Coast Guard May Burn Surface Oil to Reduce Rig Spill (Update1)

[scentopine]

Source: Bloomberg Businessweek

A controlled burn may be conducted tomorrow and wouldn’t be visible from the shore, U.S. Coast Guard Rear Admiral Mary Landry said today during a press conference. A similar technique was used off the coast of Newfoundland in 1993, the Coast Guard said.

“It’s a tool in the tool kit and I want to have it as an option,” said Landry, the government coordinator of the spill response. “We fully understand that there can be benefits and tradeoffs to this.”

Landry said the spill could be one of the most significant in U.S. history. She said it could be 90 days until the source of the leak is secured permanently. Oil is escaping the well at an estimated rate of about 1,000 barrels a day.

BP, which is based in London and leased the rig from Geneva-based Transocean Ltd., began building an underwater dome to collect the oil near the seafloor, which may take two weeks to put in place, Doug Suttles, the company’s chief operating officer for exploration and production, said at an April 26 press conference.

Read more: http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-04-27/coast-guard-may-burn-surface-oil-to-reduce-rig-spill-update1-.html

---

Three Mile Island,
Chernobyl,
Valdez,
Katrina Response
Deep Horizon
Economic Collapse

Just a few...

The disasters that our leaders say we should trust will never happen, seem to happen.

Why?

[sam sarrha]

1. especially when those leaders are GOP

[scentopine]

2. Obama to Open Offshore Areas to Oil Drilling for First Time

If only dangerous and stupid behavior which, in effect, trades our livelihoods, lives and our planet for Wall Street cash was limited to just one political party, it would be so much easier.

-- link to New York Times article:

The proposal — a compromise that will please oil companies and domestic drilling advocates but anger some residents of affected states and many environmental organizations — would end a longstanding moratorium on oil exploration along the East Coast from the northern tip of Delaware to the central coast of Florida, covering 167 million acres of ocean.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/31/science/earth/31energy.html

[sam sarrha]

5. it was a " HOLLOW" compromise. a new rig couldnt be even started to be built in less than 10 years

even if there was the Steel available to build one and there isn't. china is buying up all the steel.. pretty slick actually.

[flyarm]

9. wrong there are many many tapped wells..just sitting in the gulf..why the fuck do we need more?

because this is a oil grab by the new world order..there are thousands of Closed but tapped wells just sitting waiting to be untapped and opened..why the fuck do we need more..it is a power grab by those that want to own all the oil in the gulf..go look at the Oil maps on Google.

This is why Dem's have been fighting along with environmentalists and ecologists for decades to deny any more opening of our waterways to more Oil wells!

This is about the safety of our eco system ..

Right now our air is being filled with chemical smells and smoke smells in Tampa area of beaches down to Ft Meyers over a 3 hour drive south on the west coast of Fl.

This is a disgrace!

This is a disaster!

And we are not even close to seeing the end of this disaster!

I posted this this morning..........

there is no damn reason to open our waters to more wells..none at all!

They have enough that aren't even being used..thousands of them!

Enough is enough!

Our marine life is at stake..our eco-system is at stake..our economy is at stake and the health and welfare of our seniors and infirmed people from the air quality that we are now experiencing!

E fucking nuff!

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

I Live directly on the Gulf of Mexico beaches..in Tampa area..I can't open my windows because of the chemical smells..and it is going to get hot hot hot in the next few days and will make the air smells unbearable!


Please look at the front page of the ST Pete Times..at this link..other links don't show the loop currents of the Gulf of Mexico..and how this could go all the way down to the Keys wrappng around to the Atlantic

The air yesterday where I am on the Beach in Fla near Tampa..smelled like rotten onions all day yesterday..or rotten B.O...the smell gagged me..it was so horrible..and our local Tampa news last night said they got thousands of calls yesterday about the smell..they broadcast that it was smoke and air from the spill..and the smell was from Tampa down to Ft Meyers ( for those that don't know the area..Tpa to Ft Meyeres is approx a 3 hour drive down the west coast of Fla) By last night the smell turned to a smokey smell..

WE got no warnings about the air quality..or the health risks for seniors or those infirmed..we only got info during the weather reports about the stinking air smells ..


If you don't know how to get this link to the real copy of the front page of the ST Pete Times....you will get the Tampa bay edition without the pictures of the Loop Currents.


http://www.tampabay.com/specials/publication/Times_1A/20100427.pdf

see the pictures there of the Gulf Loop currents..

St Pete Times:

Gulf oil spill could
threaten Florida


Officials predict winds will push the oil spill closer to Florida by today.
Oceanographers fear that if the spill gets caught in the gulf's powerful
loop current, the oil could wind up on the beaches of the Keys and then
be swept north along the state's Atlantic coast.

[mbperrin]

17. Actually, offshore rig utilization is around 80%. There are 125 or so

existing rigs that could be put to work immediately.

http://www.rigzone.com/data/utilization_trends.asp

Below are the overall rig utilization statistics for the entire competitive rig fleet. Utilization numbers are based on a snapshot rig count. Only competitive rigs are included. Last updated 4/23/2010
Current Month Ago 6 Months Ago 1 Year Ago
Rigs Working 497 497 466 466
Total Rigs 622 619 596 575
Utilization 79.9% 80.3% 78.2% 81.0%

[saigon68]

16. Drill Baby Drill

the leak could cause one of the worst spills in US history.

[defendandprotect]

3. Really, really sad . . . .

[flyarm]

10. More than sad..it is a disgrace!..a horrific disgrace! eom

[unkachuck]

4. now they're going....

....to pollute the air too....do these guys (we) really know how to drill off-shore safely?

