First Attempt To Stop Oil Spill With Insertion Tube Has Failed, According To Ken Salazar - NOLA.com

[WillyT]

First attempt to stop oil spill with insertion tube has failed, according to Ken Salazar
By The Times-Picayune
May 15, 2010, 11:47AM

<snip>

BP's first attempt to stem the flow of oil into the Gulf of Mexico with a 6-inch tube has failed, according to U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar.

At a news conference in Buras Saturday morning, Salazar told reporters that BP had to reconfigure the tube and is trying to insert it again today. The tube will be pushed directly into the pipe 5,000 feet below the surface of the Gulf, acting as a straw to suck oil up to a ship waiting to collect the oil.

"There was a problem. They had to reconfigure. They are back down again ... trying to get it inserted," he told reporters, declining to offer further information.

BP PLC has offered scant details of its progress in trying to thread the 6-inch tube into the 21-inch pipe spewing oil from the ocean floor. Company spokesmen said technicians are continuing the methodical work of using joysticks to guide the deep-sea robots that are manipulating the contraption, but wouldn't elaborate on Salazar's report.

"We've never done such operations before and we need to take our time to get it right," spokesman Jon Pack said in an e-mail Saturday.

The tube is intended to suck oil up like a straw to a tanker on the surface, while a stopper surrounding it would keep crude from leaking into the sea.

At least 210,000 gallons of oil -- and much more, according to some estimates ( http://www.nola.com/news/gulf-oil-spill/index.ssf/2010/05/experts_debate_size_of_gulf_of.html ) -- is pouring into the Gulf each day, threatening fisheries, wildlife and Louisiana's fragile wetlands.

<snip>

Link: http://www.nola.com/news/gulf-oil-spill/index.ssf/2010/05/first_attempt_to_stop_oil_with.html

:argh:

:wtf:

[TwilightGardener]

1. The tube would have to be structurally very strong, and must be inserted

and maintained in place with a lot of force, to counteract the force of the gusher. I really hope it works.

[MadHound]

2. And who didn't see this fail coming

There's really only one way to shut this puppy down, and the is drilling the relief hole and inserting a plug, concrete, etc. That's going to take months, and until then all we're seeing here is a mummer's play put on to convince the public that something is being done.

[jimshoes]

3. Every "fix" so far has been with the end result of recovering their

"precious" oil in mind. They couldn't care less if that gusher leaked for the nexy fifty years as long as they are able to finally put a working spigot on that liquid death. Bastards.

[nenagh]

4. Sadly, the upper strata manager/s of BP or another company ...

apparently made the poor decisions, and a blowout occurred..

But the engineers working on the "fixes" aren't the cause of the problem..

And those guys actually working on the ship to bring up this high pressure gas/oil mix, may be the ones in danger...

I really feel for the guys on the job in the Gulf around that blown up rig.

[frustrated_lefty]

5. This fix sounds like it's aimed at retrieving oil

and not stopping the flow. Perhaps I'm wrong, but it sounds like these bastards are trying to make a profit off it, rather than fixing it.

[nenagh]

6. The beautiful gulf coast and all the residents...

I hope for a miracle.. that this sippy straw of BP's works.

[WillyT]

7. Evening Kick !!!

:kick: