Oil Slick Getting Real Serious

[RWS]

BP has no choice - part of the deal about getting federal oil leases is that you are liable for any pollution.  The Feds would sue their asses seventeen ways to Sunday if they didn't pay, plus make them forfeit all remaining leases inthe GOM and other US waters, and probably seizze their other domestic assets too.  BP is not jsut being "responsible' - they got no fucking choice.

The Feds don't want to have to try and sort out who is at fault, so they make the Operator (BP) eat it all and then let BP and its lawyers sue everyone else to try and recoup losses. 

 

Well then, I am pretty thankful they have it setup that way. Whether they want to or not, at least they aren't dicking around about it. I just don't understand why so many people are outraged that BP, government, etc should be doing more. I mean, sure, this boom shit isn't working. We had 6-9 ft seas down here over the weekend with 20-25 kt winds out of the south. Even if the booms could withstand that, you're still going to get oil coming over those booms. Most of the booms were knocked loose over the weekend. I was out on the boat on Friday, and they already had Orange Beach pretty much sealed off. They were already putting sand in the lagoon pass on west beach in Gulf Shores to seal Little Lagoon off.

I guess from the inside looking out, I feel as if everybody seems to be doing everything that can be done down here.

[Saniflush]

Can't we just strike a match? 

I was kinda cold this winter anyway.

[The Prowler]

Here's an Email I received Monday night.  The caller "James" was on the rig and he gives descriptions of what went down, how it went down, etc.

On Friday, April 30th 2010, an anonymous caller contacted the Mark Levin Show to clarify the events that preceded the Deepwater Horizon tragedy. Rigzone has transcribed this broadcast for your convenience. To hear the actual radio broadcast please visit www.MarkLevinShow.com.


Mark: Dallas Texas WBAP. Go right ahead, sir.

James: Just want to clear up a few things with the Petroleum Engineer, everything he said was correct. I was actually on the rig when it exploded and was at work.

Mark: Alright, let's slow down. Wait, hold on, slow down, so you were working on this rig when it exploded?

James: Yes sir.

Mark: OK, go ahead.

James: We had set the bottom cement plug for the inner casing string, which was the production liner for the well, and had set what's called a seal assembly on the top of the well. At that point, the BOP stack that he was talking about, the blow out preventer was tested. I don't know the results of that test; however, it must have passed because at that point they elected to displace the risers -- the marine riser from the vessel to the sea floor. They displaced the mud out of the riser preparing to unlatch from the well two days later and they displaced it with sea water. When they concluded the BOP stack test and the inner liner, they concluded everything was good.

Mark: Let me slow you down, let me slow you down. So they do all these tests to make sure the infrastructure can handle what's about to happen, right?

James: Correct, we're testing the negative pressure and positive pressure of the well, the casing and the actual marine riser.

Mark: OK, I'm with you. Go ahead.

James: Alright, after the conclusion of the test, they simply opened the BOP stack back up.

Mark: And the test, as best as you know, was sufficient?

James: It should have been, yes sir. They would have never opened it back up.

Mark: OK next step, go ahead.

James: Next step, they opened the annular, the upper part of the BOP stack

Mark: Which has what purpose? Why do you do that?

James: So that you can gain access back to the wellbore.

Mark: OK

James: When you close the stack, it's basically a humongous hydraulic valve that closes off everything from below and above. It's like a gate valve on the sea floor.

Mark: OK

James: That's a very simplistic way of explaining a BOP. It's a very complicated piece of equipment.

Mark: Basically, it's like a plug. But go ahead.

James: Correct. Once they open that plug to go ahead and start cementing the top of the well (the well bore), we cement the top, and then basically we would pull off. Another rig would slide over and do the rest of the completions work. When they opened the well is when the gas well kicked, and we took a humongous gas bubble kick up through the well bore. It literally pushed the sea water all the way to the crown of the rig, which is about 240 feet in the air.

Mark: OK, so gas got into it and blew the top off of it.

James: Right.

Mark: Now don't hang up. I want to continue with you because I want to ask you some questions related to this, OK? Including, has this sort of thing ever happened before, and why you think it may have happened, OK?

