DISASTER... Oil Slick 1800 Sq Miles... 42,000 gals per day... Leaking 5,000 ft below surface....LINK

Folks, This has DISASTER written all over it. If those who opposed offshore drilling could come up with a disaster scenario that would justify a moratorium, this could be it. At least 4 states are going to be affected --and some are speculating that it could take WEEKS to STOP THE FLOW OF OIL.

And further on in the linked article the owner of the offshore rig admits that they are trying to do things they have never attempted before at this depth --almost a mile deep.

AMAZING when you consider how recently offshore drilling proponents declared that it was 'safe.'

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/04/26/deep-horizon-oil-well-gus_n_552491.html

"NEW ORLEANS (AP)-- Coast Guard crews raced to protect the Gulf of Mexico coastline Monday as a remote sub tried to shut off an underwater oil well that's gushing 42,000 gallons a day from the site of a wrecked drilling platform.

If crews cannot stop the leak quickly, they might need to drill another well to redirect the oil, a laborious process that could take weeks while oil washes up along a broad stretch of shore, from the white-sand beaches of Florida's Panhandle to the swamps of Louisiana. The oil spill already stretches across more than 1,800 square miles of water in the Gulf Of Mexico, according to the Coast Guard.

The oil is escaping from two leaks in a drilling pipe about 5,000 feet below the surface. The leaks threaten hundreds of miles of coastline in four states, with waters that are home to dolphins, sea birds, and prime fishing and tourism areas."

SKIP

"As of Monday afternoon, an area 48 miles long and 39 miles wide was covered by oil that leaked from the site of the rig, which was owned by Transocean Ltd. and operated by BP PLC."

MORE

I thought today it smelled like rotten B.O...or nasty onions ..now tonight it is more like smoke.

This afternoon I thought someone was cooking with really nasty onions..somewhere..

But local news said they got many many calls today about the smell..I live directly on the beach so it was strong here..all day..now it smells more like smoke.

News said it is efffecting Tampa/Clearwater Beach area all the way down to Ft Meyers.

But no one is telling us if it is dangerous to breath..or dangerous for older people.

They have no clue whether any of the proposed solutions will work at the 5000 foot depth, and if t hey have to drill a relief well that could take weeks to complete..... all the while 42000 gal a day will continue to spew forth from below.

THIS DID NOT HAVE TO HAPPEN.... the oil companies have been fighting off safety regulations,

AND THERE ARE STILL 11 MEN MISSING.

Let's hope and pray they can corral some of the oil slick for the health and welfare of our people and wildlife.

Hope you can avoid the worst....

and that is the least of it..our eco-system could be damaged for years and years!
And our marine life could pay the worst price for this irresponsible drilling!

And where are most dems..crickets..when we dems have fought so hard to keep this shit out of our waters!

It makes me furious!

I am angry ..beyond all words!

And when Obama and his team said this spill will have no effect on his plans for drilling I went nuts with anger..

People are discussing it at the grocery store..and car washes..and gas station and in the malls..with anger!
I keep getting into these conversations..and people are pissed!

I Have gotten so many angry emails from dems all over the state of Fla.

This is one of the top campaign pledges democratic Floridians want answered before supporting candidates..

Obama lied to us..he bold faced fucking lied!..and he and this state will pay for it for a very long time!

We in Fla have very strong conservation , and ecological..and environmental groups that have supported Democrats..well the dems can bend over kiss their asses and kiss them goodbye!!

Of that i assure you!

Valdez = 11 million barrels and very concentrated because the oil pours out in a matter of days.

Gulf Rig: 42,000 gallons per day.

11 mil / 42,000 = 260 days worth.

The oil companies will seal it up long before that. Why? Because they care about the environment? Hell no.
They will do it because oil is valuable. $42,000 per day = $3.5 million dollars a day washing away. Like taking $3.5 million dollars out of the bank and just dumping it into the gulf.

Still this is why I was against Obama opening up more area for drilling. However to say it is worse that the Valdez is simply not true.

