BP Finds Chemical That Disperses Oil in Deep Water

[deminks]

Source: CNBC

Officials from BP have successfully tested a chemical that attaches itself to oil and weighs it down to the ocean floor, where there are natural forces that absorb the oil, CNBC has learned.

The oil giant said it tested the dispersants, which are manufactured by Nalco , last night, and is authorized to begin using it on a larger scale.

BP said it is looking for additional suppliers to begin manufacturing the material in mass quantities.

Nalco told CNBC that it is working to increase production at its Sugarland, Texas, plant.

The news comes as rough seas have been hampering efforts to contain the spreading oil slick, which threatens shoreline along the Gulf Coast.

By Saturday, it was becoming apparent that the oil spill may be far more devastating than first feared.

Read more: http://www.cnbc.com/id/36886842

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I hope to hell they are not blowing smoke again. Article says the spill has tripled in size in 24 hours.

[asdjrocky]

1. FUCK BP

[Delphinus]

29. I agree ...

"fuck BP" ... however, if there really *IS* something to this, then I pray it works without harming anything further. And that it works quickly.

[CountAllVotes]

2. Oil spill may be far more devastating than first feared

Note this headline appears as Pres. Obama is on his way right now to the gulf to ascertain wtf is going on down there!

He has a :tinfoilhat: on too IMO.

:dem: :kick:

[dhpgetsit]

3. Sounds like sweeping it under the rug.

I don't believe they can be trusted. They are only interested in saving a few bucks.

[MadMaddie]

4. The changing winds are contributing to this disaster.

[movonne]

5. What is in the chemical that they are using???could this be something

that could do more harm than good???

[Cleita]

6. My thoughts too.

Also, they need to cap the well or the oil will keep coming. Isn't there some kind of submarine-like underwater vehicle that they can deploy with divers to try to stop the gush or is it too forceful to permit something like this?

[dixiegrrrrl]

15. Apparently the problem is the depth of the water

and the strength of the water pressure.
In fact, it is being revealed that drilling at those depths is demonstrating all sorts of problems.

And the oil is GUSHING out of 3 places in the broken pipe a mile deep.

[geckosfeet]

7. "where there are natural forces that absorb the oil" - yeah, sure. In about 1000 years.

[KeepItReal]

8. Thus dropping the oil right on top of shrimp and oyster beds

Frickin genius.

:-(

[B2G]

13. They're using the dispersents 50 miles out at the source of the leak

It's not going to drop on oyster beds.

[Veilex]

14. Even if it doesn’t drop directly onto the oyster beds....

it will still hit the ocean floor. There is no mysterious "natural forces that absorb the oil" on any level to make a difference with the amount of oil that has been spilt. The sea floor IS NOT equipped to handle the volume of oil that would smother it. Also, where is the research to see if this chemical inhibits any so-called absorption process? I believe BP is just creating an emulsifier to get the oil out-of-site-out-of-mind.
The oil will cause severe damage to the surrounding ecosystems both by direct contact and through dispersion by being carried by other animals... which will affect the oyster beds

[B2G]

16. Google Prince William Sound recovery n/t

[Veilex]

18. Hrmmmm

I have neither the inclination nor the time to sift through the myriad of sites off that google search. If you have a specific site you'd like me to look at, i'd happily do so.
I, on the other hand, have a specific site i'd like you to look at:

http://www.wisegeek.com/how-do-oil-spills-affect-marine-life.htm

The most dangerous type of oil spill is one which dumps a large amount of oil all at once, overloading the ability of the ocean to process it. These large oil spills affect marine life very negatively.

Last I checked, this spill is larger than the Exxon Valdez spill.

[B2G]

21. I'm not saying that this is a disaster

I'm saying that nature has a way of recovering. In the meantime, thinking about the impacts of this makes me ill.

And it's not bigger than Exxon Valdez...yet. It certainly has the potential to ecslipse that if they dont' get this thing capped. Right now explosives is looking like the best alternative.

[Delphinus]

30. What would the explosives do?

Would that really stop the oil from gushing out? Would the explosives seal it somehow?

[Thor_MN]

23. Shrimp and oyster beds at 5000 feet?

I agree this isn't a good fix for the problem, but the shrimp and oyster beds are in much more shallow water.