Mark: Alright, back to James, that's not his real name, Dallas WBAP. I'm not going to give the working title of what you did there either, James, but I wanted to finish. So, the gentleman was right about the point that obviously some gas got into the, I'll call it the funnel, OK?

James: Correct, and that's not uncommon, Mark. Anytime you're drilling an oil well, there is a constant battle between the mud weight, the drilling fluid that we use to maintain pressure, and the wellbore itself. There's a balance. The well is pushing gas one way and you are pushing mud the other way. So there is a delicate balance that has to be maintained at all times to keep the gas from coming back in, what we call the kicks. You know, we always get gas back in the mud, but the goal of the whole situation is to try to control the kick. Not allow the pressure to differentiate between the vessel and the wellbore.

Mark: Well, in this case, obviously, too much gas got in.

James: Correct, and this well had a bad history of producing lots of gas. It was touch and go a few times and was not terribly uncommon. You’re almost always going to get gas back from a well. We have systems to deal with the gas, however.

Mark: So, what may have happened here?

James: Well, the sheer volume and pressure of gas that hit all at once which was more than the safeties and controls we had in place could handle.

Mark: And that’s like a mistake on somebody's part or maybe its just Mother Nature every now and then kicks up, or what?

James: Mother Nature every now and then kicks up. The pressures that we're dealing with out there, drilling deeper, deeper water, deeper overall volume of the whole vessel itself, you’re dealing with 30 to 40 thousand pounds per square inch range -- serious pressures.

Mark: Not to offend you, but we just verified that you are who you are, which I'm sure you already knew that. I would like to hold you over to the next hour because I would like to ask a few more questions about this, as well as what happened exactly after the explosion, during the explosion and after. Can you wait with us?

James: Sure, I don't know how much of that I can share, but I'll do my best.

Mark: Alright, well I don't want to get you in trouble. So if you can stay, fine, but if you can't, we understand.

Part 2 of Mark's Interview:

Mark: We are talking to a caller under an assumed name who was on the rig when it blew up, and we've been talking about how it happened. And now James, I want to take you to the point of when it happened. What exactly happened? Where were you standing?

James: Well obviously, the gas blew the sea water out of the riser, once it displaced all of the sea water, the gas began to spill out on the deck and up through the center of the rig floor. The rig, you have to imagine a rectangle, about 400 feet by 300 feet, with the derrick and the rig floor sitting directly in the center. As this gas is now heavier than air, it starts to settle in different places. From that point, something ignited the gas, which would have caused the first major explosion.

Mark: Now, what might ignite the gas, do you know?

James: Any number of things, Mark. All rig floor equipment is what they consider intrinsically safe, meaning it cannot generate a spark, so that these types of accidents cannot occur. However, as much gas that came out as fast as it did, it would have spilled over the entire rig fairly rapidly, you know, within a minute. I would think that the entire rig would be enveloped in gas. Now a lot of this stuff, you can't smell, you can't taste it, it's just there, and it's heavier than oxygen. As it settled in, it could have made it to a space that wasn't intrinsically safe. Something as simple as static electricity could have ignited the first explosion, which set off a series of explosions.

Mark: Alright, so what happened? You're standing where? You're sitting somewhere? What happened?

James: Well, I was in a location that was a pretty good ways from the initial blast. I wasn't affected by the blast. I was able to make it out and get up forward where the life boats were. The PA system was still working. There was an announcement overhead that this was NOT a drill. Obviously, we have fire drills every single week to prepare for emergencies like this (fire and abandonment drills). Over the intercom came the order to report to life boats one and two, that this was not a drill, that there is a fire, and we proceeded that way.

Mark: So, the eleven men who died, were they friends of yours?

James: Yes sir, they were.

Mark: Did they die instantly?

James: I would have to assume so. Yes, sir. I would think that they were directly inside the bomb when it went off, the gas being the bomb.

Mark: So, the bomb being the gas explosion?

James: Correct. They would have been in the belly of the beast.

Mark: Now, let me ask you, and we have to be careful what we say because there are people that will run wild with ideas, so I just want to make sure

James: Sure.

Mark: So, let me ask you this, why would the government send in a SWAT team to a rig? What’s that all about?