Not to defend BP or the calamity but it's 11,000 days not 260.

Walked outside a few minutes ago, and there's a weird odor in the air.

to shut off a leak at that depth, what does that say?

well that was a fucking lie and these bastards and our government lied to the American people and the people on the Gulf states.

I guess they thought the spill would only go to Louisiana..I guess our government didn't give a rats ass about that.( i guess they figured that it wouldn't be noticed?? Who knows) ..but a huge storm came into Fla last night across the northern portion of the Gulf of Mexico..bringing the smoke and horrible air into Florida..SW Florida..and the Spill area grew huge..with another storm expected to go through the area of the spill tommorrow night..

This is an eco system disaster! For all the Gulf states!

I want to hear what Obama has to say about this fiasco and his plans for more drilling.

I want to hear their response now. Explain to us why rigs would be built without reliable means of dealing with leaks a mile below the surface.

Nope, nothing to worry about ...... just open up those offshore Atlantic leases and drill baby, drill!


:sarcasm:

are only trying make Obama look bad. :silly:

down to the Keys of Fla to the Atlantic Ocean..

Please look at the front page of the ST Pete Times..at this link..other links don't show the loop currents of the Gulf of Mexico..and how this could go all the way down to the Keys wrappng around to the Atlantic

The air yesterday where I am on the Beach in Fla near Tampa..smelled like rotten onions all day yesterday..or rotten B.O...the smell gagged me..it was so horrible..and our local Tampa news last night said they got thousands of calls yesterday about the smell..they broadcast that it was smoke and air from the spill..and the smell was from Tampa down to Ft Meyers ( for those that don't know the area..Tpa to Ft Meyeres is approx a 3 hour drive down the west coast of Fla) By last night the smell turned to a smokey smell..

WE got no warnings about the air quality..or the health risks for seniors or those infirmed..we only got info during the weather reports about the stinking air smells ..


If you don't know how to get this link to the real copy of the front page of the ST Pete Times....you will get the Tampa bay edition without the pictures of the Loop Currents.


http://www.tampabay.com/specials/publication/Times_1A/20100427.pdf

see the pictures there of the Gulf Loop currents..

St Pete Times:

Gulf oil spill could
threaten Florida


Officials predict winds will push the oil spill closer to Florida by today.
Oceanographers fear that if the spill gets caught in the gulf's powerful
loop current, the oil could wind up on the beaches of the Keys and then
be swept north along the state's Atlantic coast.

It even had the sarcasm thingie in the body.

and current..and letting you know the slick shit was on it's way to you on the east coast!!

I was just passing you info friend..that made your sarcasm more of a reality!!

fly

:cry:
Damnit Damnit Damnit! :banghead:

The states, the coastal residents, the fishing industries affected by this, should all sue Transocean Ltd. and BP PLC into fucking oblivion. This is unforgivable. Hell, it's beyond unforgivable.

They should have to compensate for every penny lost by property owners and tourist and fishing industries. They should have to pay every cent of the cleanup costs. Then they should pay enormous punitive damages on top of that. Hell, the executives should have to personally go down to the beaches and swamps with sponges and buckets and clean for the rest of their lives if necessary.

GOD DAMNIT!

they always have an out - and that is us suckers.

Then there will be nothing to pass on.

Of course, realistically, that won't happen and they'll still be in business, regardless of my opinion.

In any case, doesn't OPEC set oil prices? Wouldn't that constrain how much they could pass on?

That doesn't mean that we shouldn't be demanding justice in this case.

(We should still be demanding justice for Exxon for that matter.)

:sarcasm:

big oil?
Let all these small government governors and their Chambers of Commerce sink or swim. Fuck big government. :sarcasm:

Spill baby spill
For the wildlife
Kill baby kill
For the beach lovers
swill baby swill

Here's your sign Barack Obama!!

The financial impact of oil on our sugar white beaches will run into the billions.