[Akoto]

9. Seems like a partial solution.

If it works, it would immobilize the advancing slick, but what about the oil that's still flowing out of the ocean floor? We'll just need to keep dumping more and more of this miracle chemical, which (knowing BP) is probably carcinogenic and kills everything in the sea.

[FarLeftFist]

10. 10 years later....

Oh maybe we should have tested that chemical a little longer, we didn't know children would be born with mutated genes or that it would kill an entire eco-system. Oops.

[alp227]

11. Nice. Now use the chemical. NOW. n/t

[enki23]

12. there is nothing new about using flocculants in cleaning up oil spills

[Jefferson23]

17. I don't know a thing about flocculants, why do you think BP

hesitated to use it?

[northernlights]

19. proably for the same reason they skipped all kinds of safeguards

their internal documents show they decided that there wasn't any risk to what they were doing, so they didn't bother to make any contingency plans.

They probably only just heard of the stuff. fucktards.

Goodbye Gulf of Mexico. Goodbye Florida Keyes. The way this thing is spouting and spreading, it's now looking possible that it may round the bend and effing destroy the Atlantic coast too.

[boppers]

24. Production and dispersion costs is my guess.

Assuming a 5:1 ratio, dispersing 5,000 barrels of *anything* over the size of a small state isn't going to be cheap, or easy.

[Doremus]

20. Careful. They could be unleashing god-knows-what as a fast (cheap) fix.

[truthisfreedom]

22. Tripled in 24 hours???

It's completely out of control.

[Duer 157099]

25. All the dozens of years that scientists have trying to solve this problem

and they just suddenly solved it in a few days?

Why am I a tad bit skeptical?

[Duer 157099]

26. I bet that if they had proposed this method in their original permit requests

they would have been DENIED! Sounds like they really don't know much about the process and the risks.

[drm604]

27. Chemicals Meant To Break Up BP Oil Spill Present New Environmental Concerns

Chemicals Meant To Break Up BP Oil Spill Present New Environmental Concerns
http://www.propublica.org/article/bp-gulf-oil-spill-dispersants-0430

The chemicals BP is now relying on to break up the steady flow of leaking oil from deep below the Gulf of Mexico could create a new set of environmental problems.

Even if the materials, called dispersants, are effective, BP has already bought up more than a third of the world’s supply. If the leak from 5,000 feet beneath the surface continues for weeks, or months, that stockpile could run out.

On Thursday BP began using the chemical compounds to dissolve the crude oil, both on the surface and deep below, deploying an estimated 100,000 gallons. Dispersing the oil is considered one of the best ways to protect birds and keep the slick from making landfall. But the dispersants contain harmful toxins of their own and can concentrate leftover oil toxins in the water, where they can kill fish and migrate great distances.

The exact makeup of the dispersants is kept secret under competitive trade laws, but a worker safety sheet for one product, called Corexit, says it includes 2-butoxyethanol, a compound associated with headaches, vomiting and reproductive problems at high doses.
...

[Delphinus]

31. Well, that

answers my question. Thanks.

[Owl]

28. Just wonderful. Let's pour more chemicals into our water. Fuck BP.

[Dark]

32. You know, while we want to get this cleaned up asap, what's the long-term effects of the chemical?

Are we robbing peter to pay paul? I mean, we don't want to create a situation that's worse in the long run.

Still, we do need to try something. I hope this works w/o any long term negative effects.

[harun]

33. BS

[sazerac]

34. The air we breathe

They are going to monitor the air for fumes that could cause cancer. Do we just move away? I can't deal with this. I'm in New Orleans and have been through enough hell for one life.

[Haole Girl]

35. Fucking idiots. nt

[Cass]

36. "...natural forces that absorb the oil..."

I don't know, this sounds kind of fishy to me. I don't like the idea of pouring a bunch of chemicals in to this.

[Marthe48]

37. Didn't somebody find oil-eating bacteria a few yrs. back?

There was a court fight over being able to patent biologicals and these oil-eating bacteria was mentioned in those patent fights. I think the court ruled against the patents, but if somebody works with the bacteria, it'd be nice if they made them available now. They were supposed to be used for oil spills, guess this one is so huge, it'll take more than bacteria to stop the environmental destruction. Too, too bad that so many people do not understand that except for this planet, we have no place to live.

[w8liftinglady]

38. suuuurree..made by a Halliburton subsidiary

[arikara]

39. Oh sure, just throw more chemicals into the ocean

Why not poison everything fast. Bastards.