Posted on 05/08/2010 9:53:58 AM PDT by reefdiver
ON THE GULF OF MEXICO – A BP-chartered vessel lowered a 100-ton concrete-and-steel vault onto a ruptured well in the Gulf of Mexico on Friday, an important step in a delicate and unprecedented attempt to stop most of the gushing crude fouling the sea. Underwater robots guided the 40-foot-tall box into place. Now that the contraption is on the seafloor, workers will need at least 12 hours to let it settle and make sure it's stable before the robots can hook up a pipe and hose that will funnel the oil up to a tanker. "It appears to be going exactly as we hoped," BP spokesman Bill Salvin told The Associated Press on Friday afternoon, shortly after the four-story device hit the seafloor. "Still lots of challenges ahead, but this is very good progress."
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Any one know how much oil was spilled during WW 11 ?
Are we already at WW Eleven? I missed 3 through 10.
I am in awe of what engineers can do.
>>I am in awe of what engineers can do.<<
It is all that stuff they learned in WW 9 and WW 10.
dunno about WW2 but here was a biggie:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulf_War_oil_spill
apparently Saddam was not much for “green”
460,000 tons off the US coast from U-boats during the first years of the war. 42 tankers were sunk.
Source: http://science.jrank.org/pages/4848/Oil-Spills-Oil-pollution.html
Actually, they skipped WW9 and went straight to WW10.
This spill should never have gotten this far out of control. BP has the resources and the people and should have had all contingency plans a few days away. It took them weeks to build the coffer dam - they should have had 5 dams sitting and waiting in a field - it is a pittance compared to the amount they are about to spend. These dams should have been tested, and the methodology worked through. (I am sure Exxon is building theirs now.) BP knows the amount of scrutiny that will come from a spill, they understand the pressures and vast amounts and the stakes - yet they were behind in this. Rumors of a $500K device could have prevented this but they were too cheap to deploy it - that had better not be true.
This has set off shore drilling back for years - and maybe they get a benefit as the shortage increases the value of their own holdings.
Will it come to New Jersey? Doubtful now. I would like to take $2 dollars per barrel and reduce all residential property taxes. I would vote yes for that!!! The water is only 80 feet deep at 60 miles, so the problems should be far more manageable.
>>WW10.<<
I didn’t want to confuse people.
As I am sure you know, there are 10 kinds of people in the world: those who can read binary and those who cannot.
I agree with your BP assessment. They have a horrible track record. Their refineries here in the Houston-Beaumont area are always blowing up.
As a kid 9-14, 1941 to 1945 growing up in Long Beach L.I.with the rest of the gang I would wade through knee deep sloughs of tar thick oil along our beautiful ocean shoreline in stretches i/2 mile and longer. They lasted weeks and months with no known cleanup action taking place. not even of the bits and pieces of of lifeboats and rafts and other ship debris later washed away with the changing tides. There was a war on and we didn’t read the U-boat spies in east hampton their Miranda right either. all but one of 3 or 4 was hung as i recall. IT WAS CALLED WAR!!!!!!
We are great aren’t we?
” Rumors of a $500K device could have prevented this but they were too cheap to deploy it “
If you’re referring to the “acoustic switch,” the comments I’ve read indicate that it wouldn’t have helped in any way. The loss of power and hydraulics from the rig should have automatically triggered the BOP, but didn’t. Neither did the “deadman” switch. The comments from industry insiders, etc., feel that the BOP was damaged immediately by debris, either concrete chunks or drill casing blasted through it, damaging the rams or preventing the rams from operating.
The ROVs have been unable to activate the BOP, which would seem to bolster their case for the damage. The “acoustic switch” wouldn’t have helped.
Here’s the site with a lot more information than you’ll see elsewhere. You need to read the comments, not just the article.
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2010/05/01/the-gulf-oil-rig-explosion-on-the-scene-photos/
Don’t know if any were hung, but 6 were hanged.
Stick around a few years. ;)
thanks for the reminder on the 6 of the Dasch group.
Ancient History.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.