James: Well, believe it or not, its funny you would mention that. Transocean, the drilling company, maintains a SWAT team and that's their sole purpose. They're experts in their field. The BOP, the blowout preventer, they call that subsea equipment. They have their own SWAT teams that they send out to the rigs to service and maintain that equipment.

Mark: Yeah but I'm talking about what are interior SWAT teams? What is that?

James: The interior, from the government now, I don't have an idea about that, that's beyond me. The other gentleman also mentioned the USGS that comes out and does the surveys. I've been on that particular rig for three years, offshore for five years, and I've seen a USGS one time. What we do have on a very regular basis is the MMS, which is the Minerals Management Service.

Mark: They're all under the interior department.

James: OK. Yes. As a matter of fact, we were commended for our inspection record from the MMS. We are actually receiving an award from them for the highest level of safety and environmental awareness.

Mark: Well, I thought you were going to receive that award. Didn't they put it on hold?

James: No, we have actually received that award. We received it last year. We may have been ready to receive it again this year.

Mark: Let me ask you this, so the life boats, how did you get into these life boats? Where are these life boats?

James: There are actually four life boats - two forward and two on the left, depending on where the emergency or the tragedy has taken place.

Mark: Did you wind up jumping in the water to get in to the life boat? Sometimes you have to do that.

James: I'll just say that there were five to seven individuals that jumped and the rest went down in the life boats.

Mark: Alright, I won't ask because you don't want to identify yourself that clearly. Good point. How fast were the rescue efforts? How fast did they reach you?

James: It is common to have a very large work boat standing by, to bring tools out, groceries, and supplies; it's a constant turn around. So we actually have a very large vessel real close by. It was actually along the side with the hose attached, taking mud off of our vessel on its own. It had to emergency disconnect and then pull out about a mile to stand by for rescue efforts. So, it was fairly quick.

Mark: How quick till the Coast Guard got there?

James: Mark, it's hard to say, between 45 minutes to an hour is when I recall seeing the first helicopter.

Mark: Which is actually pretty fast because you are 130 miles offshore right?

James: Correct. If you look at the nearest spill of land which would be Grand Isle, Louisiana, somewhere in that area, we were only about maybe 50 miles where the crew flies up. From civilization, such as New Orleans, it would be 200 miles. The helicopter was more than likely 80 to 100 miles away.

Mark: You are going to be beset by lawyers, with the government, and others looking for an opportunity to make money. It's going to get very, very ugly and the officials going there have really no backgrounds or experience... I mean, to what extent is that going to help anything? It's silly.

James: To me it seems knee jerk. The number one focus right now is containment. I like the idea about the boom. They are going to try to lower it down into the water to capture the leak.

Mark: How long might that take? I've been reading about this boom and it says that it could take 30 days to do that.

James: It very well could. You have to remember that this is a challenging environment. You know its 5,000 feet deep, there's a tangled wreck of a rig with the marine riser still connected and twisted into a big wad down there. So it's going to take some time to get all that stuff in place. The engineering has to be there; obviously they don't want to rush into it. You want to move it expediently but you are risking the lives of those men that are going to go out there and try to attempt it - that’s just not right.

Mark: I was just going say that. That's very dangerous, I mean extremely dangerous.

James: Absolutely, absolutely. There will be oil. There will be natural gases. All the same things that caused us to explode are still present, and they're there. The pressure had been cut off dramatically, from the simple fact of the folding of the riser. Basically take this big garden hose and kink it several times.

Mark: How old is this rig? How long has it been there?

James: It was put in service in 2001. It's a fairly new rig.

Mark: And, what is the sense in shutting down every rig in the Gulf of Mexico in response to this?

James: Absolutely senseless, whatsoever. This literally could very well be a once in a lifetime freak accident, or it could be negligence. That's for other people to figure out. From my position, it just seems like every now and then, you can't win against Mother Nature. She throws a curve ball that you are not prepared for.

Mark: But to shut down every rig in response to this? I mean... I'm not sure why.

James: The BOP tests are literally mandated from the Mineral Management Service and they are conducted like clockwork. I mean, if any of those tests ever failed, they would have immediately stopped operations, sealed the well up, pulled the BOP stack back up on the deck, which is 48 hours minimum, and made the necessary repairs or replacement parts, and then would get it back down, re-connect, re-test, and keep testing it, until it passed or kept on repairing it until it passed.

Mark: So this was a… I mean this must have been harrowing to you. I mean to experience something like this.

James: That’s putting it mildly.

Mark: Anything else you want to tell me?

James: No, I just got into the truck to make a short trip and I heard a gentleman say something about possible terrorism and I want to put that to bed now. I understand you have a large audience. I appreciate your point of view. I try to listen to you as much as I can, the terrorism call just needs to leave everyone's minds and let's focus on the 11 men that are dead and the survivors. That's where the focus of this country needs to be right now.

Mark: Alright my friend, we wish you all the best and I tell you that it's really God's blessing that you survived, it really is.

James: Yes sir, I completely agree.

Mark: Alright James, thank you very much for calling and we appreciate it.

James: Thank you, Mark.

Mark: Alright, God bless

[GH2001]

goodness gracious...

[The Prowler]

goodness gracious...

Just read it and stop ya bitchin'.

[bottomfeeder]

I posted a link to the interview earlier but even I'm having problems getting it to work. I nav'd the show and found the show link. About the 68 minute mark.



Son, it ain't an easy job being a worm

[bottomfeeder]

Spill size and scope is being under reported.

http://blog.alexanderhiggins.com/2010/05/06/video-oil-spill-spread-entire-gulf/



Then there are the extreme theories.

http://oilprice.com/Environment/Oil-Spills/The-Cover-up-BP-s-Crude-Politics-and-the-Looming-Environmental-Mega-Disaster.html

The Corps and Engineers and FEMA are quietly critical of the lack of support for quick action after the oil disaster by the Obama White House and the US Coast Guard. Only recently, has the Coast Guard understood the magnitude of the disaster, dispatching nearly 70 vessels to the affected area. WMR has also learned that inspections of off-shore rigs' shut-off valves by the Minerals Management Service during the Bush administration were merely rubber-stamp operations, resulting from criminal collusion between Halliburton and the Interior Department's service, and that the potential for similar disasters exists with the other 30,000 off-shore rigs that use the same shut-off valve

[Saniflush]

[bottomfeeder]

I agree with the burning idea. Only problem is it's still has to corralled. I don't have the solutions here, but I'm hoping someone does.

[GarMan]

Similar to global warming, much of this may be overblown psuedo-science...

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jxVZPEia62NMX5dlz3lamD6wPv9gD9FMHP000

Where's the oil? Model suggests much may be gone
By CAIN BURDEAU (AP) – 7 hours ago

NEW ORLEANS — For a spill now nearly half the size of Exxon Valdez, the oil from the Deepwater Horizon disaster is pretty hard to pin down.

Satellite images show most of an estimated 4.6 million gallons of oil has pooled in a floating, shape-shifting blob off the Louisiana coast. Some has reached shore as a thin sheen, and gooey bits have washed up as far away as Alabama. But the spill is 23 days old since the Deepwater Horizon exploded April 20 and killed 11 workers, and the thickest stuff hasn't shown up on the coast.

So, where's the oil? Where's it going to end up?

Government scientists and others tracking the spill say much of the oil is lurking just below the surface. But there seems to be no consensus on whether it will arrive in black waves, mostly dissipate into the massive Gulf or gradually settle to the ocean floor, where it could seep into the ecosystem for years.

When it comes to deepwater spills, even top experts rely on some guesswork.

One of their tools, a program the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration uses to predict how oil spills on the surface of water may behave, suggests that more than a third of the oil may already be out of the water.

About 35 percent of a spill the size of the one in the Gulf, consisting of the same light Louisiana crude, released in weather conditions and water temperatures similar to those found in the Gulf now would simply evaporate, according to data that The Associated Press entered into the program.

The model also suggests that virtually all of the benzene — a highly toxic flammable organic chemical compound and one of the chief ingredients in oil — would be stripped off and quickly vaporize.

The model was not designed for deepwater spills like the one at the Macondo well in the Mississippi Canyon now threatening the Gulf Coast. But experts said the analysis might give a close approximation of what is most likely happening where the oil plume is hitting the surface nearly 50 miles south of Louisiana.

