New scale of disaster looms in Gulf of Mexico

news.yahoo.com ^ | Sun May 9, 4:16 pm ET | Guillaume Decamme Guillaume Decamme

[valkyry1]

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (AFP) – Concern grew Sunday that the US Gulf coast is facing a whole new level of environmental disaster after the best short-term fix for a massive oil spill ran into serious trouble.

BP's giant containment box lay idle on the seabed as engineers furiously tried to figure out how to stop it clogging with ice crystals.

The British energy giant, which owns the lion's share of the leaking oil and has accepted responsibility for the clean-up, has tried to banish the notion that the dome is a "silver bullet" to end the crisis.

But should efforts fail to make the giant funnel system effective, there is no solid plan B to prevent potentially tens of millions of gallons of crude from causing one of the worst ever environmental catastrophes.

Untold damage is already being done by the 3.5 million gallons estimated to be in the sea so far, but the extent of that harm will rise exponentially if the only solution is a relief well that takes months to drill.

This could be risky as experts have warned that excessive tinkering with the blowout preventer -- a huge 450-ton valve system that should have shut off the oil -- could see crude shoot out unchecked at 12 times the current rate.

There are also fears the slick, which covers an area of about 2,000 square miles (5,200 square kilometers), could be carried around the Florida peninsula if it spreads far enough south to be picked up by a special current.

"If this gusher continues for several months, it's going to cover up the Gulf coast and it's going to get down into the loop current and that's going to take it down the Florida Keys and up the east coast of Florida,"

[valkyry1]

No question about it this is a terrible catastrophe and they have no solid plan B as they say if the current solution is unobtainable.

This could be worse than Chernobyl by far IMO.

[huldah1776]

Okay, engineering Freepers - here is your chance to save the Gulf. http://www.deepwaterhorizonresponse.com/go/site/2931/
They have a suggestion page.

[valkyry1]

Thanks for the link

[boycott]

Meanwhile, the obama adminstration says it’s BP’s problem.

I agree. This could be worse than Chernobyl. It is an unbelievable situation.

BP, all oil companies, the federal government, the military, or anyone else that could possibly help should be involved.

[unkus]

I read somewhere that the Russians have used special nukes.

[FBD]

Meh, more media hype, note they use “gallons” instead of barrels... makes the number larger. BP will solve this.

[valkyry1]

Barrels or gallons its a bad situation for the entire Gulf.

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

Aren’t they the same guys who didn’t believe a giant oil rig could sink?

[Little Pig]

So, I’m guessing that the problem is that the wellhead actually brings the oil above the seabed where it can float to the surface, since there are oil seeps all over the floor of the Gulf. One thought I guess would be to heat the chokepoint in the funnel to keep it from icing.

However, I really fail to see how this can be worse than Chernobyl. Chernobyl irradiated a huge swath of countryside with a form of energy inimical to life, rendering the area uninhabitable for decades. This is a long-chain carbon substance (i.e. organic chemistry), which is known to be processable by bacteria. In a few years, this stuff will have sunk back into the ground. Yes, it may get into groundwater in a few areas, but most of it will stay near the shore, where bacteria will consume it. How can this be any worse than the many asphalt seeps, tar pits, and other similar naturally occurring things?

[Liberty Valance]

Guillaume Decamme Guillaume Decamme

I know this guy! He played for the Minnesota Twins!

[valkyry1]

Maybe that’s correct for the long term but for the short term the effects on the Gulf ecology are devastating if this remains uncontrolled. That’s how see it anyway.

[jpsb]

how about pumping concrete into the 98 ton box?

[valkyry1]

I accidentally pasted the name in there twice.

[jpsb]

have a robot squeeze the pipe shut below the bop value.

[Liberty Valance]

I like it that way. You did good. ;o)

[jpsb]

build a 40 foot diameter hollow concrete pipe up to the surfaceHmmm, that might be too expensive, but pehaps we could have one on stand by to assemble if ever needed.

[TexasTransplant]

Dear Dear New York, Dear Dear California...

Compared to what you F’N idiots export on a daily basis...far less damage will be done by the Oil Well.

TT

[jpsb]

build giant balloons, fill them up (put over the gusser) and let them float to the surface and collect them.

[jpsb]

build a really big vacum cleaner and put the suction hose at the source of the leak.

[jpsb]

find a chemical that gets really hot when exposed to water then pump it down to the bop value and melt everything to a solid mass. You need to do this really fast. Nuke would be better, but evacuate the coast first.