Does Anyone Know How To Stop The Oil Spill?
I have no idea what will stop the oil spilling, and neither, it seems, does anyone else. Move past the political spin, who should be in charge talk, and who’s to blame chatter and listen to the scientists. What they’re saying is frightening. There are theories on how to stop the spill, but no one is certain they’ll work – and, in some cases, could actually, possibly, maybe make the situation worse.
I’m hoping someone has a major light bulb over the head moment very soon.
Tags: BP oil spill
I heard there is a Facebook page to get Betty White to stop the leak.
Seriously, why don’t we ask some of the European or Arab countries or even Venezuela how they would deal with something like this.
There is no “dealing with something like this”. While everyone was invested in harvesting the small amounts of oil avail offshore, no one was especially invested in 1) making sure these wells could be shut down in some orderly way in case of emergency and 2) the kind of deep water remediation that would need to happen if the worst case scenario happened. I already pointed to the Pacific rig that took them months to shut down. Everyone trying to shut this down and trying to deal with the deepwater spill is pretty much flying by the seat of their pants.
A gigantic cone made of reinforced concrete. Drop the cone, point first on the leak, and cork that sucker.
nuke it. Everything in that part of the ocean is dead anyway. The problem is they are trying to stop the leak AND CONTINUE PUMPING the oil.
Fuck them and their profits and their well and their right to do business. There is no punishment severe enough for the people who caused this.
the heads of all 3 companies, the evil people who deregulated the industry, the politicians who STILL defend BP (randy the racist) should be thrown into the Gulf and given the same fate as all the life they have snuffed out there.
we all know how to stop it. Drill a relief well and plug this one. The problem is that it takes about 60 days to do it under current conditions.
I hate to agree with David but he’s right. The reason the spill hasn’t been contained yet is because we don’t know how to contain it any other way. The next thing they’re trying has never been tried at these depths, we don’t know if it will work and there’s a possibility of making things worse.
Nuke – no way. There is a page to submit ideas for stopping the leak and cleaning up. There’s about 20 government agencies right now responding to the spill. The problem isn’t people, it’s that we don’t know how to deal with this unprecedented problem.
To me that means we need a serious re-thinking on offshore drilling. The potential costs way outweight the potential benefits and we were arrogant in thinking that the worst case scenario couldn’t happen.
I do think this is a big problem for the Obama administration. They are letting BP lead too much on the spill and they don’t look in charge. They shouldn’t let BP kick reporters off of beaches, they shouldn’t be seen as begging BP to use a safer dispersant and they shouldn’t have let BP cover-up the spill camera footage. The administration has a perception problem here. The bigger problem, as I see it, is that there’s really nothing we can do and major cleanup can’t start until the well stops leaking.
It’s a mess and I don’t see a solution.
Two words: Duct Tape
The problem is they were allowed to drill without having a credible disaster plan. This is probably what transpired in Dick Cheney’s secret meetings. A sea-floor breach is a scenario a child could have foreseen.
Now we have the opportunity to make sure every existing well has a plan in place. Is anybody working on that? (I honestly don’t know).
As futile as BP’s efforts are, at least they are making the effort in calm seas and nice weather. Can you imagine if this operation had to be done in the Arctic?
Plug the leak with BP executives.
Exactly anon. The biggest problem was our complete failure to plan for this scenario.
As far as what’s happening now, I think there’s still shortsightedness but new permits are put on hold. Existing permits have been granted. I’m hoping these Congressional hearings are going to lead to stricter regulations.
As for executives, that is something we have a surplus of. If the BP execs don’t plug the hole, let’s send some AIG and Lehman execs down there.
OK, but the BP executives go in first, and then the Wall Street executives standing on top. It will be like Dante’s Inferno.
I cant wait to see BP’s second quarter financial statements. How much money do you think they will make? MORE than 100m?
Between oil spills and carbon-fueled global warming, the war between dinosaurs and mammals may be not over yet. Dinosaurs might get the last laugh after all.
Great point, anon! “Revenge of the Dinosaurs” should be the name of the requiem documentary.
A mile beneath the toxic stew that was the Gulf of Mexico, something is stirring… Godzilla!
Let’s not get ahead of the script. Godzilla won’t appear until we use the A-bomb.
I would like someone to tell my why nuking it… with a small warhead. is a bad idea. It is very out of character for me to want to use a nuclear bomb on anything other than a doomsday asteroid, or the TeaParty..
So please, will one of the learned scientists tell me why it is a bad idea.
Keep in mind, i know it will destroy the area of the ocean for pretty much ever…. however that area is already lost… can we also do it armageddon style and have the CEOs of BP, Transocean, and Halliburton ON the rig when they press the button?
Two big stories out today. Of course you’re not surprised that as well as ineffective, the MMS is corrupt and incompetent. NYT:
WaPo:
Well, duh.
Bonuses for doing the wrong thing will lead to behavior you don’t want. Why do we even need to discuss this concept?