People forget how interconnected Tourism is with local economies.

Here in NC Tourism is a major economic factor that drives our economy and affects our unemployment rate (which remains over 10%).

Hotels, motels, rental properties, restaurants, stores and businesses, convenience stores, recreational supplies and activities like fishing, hiking, golf, tennis, etc. are all part of the interconnected economy.

Ruin the beaches, sounds and estuaries and you hit a domino that sets off an economic hit that spreads out through each of those named above.

And don't forget, when Tourism spending goes down, it affects the tax revenue collected --which creates further deficits that State and Local Governments have to meet with either higher taxes or more government services cuts.

So when an offshore drilling disaster happens like this, there are a lot of economic downturns that DIRECTLY AFFECT PEOPLE living onshore, as well as the loss of irreplaceable wildlife.

1800 square miles is huge, but not anywhere close to what it will eventually be.

IF it reaches the beaches and inland sounds, the cost to clean up will be catastrophic... but the related cost to lost jobs, seafood industries, tourism and related job losses will magnify that amount.

Right now any guess will likely be too small.

listening to the news on the way home.

I started to have real doubts as to being able to actuate closure, and to question the optimism being displayed at that time.

These valves, while for closure, were also designed to prevent a blow like what occurred and caused the fire/sinking. If they failed to prevent the blow, why did the 'experts' express such confidence they could close them following the disaster?

A similar spill in Australia went on for 9 WEEKS, which will put us right into hurricane season, at about the point when the Gulf starts to warm up, making stronger storms there more likely. And who knows what the effect of catching the Gulf on fire will be.

1) Backpressure valves. There are valves on the ocean floor designed to seal the well but the well is under a lot of pressure to date they haven't been able to get valves to trip. It is kinda like trying to put a cap on firehose while the hose is on. They could (unlikely) seal that at any point today, tomorrow, next week.

2) Backup plan is to construct a dome and lower it over the well. this will capture most of oil and allow it to be pumped to ships on surface. Bad news is that one this will take weeks and two it has never been done at this depth.

3) The backup backup plan is to drill a relief well. A well diagonal to main well and install backpressure valve then allow oil to flow out of the releif well which *should* take pressure off main well and allow them to close it, then they close the relief well. Really bad news is that will take a couple months.

So the damage will really depend on which method ultimately works
1) Days * 42,000 gallons per day
2) Weeks * 300,000 gallons a week
3) Months * 1.2 million gallons a month

Thanks for the thread, Blackhatjack.

Please look at the front page of the ST Pete Times..at this link..other links don't show the loop currents of the Gulf of Mexico..and how this could go all the way down to the Keys wrappng around to the Atlantic

The air yesterday where I am on the Beach in Fla near Tampa..smelled like rotten onions all day yesterday..or rotten B.O...the smell gagged me..it was so horrible..and our local Tampa news last night said they got thousands of calls yesterday about the smell..they broadcast that it was smoke and air from the spill..and the smell was from Tampa down to Ft Meyers ( for those that don't know the area..Tpa to Ft Meyeres is approx a 3 hour drive down the west coast of Fla) By last night the smell turned to a smokey smell..

WE got no warnings about the air quality..or the health risks for seniors or those infirmed..we only got info during the weather reports about the stinking air smells ..


If you don't know how to get this link to the real copy of the front page of the ST Pete Times....you will get the Tampa bay edition without the pictures of the Loop Currents.


http://www.tampabay.com/specials/publication/Times_1A/20100427.pdf

see the pictures there of the Gulf Loop currents..

St Pete Times:

Gulf oil spill could
threaten Florida


Officials predict winds will push the oil spill closer to Florida by today.
Oceanographers fear that if the spill gets caught in the gulf's powerful
loop current, the oil could wind up on the beaches of the Keys and then
be swept north along the state's Atlantic coast.

I live on the east coast and all this shit is pissing me off. Remember back when Prez Carter said by the year 2000 we should be getting 20% of our energy from solar? Ugh. What a horrible legacy Reagan and the Bushes have left since then!