The size and nature of the spill also has been altered by response efforts. So far, about 436,000 gallons of chemicals have been sprayed on the oil to break it up into smaller droplets and about 4 million gallons of oily water have been recovered.

Of that recovered mixture, at least 10 percent is oil, BP and NOAA said. Smaller amounts of oil also have been collected after washing ashore, and crews have burned a negligible quantity off the surface.

That would leave as much as 2.7 million gallons at sea as of Friday, with about 210,000 gallons coming up from the well every day.

The 210,000 gallons figure — specifically, about 5,000 barrels — comes from NOAA and has frequently been cited by BP PLC and the Coast Guard. Some scientists have said based on an analysis of BP's video of the leak that the flow rate is much higher, while others have concluded the video is too grainy to draw any such conclusions.

Even with computer models and history as guides, uncertainty reigns.

Doug Helton, the operations coordinator for NOAA's Office of Response and Restoration, said the agency was uncertain how much oil would sink to the bottom. For now, most of it is near the surface.

"This oil is coming from the sea floor and coming up to the surface in droplets and then once it comes to the surface it re-coelesces as a slick," he said.

Ed Overton, a Louisiana State University chemist who's analyzed the spill for NOAA, said he thinks most of the oil is within a foot of the surface.

"Ultimately, you could have a lot of oil on the shoreline. It won't be a black tide coming in, it will be globs coming ashore," he said.

"It's going to be a long, slow summer."

Wilma Subra, a chemist and MacArthur Fellow affiliated with the Louisiana Environmental Action Network, said there was a risk that the effort to break up the oil with dispersants would simply sweep it to the ocean bottom and contaminate the food chain, a possibility that has shrimpers on edge.

Merv Fingas, who has studied oil spills for 35 years and has worked for Environment Canada, that nation's environmental agency, predicted a bit of both: some would wash up, and some would stick to sediment and mud and sink slowly to the bottom, much of it likely settling near the spewing well.

"That's the fate of a lot of oil spills: sedimentation on the bottom," Fingas said.

Overton disagreed, saying the oil from the Deepwater Horizon spill is too light to sink all the way.

A common refrain among experts and officials is that every oil spill is unique.

Larry McKinney, director of the Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, said the Deepwater Horizon spill reminds him of the last catastrophic oil flood in the Gulf.

In 1979, Mexico's Ixtoc I in the western Gulf blew out and spewed about 420,000 gallons of oil a day for nine months. Large quantities of oil did not reach Texas beaches.

"This was a problem we ran into with Ixtoc, we never found the oil," McKinney said. "But I think even today if you dig down in some sandy beaches you can find a layer of Ixtoc oil."

Copyright © 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. 

[GH2001]

Just read it and stop ya bitchin'.

I did....thats what my post was in reference to. Thats some complex chit!

[Tiger Wench]

I have been busier than a one armed paper hanger lately - seems like now EVERYONE is demanding mega-pollution indemnity in all their contracts.  

Because I am incredibly far-sighted and feel like it is my job to always think of the worst case scenario, all of my contracts with my customers already have a protection for my company for catastrophic pollution and related fines and penalties - the customer eats it all, including costs of control and removal.  It was easy to get before because "nothing ever happens...".  Now?  A duel to the death.  

And on behalf of my operating entity (we have one subsidiary that is a producer, like BP) I am being a hardnosed bitch to my own subcontractors who expect me to go back and just give them blanket protection in their pre-existing contracts - should have thought of that back in the day, Skippy.  I am not giving you shit now.

Power is a helluva drug.

[Token]

[Tiger Wench]

Token.

That fucking ROCKS...

I am so printing that to hang on my office wall...

[dallaswareagle]

   

[Token]

   

Dear F.B.I.,

I love the President.

Signed,

Token

[Tiger Wench]

An article written by  local attorney:

Search is just beginning for culprit in Gulf spill
By MICHAEL H. COOPER

As we have sadly come to expect, the political blame game has certainly raged in the wake of the recent, tragic explosion and oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Washington is terrific when it comes to pointing fingers and looking for scapegoats, but less adroit when it comes to getting real answers.

