Very disturbing, why are we still drilling?

[rumpel]

..and I am not even going to the damage of a spill.

Subsidence and Fault Activation Related to Fluid Energy Production, Gulf Coast Basin Project


Figure 1. Possible effects of petroleum production. Prolonged or rapid production of oil, gas, and formation water (2) causes subsurface formation pressures to decline (3). The lowered pressures (3) increase the effective stress of the overburden (4), which causes compaction of the reservoir rocks and may cause formerly active faults (1) to be reactivated (5). Either compaction of the strata or downward displacement along faults can cause land-surface subsidence (6). Where subsidence and fault reactivation occur in wetland areas, the wetlands typically are submerged and changed to open water (7). Figure is not to scale. D, down; U, up.
http://coastal.er.usgs.gov/gc-subsidence/


Long term footprint:

This is an aerial of damage you can see from the air. Exploratory Drilling was done in 1960. Photo taken was 28 years later:



Trash on the ocean floor:

Well Site G4950:
Site G4950 was located on a flat sandy bottom in turbid water 70 m deep (Table 9) and was found by following several large amberjack and a dense school of small silver fish that were attracted to the well bore. The bottom was littered with drilling debris consisting of a length of yellow pipe, a piece of yellow steel grate decking, a chair, two plastic buckets, a large pipe wrench, a short piece of coiled hose, and hundreds of used welding rods (Fig. 126A). A donut-shape mound of grout used to cement casing surrounded the wellhead. Currents had scoured one side of the inner edge of the mound. The grout had obliterated a community of coralgal nodules and plates, red and green algae, starfish, and sponges for a distance of 10 to 15 m around the well bore (Fig. 127B, 127C, 127D). Drilling operations and debris had disrupted the community an additional 10 m beyond (Fig. 127E).




The major conclusion reached in those studies (Shinn et al., 1989a; Dustan et al., 1991; Shinn and Lidz, 1992; Shinn et al., 1993) was that the exploratory drilling had minimal impact on the benthic environment. With careful placement of the rig or anchors on a sand bottom and if no plastic or metal debris were discarded, only a well bore would be left after time. The well bore would eventually fill with sand, leaving a magnetic anomaly to mark the spot. These conclusions pertain only to exploratory wells and cannot be used to draw conclusions concerning potential ecological impact of production wells on marine communities.
(emphasis mine)
http://pubs.usgs.gov/pp/2007/1751/professional-paper/tile9-10/oil-wells.html

Not only have we been trashing the ocean with human junk.....Magnetic anomaly! activation of faults! Are you f...'ing kidding me?

[RKP5637]

1. I remember well all of the clamor in the 70's that we were taking huge steps to

minimize our dependence on oil. BS and more BS, decade after decade after decade. As usual, follow the money trail, that's why we still drill. Greed has no conscience.

[rumpel]

2. and it is over 50 years of drilling in the region

and 20 years, according to this report of connecting the disappearance of the marsh to the drilling activities..

on edit: very different from the standard claim of the engineering of the canal etc. BS

[joshcryer]

3. Profit.

Why else? You think that global capitalism is a good pretty nice loving thing for the environment? I know that's the idea you might get from reading posts here.

It's not.