.nl/the_sims/rig/index.htm
I know some people that would take any work they can get. It is not a fun job but it is better than sitting at the house looking at unpaid bills....
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