....you would think they would have a bullet-proof way to shut-down that well....with the gouging price of a gallon of gas, the huge profits of the oil industry, with large amounts spent on exploration and drilling maybe they ought to do just a little more research in being able to turn the damn spigot off....

....just take a little off the top of your propaganda and advertising budget....you really don't need to tell me twenty times a day what a great green industry you are....

[Crowman1979]

6. Expecting safe offshore oil drilling or nuclear power....

...is like expecting not to get pregnant without a condom or even pulling out.

[defendandprotect]

21. Exactly ---

[slay]

7. If ANY good is to come of this we MUST not let them build any more offshore drilling

facilities. Period. None. We need to move on to solar and wind and biomass and get away from these oil cartels and the wars we fight over that TOXIC black liquid which is destroying our environment. Ugh what the hell is it gonna take? How bout we move a ton of all the money we waste on wars and instead use it to subsidize solar, wind, and biomass? How bout we stop shipping all our jobs overseas in the name of predatory capitalism? Argh sometimes it's just all too much. Our priorities as a nation, and as a species, are really fucked up. :( :mad: :grr: :scared: :cry:

[flyarm]

8. Just on Tampa news at 11 pm..Relief well to be built to tap into the oil spilling could take 4 mos

to build with a possible 4 millions of gallons of oil to leak into the Gulf.

The Oil slick is currently 90 miles off Pensacola beaches.

[PearliePoo2]

11. Drill baby drill ...McWolfKiller

you effing bitch.
(the gulf is likely to be FUBAR now)

[dipsydoodle]

12. US considers setting fire to Gulf of Mexico oil leak

Source: BBC News

Officials are considering setting fire to an oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico as efforts to stem a leak from a rig that exploded and sank are failing.

The coast guard is concerned that, unless controlled, the leak could cause one of the worst spills in US history.

The "controlled burn" could start later far from shore, said Coast Guard Rear Adm Mary Landry, who is in charge of the US clean-up effort.

Read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/8648290.stm

[entanglement]

13. This is a catastrophe. I notice Megacorp(TM) BP hasn't even bothered to explain why this happened?

[dipsydoodle]

14. Times : Plan to set sea on fire to destroy Louisiana oil spill slick

The US authorities dealing with the massive oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico are considering deliberately setting fire to the petroleum on the sea's surface.

The plan emerged as the US Coast Guard warned that the oil rig disaster will develop into one of the worst spills in US history if the well is not sealed.

BP leases the Deepwater Horizon platform that exploded 80km (50 miles) from the Louisiana coast last Tuesday killing 11 workers. It is constructing a giant dome that could be placed over the leaks as a back-up plan to try to stop the oil from spreading

As the huge slick, 965 kms (600 miles) in circumference, moved within 33 kms (21 miles) of the Louisiana coast, officials said that they were investigating the possibility of burning oil captured in inflatable containment booms floating in the gulf.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article7110086.ece

[defendandprotect]

22. And this is something like 10 days later---!!!

"Americans are smart about really stupid things!"

--- Woman from Bikini Islands after watching US nuke her homeland

[Dappleganger]

24. Will burning it help damage control

on the environment? The robot subs aren't working so far so it looks as if they're going to have to put a dome in place (which of course wasn't already built and will take three months to design/put it together).

We're so fucked. :(

[Xipe Totec]

15. Oil and water. Don't mix

[Kablooie]

27. Is that feasible? What happens to the burnt oil?

[Odin2005]

18. Unrec for tying this tragedy with anti-nuclear BS.

[defendandprotect]

23. Well, have to complement you on your open "UN" . . . .

It's all an environmental disaster -- even if the nuke doesn't go "Chernobyl" --

and that's what this is all about --

[riskpeace]

19. We're worried in Panama City Beach.

The oil could be leaking all throughout our tourist season. Locals depend on earnings over these upcoming few months to live off the rest of the year.

I support this administration. At the same time, the response has been strangely low-key to me. This is a looming economic catastrophe for the Gulf Coast. Rear Adm. Mary Landry reads scripted, vague remarks with no real information. We've been tracking the information on the NOAA recovery web site about the incident; but right now the map with the current location of the slick is at least two days old.

I've heard many comments comparing the federal government's response to Katrina. And I can truly understand the frustration that leads to that type of comparison.

[Magleetis]

20. This is so

fucked up. One of the most beautiful and alive places on earth is about to be destroyed so we can drive. Tragic and depressing.

Liquidate BP to pay for every available means to stop it.

[defendandprotect]

25. We keep asking for movement toward clean energy and we keep getting oil/nuclear . . !!!

Those who own our natural resources don't want to hear about anything GREEN.

[scentopine]

28. Don't forget "clean coal"; another oxymoron -nt

[Truth2Tell]

26. NASA Satellite image and more info from National Geographic...

A NASA satellite picture shows the oil spill as a silvery region near the U.S. Gulf Coast.
Image courtesy MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/04/100427-energy-gulf-oil-rig-spill-burn-fire/

Marianne Lavelle
April 27, 2010

With efforts so far unsuccessful to stop oil from flowing from the site of a rig accident in the Gulf of Mexico and the spill floating closer to shore, U.S. authorities said Tuesday that they're considering a controlled burn of the oil on the water's surface.

"We're prepared to use every tool in the tool kit" to fight the oil spill as far off coast as possible, said Rear Adm. Mary Landry, commander of the Eighth U.S. Coast Guard District, who is leading the response effort.

An "in situ burn" of the oil would be "a very, very controlled situation but could be a very effective method" of limiting impact of the Gulf oil spill, Landry said.

Underscoring the seriousness of the situation, she said: "If we don't secure this well, this could be one of the most significant oil spills in U.S. history."

More: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/04/100427-energy-gulf-oil-rig-spill-burn-fire/