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BP Oil Spill: Case NOT Closed

George Washington's picture




 

Yesterday, BP and the Coast Guard attributed the new oil sheen to a leak from the "cofferdam".

We will give some background on what the cofferdam is, and then explain why the case is not closed ... and an ongoing investigation is needed to determine whether or not the well has really stopped leaking.

The Equipment Everyone Is Discussing

The cofferdam is a container which BP tried to lower over the oil gusher in 2010.

Here is the way it was supposed to work:

The first attempt to stem the oil flow was to place a large containment shell over the BOP, collect the oil inside, and pump it to the surface. This was the arrangement: Credit: NASA

The cofferdam was built in Port Fourchon, Louisiana:

It was then shipped to the site of the spill and lowered into the ocean:

http://www.arabianoilandgas.com/pictures/gallery/Offshore/cofferdam_enterprise_dp_dri.jpg

http://www.bp.com/liveassets/bp_internet/globalbp/globalbp_uk_english/incident_response/STAGING/local_assets/images/GOM_4Preparations_to_deploy_the_Cofferdam_375x200.jpg

http://www.courthousenews.com/2012/06/18/bp-horizon-cofferdam3.jpg

http://images.smh.com.au/2010/05/07/1424013/oil420-420x0.jpg

http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4006/4595420695_d7dbf594c1_z.jpg

But it didn't work.  The cofferdam leaked, because methane gushing out of the stricken well quickly built up, clogged up the cofferdam, and made it float:

http://img.youtube.com/vi/2JTM2QyAfCI/0.jpg

http://blogs.ft.com/energy-source/files/2010/05/cofferdam_video_leaking.jpg

As FastCompany summarizes:

BP's ... Cofferdam Operation, a 98-ton steel and concrete containment chamber lowered on top of the damaged pipe that connected the drilling rig to the oil well. The chamber took two weeks to build. In theory, the 40-foot-tall chamber was supposed to capture oil and allow it to flow through a pipe to a barge on the surface. But the Gulf Oil Disaster Recovery Group reported on Saturday that the operation failed--ice crystals formed inside the container, clogging the pipe that was supposed to bring oil to the barge.

After the cofferdam was lowered over the leak nearly a mile below the surface, it had to be raised and moved 200 meters to the side.   BP engineers then gave up on the cofferdam, tried the smaller "top hat" containment dome (which also failed because it got plugged up with methane hydrate crystals), and then moved onto the "junk shot" and "top kill" approaches to capping the well.

Any Oil from the Cofferdam Should Have Been Degraded By Now

Dr. Ian MacDonald – an expert in deep-ocean extreme communities including natural hydrocarbon seeps, gas hydrates, and mud volcano systems, a former long-time NOAA scientist, and a professor of Biological Oceanography at Florida State University- told us last week:

The key statement in the BP discussion was the fact that oil recovered on the ocean surface was not biodegraded. This is not consistent with a pool of oil supposedly trapped in the wreckage of the riser, which would have been exposed to ambient bacterial activity for over two years.

When the cofferdam was moved, the oil would have mixed thoroughly with sea water ... and the oil-eating bacteria in it.   Indeed, given the large holes in the cofferdam shaped to fit the leaking riser pipes (as shown in the photographs above), and the failure to maintain the the cofferdam, it has most likely not been water tight for the last 2 years - even sitting directly on the seafloor.

As such, Dr. MacDonald's skepticism regarding BP's explanations for recent oil sheen applies to BP's new cofferdam theory.

And top oil spill expert Dr. Robert Bea – a UC Berkeley professor and government consultant - told us today:

With the information that has been released, I remain skeptical that they have found 'the source' for the continuing leak(s).

 

The cofferdam has a limited 'supply' ... which has already been exposed for a very long period of time to the seafloor environment ... including several hurricanes.  Thus, it is difficult to understand why it would start leaking recently ... and continue to leak.

 

The search needs to be conducted like an archeological dig [using] a close-spaced grid of multiple surveys employing different detection equipment with accurate control of positions of the 'sensors'.

 

When I worked for Shell on the Bay Marchand blowouts, we used geophysical 'sniffer' equipment to trace the oil in the water column....better than an ROV.....with the survey from the sea floor to the surface... from Bay Marchand to the Bay of Campechee.