So who really is responsible for these tragic events? After all, Transocean owned the rig. BP leased and operated it. Halliburton was responsible for cementing the drill hole. Other parties were involved as well.

The federal government currently looks to BP as the responsible party for damages. Why? Because BP holds the lease issued by the government under the supervision of the Minerals Management Service (MMS) of the Department of the Interior. Generally, those leases contain a provision that requires the lessee (BP) to reimburse the lessor — in this case the federal government — for any damages resulting from BP's operations.

Sounds straightforward, right? Not so fast.

There may also be a provision in BP's lease that does not require such reimbursement if the damage results from the negligence of the lessor, or the government. Rest assured those representing BP will carefully review the performance of MMS in regulating the drilling operations. Don't be surprised if BP's legal team attempts to document multiple instances of lax oversight.

What about third parties like Transocean and Halliburton? Some analysts have speculated that Transocean, Halliburton, Smith International and Cameron are “likely” protected by contractual provisions or the practical difficulties of investigating the incident. Notice the word “likely.” The Oil Pollution Act of 1990 contains a provision that third parties can be found to be a “responsible party” if BP, in this case, can establish that the discharge and resulting damages were caused solely by an act or omission of one or more third parties. If so, BP might recover from Transocean or any other third party any amounts that BP pays out. (Bear in mind that the financial exposure of the responsible parties is limited by law to the costs of removal plus $75 million.)

What may never be conclusively determined is the actual cause or causes of the failure of the operating structure. Was it a malfunction of the blowout preventer due to faulty design, faulty fabrication or faulty installation? Was it the chemical composition of the cement or incorrect application or use of the cement? Was it insufficient or inadequate supervision of the operations of the platform? Did lax regulatory oversight play a role?
There will be informed speculation, but we should anticipate that various experts will offer conflicting testimony. A jury may, and in all likelihood will, offer its own opinion of what transpired.

So it's important for us to dig deeper and ask more specifically who is responsible and for what. For example, there will be costs for the tragic loss of life and injuries to employees working on the platform.

There are also serious costs attendant to stopping the flow of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, and containing and cleaning up any oil that drifts onshore or into tidelands.

There are the costs of the platform and related equipment now resting on the ocean floor, and possibly additional costs to recover and reclaim the platform and equipment.

There will be substantial losses as well for the seafood and hospitality industries that line the Gulf coast.

And, as long as the oil remains in U.S. waters, applicable federal and state laws will dictate the allocation of the costs of recovery and damage claims. If the oil drifts into international waters, however, then other countries will get into the act as well — trying to impose on all possible responsible parties their own claims under their own laws.

At this point, of course, it's impossible to quantify the final extent and cost of the oil spill. The estimates of the amount of oil that have spewed into the Gulf of Mexico are truly just estimates.

In the end, the responsible party for each of the categories of costs will differ depending upon the relevant factual, contractual, statutory, and regulatory context of each claim for damages.

Already, members of Congress have issued pronouncements of their proposed solutions. Governors are issuing mandates prohibiting drilling off their shores. Everyone, not just BP, Transocean and Halliburton, is scurrying for whatever cover is available in an attempt to avoid a pointed finger.

However, until there is further reasoned examination of, and not mere speculation regarding, the facts surrounding the event, the appropriate legislative and regulatory responses cannot be formulated.

We are just at the start of this process; and as the song says, the legal road ahead promises to be a “long and winding” one.

Cooper is a member of the Texas-based law firm Looper Reed & McGraw.

[bottomfeeder]

We on the Gulf Coast are officially or unofficially FUCKED!

[GH2001]

We on the Gulf Coast are officially or unofficially phukED!

BP is coming across as looking like morons.Totally unprepared.

[GarMan]

We on the Gulf Coast are officially or unofficially phukED! 

Read the article that I posted.  I won't believe it until there's real proof.  The fishing reports on just about all of the forums are still coming in strong for the entire Gulf.  I just don't buy into this doom-and-gloom politics.  I have no doubts that this is a bad thing, but until we see something tangible, I'm not going to whine about it.  Eleven men died on that platform, but the way the media is reporting it, you’d think the greater tragedy is the 13 birds and two turtles that have been found dead over the last several weeks.