Capitalism in its current form will undoubtedly destroy the planet all in the name of $$$$$ and profits. :puke:

gotten to more people's attention..they are telling us the air quality is safe..where have we heard that before?? Oh yeah..ground zero!

I live directly on the Beach on the Gulf..I had to close up the windows tonight..the smell changed today from yesterday ..now it smells like chemicals.

And now we are supposed to believe this is safe?? Being told to us by the same people who told us the coast guard would cap this off within 2 days?????? And the people that our Florida legislature documents show that these corps dont have to tell us a damn thing or be accountable for truth?????

Yeah..pink pigs fly!

Many government officials assume that it is better not to tell people bad news if there is no effective way to reduce the risk of the threat, and if that information were distributed it might set off a panic response.

I don't know what 'safe' means in regard to the level of petroleum distillates in the air and water. But I do trust the human nose to tell me when I should be concerned...

this could be life threatening (?) to those seniors with compromised health, or to young children with compromised health..

Tonight i can not open my windows right on the Gulf..the smell is so strong.

There is not a doubt in my mind that people who have the knowledge and experience from handling a similar situation as this one could tell us how bad it will be. This won't be a weeks or months endeavor to clean up the oil and the damage it has done.

And certainly those in the direct path of the spill deserve to know what risks they are facing.

4 million gallons of oil spilling.

Not good news..

They said dead birds coming ashore but they can't say it is from the oil spill..could be from the recent storms..but they don't know .

Just an update tonight..

I'm all for making sure the information to be released to the public is accurate before the release takes place. But this has the hallmarks of an information blackout as to the most damaging aspects of this disaster.

You can't dump 200,000 gals a day that close to beaches and concentrations of people without there being adverse effects --no matter what methods of clean up you employ. I think those people are entitled to KNOW the facts so that they can make their own decisions as to how they will protect themselves, their families and their properties.

Reports of whales swimming through the muck make me want to cry and the shrimping business will be kaput if this makes it to shore.

This slick will likely be the final straw that drives me into bankruptcy. My tiny business renting vacation condos in Panama City Beach generates about 65% of our annual sales in the next four months. Unless that well is capped, there could be oil leaking for months into the Gulf. Trust me: the winds shift all the time down here. It's just a matter of time before the white sandy beaches of the FL Panhandle are ruined.

I would urge the administration to start having President Obama take a more active role. There appears to be a lack of urgency and a lack of timely information. Agencies seem to still be "mulling options" and "gathering information." Where is the urgent action to help the Gulf Coast avoid this natural and economic catastrophe? Will the federal government urgently act before it is too late? It may already be too late for the seafood industry and shoreline of LA and MS. How about the Port of Mobile and Mobile Bay? Will there be a solution before the tourist industry in Florida is decimated as the state tries to climb out of a terrible recession?

These are the questions I hear my neighbors ask along with more and more comparisons to Katrina.

5 times greater than the previous estimate.
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-04-29/bp-oil-well-leaking-five-times-faster-than-estimated-correct-.html

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-04-29/bp-oil-well-leaking-five-times-faster-than-estimated-correct-.html

doing cleanup for awhile.


Just tryin to see a silver lining? :hide:

Until something goes wrong. Just like nuclear power plants.

IT is ridiculous for a BP spokesperson to say they will clean it up, how ever long it takes ---- and give no details as to how they will accomplish this.

The massive impact on the economy, wildlife, marine life, etc. in Alaska shows the kind of disaster presented by an oil spill.

Today, the beaches in Alaska still hold oil just below the surface --and Exxon is through 'cleaning up.' Not to mention they have paid only a small portion of the losses caused by that spill.

When the truth becomes apparent people are going to be shocked by this disaster.

Amazing how it took about a week to go from no oil is spilling to 'worse than Exxon Valdese'

You know they always had more information than they were disclosing to the public...

The MSM is a participant in this fraud as well.