A REAL, Thorough Investigation of the Seafloor Is A Vital Matter for America

Bea has repeatedly stated that BP's oil disaster could very well have enlarged nearby oil seeps or even fractured the seabed, allowing a path for oil to make it into the ocean (and see this).

Another expert warned right after the well was capped in 2010 that capping the well could have unintended consequences:

Bill Gale, a California engineer and industrial explosion expert who is a member of the Deepwater Horizon Study Group [formerly Chief Loss Prevention Engineer for Bechtel in San Francisco], said… that gas hydrate crystals could be plugging any holes in the underground portion of the well, and they could get dislodged as pressure builds.

In other words, there may have been a destruction of a portion of the steel well casing which was temporarily plugged by methane crystals. Leaving the well cap may slowly raise the pressure in the well to the point where the hydrate crystals are dislodged, in which case the well might really start leaking.

Although even less likely, scientists say that the methane could disturb the seafloor itself. As the St. Peterburg Times points out:

Disturbing those [methane hydrate] deposits — say, by drilling an oil well through them — can turn that solid methane into a liquid, leaving the ocean floor unstable, explained [Carol Lutken of the University of Mississippi, which is part of a consortium with SRI which has been conducting methane research in the Gulf of Mexico for years].

 

***

 

Generally the oil industry tries to avoid methane areas during drilling for safety reasons.

No wonder Congressmen Markey and Waxman have demanded that BP survey the seafloor near the site of the leaking oil well to determine whether there is new damage.

But BP has - apparently - refused to comply with their demand.

Because BP is struggling to wrap up a favorable settlement of lawsuits against it, the company is very motivated to sweep any problems under the rug.

 

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Fri, 10/19/2012 - 17:32 | 2905526 Kitler
Kitler's picture

http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2011/06/30/1105165108.full.pdf

George, Page 3 has the technical info on the Macondo well. It's well worth a read pardon the pun.

 

Seafloor temp 41 degrees f. 2,200 P.S.I. (Methyl hydrate can exist)

Pressure in well casing 12,000 P.S.I.

Oil temperature in well casing (flowing) 260 degrees f.

 

I am guessing here that hydrate crystals would be unlikely to form until well after the well was sealed and things cooled down a touch. Therefore the probability that the crystals have been holding back the oil in the casing to me at least seems remote. My bet is on seafloor leaks from depth outside of well casing.

Fri, 10/19/2012 - 17:33 | 2905534 George Washington
George Washington's picture

"Therefore the probability that the crystals have been holding back the oil in the casing to me at least seems remote."

Agreed.

Fri, 10/19/2012 - 18:01 | 2905605 Money Squid
Money Squid's picture

If you are writing about the well I thought all the cement pumped in would be holding back the oil. Methane crystals? Not clear on how that would work. Or did you mean methane crystals holding back oil the riser? The temperature of the riser would have dropped immediately in the cold ocean bottom waters when the oil stopped flowing as the riser collapsed.

Fri, 10/19/2012 - 17:15 | 2905503 Kitler
Kitler's picture

... the company is very motivated to sweep any problems under the rug.

That should read RIG not "rug".

 

Fri, 10/19/2012 - 15:37 | 2905252 Mark Noonan
Mark Noonan's picture

What the whole BP spill illustrates to me is that the largest corporations in the world are almost invariably run by people who have no knowledge of what it is, precisely, the corporation does.  Everyone got ticked off at the old BP boss but, really, what did anyone expect?  Does anyone think that the CEO of BP - or of any other global oil company - got his start working as a roughneck on a rig?  Heck, no.  They are all likely to be business school graduates who rose up in the corporate world by coming from the "right" school and being given a leg up by someone a step higher who then rose through the ranks, taking the one-time business school graduate with him.  That something like the BP spill could happen is the natural result of having top decision makers who are ignorant of how things work and how badly a mistake can be.  This is not to say that engineers can't screw up - they do - but when an engineer screws up it is because he got his math wrong somewhere along the line...it can be easily understood and easily fixed the next time around.  But when you've got people who don't know about engineering running the show you'll get some quite fabulous and perhaps un-fixable mistakes. 

The key to fixing this is to get rid of the large corporations - get rid of, that is, large bureaucratic organisms which are prone to falling under the control of bureaucrats.  Engineers want to make and build things and so can't be made to sit in offices attending endless meetings and then coming out with absurd corporate decisions...anyone with any sense would avoid such things like the plague. 

