B.P.'s Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill Thread (it's all here).....

Cliffy

Standing Member
Nov 19, 2008
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I think that they should set fire to the oil so that there will be a Lake of Fire to throw all the guilty into.
 

karrie

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Jan 6, 2007
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Okay... quick poking around online and a phone call to hubby who was in Houston at head office when this happened....

The rig specifications... found here
list 4.... yes, 4, BOP's.


2 x Cameron Type TL 18¾in 15K double preventers; 1 x Cameron Type TL 18¾in 15K single preventer; 1 x Cameron DWHC 18¾in 15K wellhead connector
BP like any other company views BOP's as a pretty cheap insurance policy. Hubby said what happened was an accident during the course of a cementing job. Nothing sounds like 'cheaping out', or greed (unless of course you view petroleum as pure greed), from what I've read so far.
 

karrie

OogedyBoogedy
Jan 6, 2007
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Thanks wolf...

I find that a curious stance for them to take... in this day and age a simple on-land job is so tied up in safety red tape from the oil companies that the guys have a hard time moving without having to account for what everyone should expect.

edited to add.... I will clarify though that nothing in this article says that BP attempted to not use, or fought against, BOP's themselves, merely they didn't want to pay for certain activiation safeguards. Thus my confusion when hearing people say they tried to not use BOP's.
 
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ironsides

Executive Branch Member
Feb 13, 2009
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They seem to have a pretty good plan (if it works) they want to put a box like cover with a hose over the leak and direct the oil thru the hose to some sort of container. Should have never sunk the rig, just let it burn.
 

ironsides

Executive Branch Member
Feb 13, 2009
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They already found 22 turtles dead (think they ingested oil). That is going to be the major catastrophe with this oil spill, all the animals and fish destroyed.
 

Tonington

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Oct 27, 2006
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Les was saying cat litter is what they use at work to soak up oil n crap.

It's funny, I was thinking about this at work today. In marine aquaculture, engineers make use of flocculation to help remove some proteins and other substances which can form an oily sheen on the surface of the water. Very hazardous to first feeding fish who need to break the surface to take their first gulp of air, to fill up their air bladders before the pneumatic duct closes. Also can pollute the water something wicked.

Anyways, there should be some kind of fine material which could be thrown across the water to help clump some of that oil together. Half the battle is that it spreads out so thin on the surface of the water. I'm thinking something like the clay particles that is left in the water after the bitumen is removed from the sand up in Fort McCrazy. That colloidal property might be useful in this instance, provided you could get it on the oil before it spreads out. Though I suppose it could be utilized as a part of coastal defenses, in tandem with booms and the rest.