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BP Caps Well, But Oil Spill Catastrophe Continues

Natural Disasters, South, USA — on July 16, 2010 2:05 pm

Panama City Beach affected by oil spillCelebratory measures may still be premature, but top BP officials displayed cautious optimism on Friday after a new experimental well cap was reported to be working.

The new well cap, placed on Thursday after two days of delays, was the first measure to effectively stop the gushing of oil into the Gulf of Mexico.

BP has not been able to control the leak since the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded three months ago, killing 11 oil rig workers and causing a catastrophic oil spill.

BP officials reported that pressure inside the well’s capping stack was up to 6,700 pounds per square inch. In order to ensure that the oil isn’t leaking afresh, the pressure needs to remain above 8,000 pounds per square inch inside the capping stack.

So far, however, all signs look positive for the new cap’s success. Robots roaming the sea floor and capturing sonar data have not detected any breaches. And a series of cameras below the surface, which once showed a relentless flow of oil, are clearly showing a halt in leakage.

Get a first-hand report of the damage in Gulf Coast Oil Report: Local Businesses Collapsing, Ecosystem Toxic

Formerly British Petroleum, now BP, LogoThe Obama Administration has been conservative with their enthusiasm about the success of the experimental cap, calling it a temporary solution. Government engineers and scientists will be scrutinizing the test data at six-hour intervals for the next 48 hours.

Regardless of the outcome of the tests, work on the drilling of the first of two relief wells will be restarted Friday. Relief wells are seen as a more permanent solution to prevent future leaks and are expected to be completed in August.

It also remains likely that oil will continue to be sent from the cap to containment ships until the relief wells are ready. BP estimates that within the coming weeks the containment capacity will rise to 3.4 million gallons of oil day, which is equal to high-end estimates of how much oil is leaking.

In the last three months, an estimated 163,800,000 gallons of oil have been dumped in the Gulf of Mexico, making the BP oil spill roughly 15 times larger than the Exxon-Valdez spill of 1989.

By Adriana Padilla for PeterGreenberg.com.

Related Links: CNN, Voice of America, CNN Interactive

Related links on PeterGreenberg.com:

  • Anonymous

    Great, the oil has stopped for now. President Obama, how about admitting that
    the crude oil is toxic, and demand BP provide respirators for the oil cleanup
    workers, and compensation for the Gulf unemployment caused by the disaster.

    In 1989 Exxon told the cleanup workers the same story, that the crude oil is not
    toxic. Some of us are living proof of the toxic exposure, and many others have
    died. Please view the YouTube video, and help get the message to Gulf residents,
    BP crude oil cleanup workers, and President Obama. Respirators need to be
    supplied to oil cleanup crews.
    Thank you.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5M1J7U2GYA0

    Merle Savage
    http://www.silenceinthesound.com
    msavage12@cox.net
    702-296-4211

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Kelly-Nelson/100000254938287 Kelly Nelson

    There was a non toxic Alternative to clean up the spill that
    has been successfully tested by BP after 10 months of spill damages. The Coast
    Guard sent a letter from headquarters stating to the FOSC to take action with
    OSE II, and the EPA, Lisa Jackson stopped the Coast Guard from allowing BP from
    implementing OSE II. In fact the EPA stopped the application of OSE II 11 times
    denying State Senators direct request for use of OSE II from Louisiana,
    Mississippi, and Alabama. La Department of environmental requested the use of
    OSE II as well, EPA’s Sam Coleman denied their request without reason. Governor
    Jindal tried to get OSE II demonstrated on the Chandelier Islands on May 6,
    2010, and the EPA stopped the Governor as well. The EPA in fact stopped the use
    of OSE II 11 times, without a reason given. Had the EPA allowed Governor Jindal
    to allow the demonstration of OSE II on May 6, 2010, it is possible a
    significant portion of the environmental damages, including the shorelines and
    the seafood industry would have been spared. The toxicty test comparison
    between OSE II and corexit really cannot be compared since with corexit, the
    label states it can cause red blood cells to burst, kidney, and liver problems
    if a chemical suit and respirator are not worn. OSE II in contrast can be used
    to wash your hands and is non toxic. The BP Deep Horizon spill has proven that
    corexit only sinks oil and causes the same oil to be addressed a second time
    when it comes ashore as under water plumes, or tar balls, while OSE II has a
    substantiated end point of converting oil to CO2 and water. See Coast Guard
    letter below

     

     

    U. S. Department

    of Homeland Security

    United States

    Coast Guard

     

    Commanding Officer               1 Chelsea Street

    U. S. Coast Guard               New London, CT  06320

    Research and Development Center               Staff Symbol: Contracting Office

                   Phone:  (860) 271-2807

     

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           July 10, 2010

     

    OSEI Corporation

    P.O. Box 515429

    Dallas, TX 
    75251

     

    Attn:  Steven
    Pedigo, President/Owner

     

    DEEPWATER HORIZON RESPONSE BAA HSCG32-10-R-R00019, TRACKING
    #2003954

     

    We are pleased to inform you that the initial screening of
    your White Paper submitted under Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) HSCG32-10-R-R00019
    has been completed.  It has been
    determined that your White Paper submission has a potential for benefit to the
    spill response effort.

     

    Your White Paper has been forwarded to the Deepwater Horizon
    Response Federal On-Scene Coordinator (FOSC) for further action under its
    authority.   Subject to the
    constraints and needs of the ongoing oil spill response, you may be contacted
    by the FOSC or the responsible party.

     

     

    We appreciate your interest in supporting the Deepwater
    Horizon Response effort.

     

     

    Contracting Officer /s/

    USCG R&D Center