 

Fri, 10/19/2012 - 21:09 | 2905881 RichardP
RichardP's picture

The key to fixing this is to get rid of the large corporations ...

In order to do this, you would first have to get rid of the will to power ... and that you will never do.  The primal drive of some is to assemble empires, whether they be country or corporate.  The primal drive of others is to dominate empires they did not build, whether they be country or corporate.  It's a nasty business that will never go away, even if it ends up destroying us all (to connect this thread to to other discussions on this board; armageddon and such. http://bible.cc/matthew/24-22.htm ).

http://www.theperspectivesofnietzsche.com/nietzsche/nwill.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Will_to_power

Fri, 10/19/2012 - 15:23 | 2905206 Money Squid
Money Squid's picture

Can not have an oil based economy with out some drops spilled. Do not like it? Find an alternative to oil. And nuclear. And coal. All I hear is I want a cheap plentiful supply of gas for my cars and I do not not want any exploration or production in my backyard. And, oh spills are bad for the environment.

Fri, 10/19/2012 - 16:05 | 2905326 Bicycle Repairman
Bicycle Repairman's picture

How many drops is OK?  Will profits be put ahead of the drops?  How to motivate the likes of BP to minimize the drops?  Does BP get to make all of the decisions, or can the people get a word in?  If crimes are committed, can we prosecute?

I have lots of questions.

Fri, 10/19/2012 - 17:57 | 2905591 Money Squid
Money Squid's picture

Lucky for you I have more answers than you have questions. The answers to your questions are easily determined by simple observation. "How many drops is OK?" First, the number of drops allowed is directly proportional to the need for the oil. If no one needs it the the public will tolerate fewer drops. If the entire western economy is based on oil, then many drops will be tolerated, but with some huffing and puffing. Its usually the poor and poorer middle class that will have to tolerate the most drops. "How to motivate the likes of BP to minimize the drops?" This one is easy - go to the homes of the all the top BP executives and burn them down with them in it. I have a feeling the mid-level executives will understand that a few too many drops were spilt and take some additional measures to cleanup and pay for some repairs. "Does BP get to make all the decisions, or can the people get a word in?" See my answer to your second question.  "If crimes are committed, can we prosecute?" Sure. Can you define prosecute? I mean this word can have such a wide variety of meanings/understandings depeding on the situation.

Fri, 10/19/2012 - 16:48 | 2905430 C4G3
C4G3's picture

Blame your EPA, They were put in place to protect big Corps from being sued. They also protect them so they can pollute legally without public recourse via the judicial system. Want to clean up the environment, eliminate the EPA and allow the judicial system to punish the illegal dumping etc. via lawsuits.

Fri, 10/19/2012 - 18:03 | 2905611 Money Squid
Money Squid's picture

Pfffftttttt.........that's rediculous. Next you will spewing nonsensel like a republican prestident signed the legislation creating the EPA. We all know how the republicans feel about less governemnt regulations. Obviously the EPA was created by a democratic president....you know....to protect the people.

Fri, 10/19/2012 - 16:52 | 2905442 nmewn
nmewn's picture

"Government support for oil and nuclear has crowded out funding for real alternative energy sources."

Crowded out funding by who?

Now don't get me wrong here GW, I'm an all the above guy, but it has to be economical/profit based & feasable. That also means government not interfering ON THE SIDE OF "green energy" driving up consumer costs to make "green" viable and tanking the friggin economy.

Tell ya what, you support another gasoline refinery or nuke plant being built or rolling back the 45-70 boutique mandated gasoline blends and I'll spot ya a few Solyndra's ;-)

Did you see this?

"Workers at LG Chem, a $300 million lithium-ion battery plant heavily funded by taxpayers, tell Target 8 that they have so little work to do that they spend hours playing cards and board games, reading magazines or watching movies," reports the local TV station.

They say it's been going on for months.

"There would be up to 40 of us that would just sit in there during the day," said former LG Chem employee Nicole Merryman, who said she quit in May.

"We were given assignments to go outside and clean; if we weren't cleaning outside, we were cleaning inside. If there was nothing for us to do, we would study in the cafeteria, or we would sit and play cards, sit and read magazines," said Merryman. "It's really sad that all these people are sitting there and doing nothing, and it's basically on taxpayer money."

http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/workers-stimulus-receiving-battery-company-play-cards-games_654965.html

Fri, 10/19/2012 - 17:17 | 2905495 George Washington
George Washington's picture

Your points are well taken ... subsidizing failed, unproductive businesses is idiotic.

