Posted on 05/29/2010 1:13:23 PM PDT by My Favorite Headache
AP news break via ABC News Radio that the top kill plug has failed and has not worked. Link to follow...
No it's not.
They probably could put a balloon in there and Blow it up!
10 Biggest Oil Spills in History + How Oil Breaks Down in H2O"If the Deepwater Horizon spill in the Gulf of Mexico continues for another month, it may match the Exxon Valdez oil spill of 12 million gallons. But the Exxon Valdez spill does not even make it onto the top 10 list of historical oil spills."
this article is from may 10 .. they have since said those estimates were not even close and the leak has already far surpassed exxon valdez. Agreed nature has a way of taking care of itself but under reasonable circumstances .. this spill in no way shape or form is reasonable. While shores and ecosystems will recover it takes decades. Applying that kind of timeline with todays current economic outlook and the destruction this is doing to the business affected I’m sure this oil spill is more than just a stat on the top ten spill list.
I pray not, Elk. Thanks for your optimism, tho. :)
Hey, Dave - just plug the hole ;-}
So sad... My prayers for all those people who are honestly working at trying to deal with this, and those whose livelihoods are impacted along the coasts especially.
Nuke it.
Top 10 worst oil spills (MSNBC)Many of us think of the Exxon Valdez oil spill as a particularly bad one, but with about 42,800 tons of oil spilled, it doesn't rank as one of the 10 worst ever.
According to this one the Ixtoc 1 was far worse.
Oil Spills and Disasters1979 June 3, Gulf of Mexico: exploratory oil well Ixtoc 1 blew out, spilling an estimated 140 million gallons of crude oil into the open sea. Although it is one of the largest known oil spills, it had a low environmental impact.
More info on the environmental impact of Ixtoc 1.
Gulf Oil Spill a "Dead Zone in the Making"?Infauna, or small organisms such as clams and tubeworms that live in ocean sediments, are vital food sources for shorebirds and other coastal animals.
After the 1979 Ixtoc oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the area's infauna were reduced by up to 90 percent, Tunnell saida potential reason many bird species left the area in the wake of the nine-month-long spill.
However, there may be a bright side: Organisms at the bottom of the food chain reproduce more rapidly than bigger animals, Tunnell pointed out by email. After the Ixtoc spill, infauna returned to pre-spill levels within about a year.
Now, as far as how much oil is leaking from Deepwater Horizon...
Oil Spills and Disasters2010 April 24, Gulf of Mexico: The Deepwater Horizon, a semi-submersible drilling rig, sank on April 22, after an April 20th explosion on the vessel. ... In addition, U.S. Coast Guard investigators discovered a leak in the wellhead itself. As much as 25,000 barrels (1,050,000 gallons) of oil per day were leaking into the water, threatening wildlife along the Louisiana Coast.
So even if this estimate of 1.05 million gallons per day is correct, and most people think that's absurd, in the 40 days since the explosion that would be 40 million gallons. That still doesn't get it into the top 10.
Stability and integrity over the course of a mile, stacked, and under tremendous pressure.
What if oil is God greasing the joints of the rubbing plates How we gonna get a lube job when that stuff blows out or gets sucked out?
:>)
That's why God invented guy wires.
Wonder what He had against "gal wires"?
Me too - but I went into consulting [telecom]. When they are paying you big bucks, they tend to listen to you more ...
As for corporate engineering, I always remember the line by Tommy Lee Jones in Under Siege:
"I got sick and tired of coming up with last-minute desperate solutions to impossible problems created by other fucking people ..."
AP:0bama tried to take credit for it, prematurely. He owns it now.BP0bama Plug/Top Kill Has Failed
The Saudi tanker solution in conjunction with the straw/hay would have EASILY mitigated [not solve] the problem to manageable levels while they worked to shut the well down ...
They DID NOT follow the seven "P's" of engineering:
Proper Prior Planning Prevents Piss-Poor Performance ...
Not true. The Saudis had a 700 million gallon spill - used super tankers to pump the oil/water in, separate, and dump the good water back. They recovered 85% of the oil ...
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.