A. Price, the reason “blowing it up” frightens me is because no one knows 1)if it will work, and 2) if it will make a bad situation worse. What if “nuking” or “blowing it up” results in a bigger leak? I’m not ready for that sort of oops!
The reason I wrote the post was due to the fact that whenever I listened to, or read, scientific opinion I began to realize that no one knows how to solve this problem – and that point keeps getting lost in all the finger-pointing. There will be time for finger-pointing after we fix this… if that’s even possible.
I’m no expert but I read a nuke won’t do anything to stop the leak. The terrain is soft sand. If you want to read wonky analysis, go over to the Oil Drum.
This could be another reason why explosives aren’t such a great idea.
My guess is that BP won’t pay one cent in damages or fines. They’ll do what Texaco did when they were found guilty of tampering with the sale of Conoco – declare Chapter 11 (trial to be held in DE Chancery Court) and continue reaping in profits.
Just what we need – marshes full of radioactive oil.
I want some sharks with frikkin’ lasers on their heads!
point taken. no nukes. its a shame we cant just crimp off the well. But of course THAT would mean BP couldn’t get the oil.
everyone here is boycotting those ass hats right?
They’re going to try the “Kill Shot” this week. It’s explained on the Deepwater Horizon response website.
MJ – I believe BP is incorporated in the UK, so I’m not sure your concern could come to fruition, or not in that manner, anyway.
First, I’d like to carefully carve out their alternative energy R&D wing and make it its own entity. They are, ironically enough considering the disaster in the Gulf, a good operation in that alt energy R&D field. Take that wing and let it fly as its own bird.
After that, crush the fricking soul out of that organization.
I saw a report on CNN (TV, not web) that the dispersant they insist to continue to use is raising concerns about more or less creating a life-less zone that includes lifeforms not previously mentioned. These lifeforms, I can’t remember if they are bacteria or plankton-like, apparently exist on hydrocarbon sources, or the natural leaking of crude through the ocean floor into the Gulf. That is their energy-source. Not the sun, not plant life, not other sea-life, but hydrocarbon. I didn’t realize until that report that there is a pretty high amount of natural seepage of crude through the floor and this lifeform is quite abundant and has kept tar-ball issues in check around the Gulf. This dispersant apparently puts that existance in jeopardy, although not proven. If they wipe it out, or decimate it greatly, once this thing, if ever, is capped and the flow stopped, they expect a tar ball issue along the coast for years to come, beyond what’s from this vomiting of crude today.
…the politicians who STILL defend BP (randy the racist) should be thrown into the Gulf…
Gaah. C’mon a.price, he is RAND, not randY. You hurt me, man, you cut me deep! 😛
Smitty, I think there is a separate BP America entity that might be incorporated here.
Here’s what I don’t get: Why does the animation show mud shooting down an intact pipe and well? I thought the pipe was broken.
If the pipe can’t contain the oil going up, how is it going to contain the mud going down?
If I am not mistaken, the broken pipe is not the one underground. It is the pipe (the riser) you can see fallen over on the left of the wellhead. The underground pipe is actually a pipe within a pipe, so it is possible that they are going down on the outside pipe and coming up the inside pipe.
But I have been wrong before so your mileage may vary.
The Iranians and Russians have been telling them to use a small nuke but they refused. Iran has dealt with huge oil leaks and offered to help, but the State Dept. declined. I guess its better to allow BP and its mindless morons to continue trying this or that, rather than permit some real experts to offer up some advice. Scientists using NASA footage estimate the spill is really 6million gallons a day! One would think our fine presidunce would be sending the national guard in, but oh no he is sending national guard to the BORDER! (wash post a few minutes ago).
There are many experts that believe that detonating a nuke would actually make it worse. Currently, the wellhead is actually restricting the flow, much like a broken nozzle on a hose might slow the flow of water from it. What happens if you blow up the nozzle of that hose? Does it magically seal the hose up? And what happens if instead of having a small hole in the earths crust down to the reservoir, we have a large crack? I’ll tell you what happens; we poison all of the oceans of the world in 18 months.
Gee Geek didnt know you were an expert. You might read what the real experts are saying. The scientists that is. If this leak doesnt get fixed soon it will have poisoned all the oceans. My question remains, why is Obama sending troops to the border and not the gulf coast? Why not send the Army Corp in with bulldozers and dredge up sand barriers. That is what the people on the Gulf are requesting and he is obviously ignoring. Obama making a trip to the gulf on Friday. Will it be a flyover like Bushie?
Do you have a link to these scientists/experts, itsallacomedy? Serious question.
The Corps and various scientists are working our what rhe impacts of barriers might be. What you don’t want with a barrier is something that disrupts the hydraulics of the wetlands. If you cut off nourishment you haven’t done anything protective. Also you have to assess the impact of removing sand from habitat that is already overstressed. There’s more, but it is more complex than just building the berm.
One more thing — you do know that the current proposal is for something like 80 miles of berm? That does not happen overnight — 6 to 8 months minimum — which calls into question how useful it might be NOW when it is most needed.