To be fair on the other side of the equation, most of our wars are really about oil, and nuke energy is totally subsidized (private insurance companies WON'T TOUCH IT).

I think the key is to foget big oil, big nuclear, big wind, big solar or anything else which is centralized.  

Fri, 10/19/2012 - 17:52 | 2905572 nmewn
nmewn's picture

Oh, I'm all about that...decentralization.

You're absolutely correct. Overhead high voltage transmission line loss is around 6-7% but I don't see an overbuild as feasable. The metro areas are underground (mostly) now.

My thoughts on solar panels is regular roof style shingles instead of those God awful panels. I've not explored the field but I'd say thats a more "consumerist" friendly if they could be produced cheaply enough to compare with a solar panel AND the protection qualities of the shingle itself.

Now, let me give everyone a chance to call me a moonbat...lol...I'm no physicist but...I've always been intrigued by the idea of magnetism and its push/pull attributes in a personal transportation venue. What if, what is already there all around us could be harnessed by metal alloys?

Something for the brighter among us to think about perhaps, I'm just a dreamer.

Fri, 10/19/2012 - 19:34 | 2905754 One of these is...
One of these is not like the others..'s picture

+1 for that post. I would like to point out that I and a friend came up with this exact idea RE: the solar shingles, and we know it is brilliant but lack the "nous" to exploit it. I hope one of the over achievers that seem to flit past pick up the idea and run with it. I'll be glad to consult for a while... Absolutely MASSIVE market IMHO.

They will need a small led indicator on the rear and SIMPLE modular serial/parallel wiring system in order to be maintainable and installable by the sort of eejits that are prepare to climb up on roofs, though, don't forget...

And actually, as it happens, I'm just shopping for magnets now. Great minds think alike they say... 

My first post here! Will someone now be sending me some gold by way of a welcome and to help underwrite (I didn't say finance, I'd want to keep the precious stuff if I had any..) my little physical laboratory? (Just send it in small bits, so as I don't have to worry about looking for tungsten, please. :c) 

Fri, 10/19/2012 - 14:27 | 2904964 tempo
tempo's picture

Matt Simmon would be proud of this post and your courage. Fight on!!!

Fri, 10/19/2012 - 14:08 | 2904905 hannah
hannah's picture

there really isnt any reason to argue about this...the puppy will either blow or not eventually and if it does blow, the volume will be huge. no covering that up......

Fri, 10/19/2012 - 14:20 | 2904923 George Washington
George Washington's picture

Good argument ... we shouldn't talk about how financial markets are being manipulated or how Fukushima's spent fuel pools pose a huge risk the the rest of the world because... they'll either blow or not.

Go back to sleep...

http://bunkstrutts.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/sheep.gif

Fri, 10/19/2012 - 16:10 | 2905341 hannah
hannah's picture

george...can i call you ivan...? the point is the deniers can deny all they wish but if the fix wont hold, it wont hold. you can talk all you wish about the bp event or fuku but there isnt anything tech wise we can do to change the situation. we cant seal the well and we cant remove the spent fuel from the pools. talk all you wish but you cant do anything.

 

your talking will not change what will happen.....ivan.

Fri, 10/19/2012 - 19:53 | 2905779 One of these is...
One of these is not like the others..'s picture

This sites excellent and ahead of the game journalism in the matter of Fukushima, brought me here and made me buy a geiger counter with cumulative dose recorder, once I realised that the MSM were not going to inform me WTF was really going on.

Although due to comical ineptitude I have failed to change the batterys on a vast number of occasions sometimes for weeks on end, I do now know 2 things.

1. I have had AT LEAST 1.8 times as much radiation as I should have had in a year over the last eight months.

2. A couple of days ago I was getting SEVEN times as much as I should have. I live as FAR AWAY from FUKINSHAMBLES as it is possible to get on this hemisphere. GOD alone knows what is happening to those poor american coastal people...

Two people I have shared my findings with, are now looking to buy their own counters. Eventually as more do this and tell their friends people will wake up, (and if by some miracle spent fuel pool 4 doesn't spread it's goodness about) MAYBE the idea that nuclear energy is becoming unworkable will take hold in the zeitgeist?

Go long GEIGERS (With cumulative dose memory) Bitchez??    

Fri, 10/19/2012 - 16:42 | 2905391 George Washington
George Washington's picture

Dear Troll: This will be my last comment to you, because you are a waste of time.

I was born in the US and lived here my whole life. Nice Number 1!

Fukushima is

If we could put a man on the moon, we smart humans could solve Fukushima and the Gulf.  But the governments only spend money on starting profitable wars and entering into profitable scams.

And don't try "not politically feasible" ... that just means that the pimps in government don't want to do it.

Oh, and "looking forward, not backward" by covering up fraud by the big banks, the scope of the Gulf spill, scope of Fukushima disaster, Bush/Cheney torture, Bush/obama war crimes, etc. GUARANTEES THAT THE SAME THINGS - EVEN WORSE - WILL HAPPEN AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN ...

Thanks for playing, troll... 'Bye

Fri, 10/19/2012 - 21:30 | 2905911 hannah
hannah's picture

george - i dont care of you were born in the usa or not. i would hazard a guess  that 99% of americans dont care about bush/cheney torture or war crimes. are you in the 1% or are you really a foreigner...?! again not saying that it is good or bad or bush/cheney are good or bad ...just saying.

 

most americans can afford to rent their own POB and dont have to share with their mon pere.

Fri, 10/19/2012 - 17:57 | 2905584 FeralSerf
FeralSerf's picture

"If we could put a man on the moon. . ."

But if we can't, then what?

http://www.apfn.org/apfn/moon.htm

Centralized control of energy is the major method TPTB use to control humanity.  They will not give up that control without a very bloody fight.

I agree that the risks of large numbers of deaths are too large not to do anything possible to fix Fukushima.  The national security risks from Fukushima are much worse than Iran getting the bomb, for example.  I suspect, for reasons that are not  clear right now, the Power Elites don't want Fukushima fixed.

Fri, 10/19/2012 - 14:02 | 2904882 Stoploss
Stoploss's picture

Forget about BP. Have an independent 3-D survey done around the well site. Find an American surveyor, have them do pro bono in the interest of national security. If they refuse, then sieze the compnay and get it done. 

OR

Find the original company, subpoena all of the pre drilling seismic survey's. That company is not American. Economic sanctions will be imposed upon refusal to submit all related documents. Try that.

 

Time to take the gloves off.. There is nothing that can be done to correct what has happened. The earth will do that on it's own, and is in the process. What has to happen, is discovery of the condition of the area so proper precautions can be made.  The real trouble is just now starting.

Good luck.

Fri, 10/19/2012 - 13:32 | 2904758 SwimmininNawlins
SwimmininNawlins's picture

This is why I refuse to close my case against BP.  I know at least my case will not be 'settled' any time soon.  There will be long term damage and I will not sign away my rights.

Fri, 10/19/2012 - 13:10 | 2904653 monad
monad's picture

Yes, lets have BP conduct the survey. lets not do our own research, they'll be objective about all their findings.

Fri, 10/19/2012 - 13:14 | 2904676 George Washington
George Washington's picture

Monad, how do you change the image in your avatar virtually every day?

Fri, 10/19/2012 - 23:20 | 2906007 monad
monad's picture

Well Adam Weishaupt, I suppose the same way the USA set the Hun up to invent, produce, stockpile and sell industrial weapons worldwide, then conduct continuous aggression throughout Europe, Africa and Asia for over 100 years. The same way the USA got Japan to use German technology for decades, ravaging their neighbors including the Manchurian holocaust before we duped them into attacking Pearl Harbor and decimating our Pacific fleet. It would have worked too, if it weren't for you young whippersnappers finding us out. Drats!

 

Fri, 10/19/2012 - 20:40 | 2905846 RichardP
RichardP's picture

Don't know about monad, but I've known folks who have a program that automatically changes their avatar every designated period of time (once a day; once a month; etc.).

Nice work on this article, btw.

Fri, 10/19/2012 - 14:08 | 2904627 Village Smithy
Village Smithy's picture

I'm sorry but even as we spend 1 trillion per year more than revenue can we not afford to go down and have a look on our own?

Thanks for all of the effort that you put into this piece.

Fri, 10/19/2012 - 16:24 | 2905376 Citxmech
Citxmech's picture

Nobody's going to "have a look" (at least not publically) because the one's that make those decsions already know they don't want our attention directed anywhere near there.

Do NOT follow this link or you will be banned from the site!