Gulf of Mexico oil leak. Live underwater Pics

[jugs]

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=1n&tag=watchnow

 

[Omniata]

If they don't get it plugged soon it's going to be one hell of a mess down there

It's bad enough when a tanker splits but when a pressurised well spews out continuously it's murder... The heavier oils can separate and smother the sea bed killing everything as if covering the surface and the beaches isn't bad enough...
The gas can make the environment like a giant compost bin in water too, kind of like the deep sea where methane barriers exist...

 

[dai]

i cant belive they didnt have a contingency plan just incase something like this happend

 

[wyn]

i cant belive they didnt have a contingency plan just incase something like this happend

From what i understand they had fail safe cut off valaes on the pipe but they had "altered" them so they wouldn't work. There is some good info in this thread on Home shop machinist

 

[W4yne]

I don't know why they don't detonate a small strategically placed nuke over the well site on the sea bed, it would either staunch the flow or seal it off.

If they don't get it plugged soon it's going to be one hell of a mess down there

It's bad enough when a tanker splits but when a pressurised well spews out continuously it's murder... The heavier oils can separate and smother the sea bed killing everything as if covering the surface and the beaches isn't bad enough...
The gas can make the environment like a giant compost bin in water too, kind of like the deep sea where methane barriers exist...

 

[W4yne]

BOP's

All rigs have BOP's "Blow Out Preventers" Massive guillotine type mechanisms, when tripped by the dead mans switch by the "man" massive hydrolic rams shear through the drill pipe and seal the well and flow off.

From what i understand they had fail safe cut off valaes on the pipe but they had "altered" them so they wouldn't work. There is some good info in this thread on Home shop machinist

 

[tigler]

The BOP itself was blown off !! Hence the problem !!

 

[wyn]

All rigs have BOP's "Blow Out Preventers" Massive guillotine type mechanisms, when tripped by the dead mans switch by the "man" massive hydrolic rams shear through the drill pipe and seal the well and flow off.

Don't the rams hold the "valve" open then when hydraulic pressure is lost (oil rig burning down) a big spring closes it?

 

[tigler]

That or an emergency hydraulic accumulator powered system.

 

[rory1]

as above, i was under the impresion that they were driven open and sprung shut on the same principle as crane hoist brakes, so in the event of a problem the sytem should have been failsafe....... oops

 

[Tobymonster]

I heard on the news that it wasn't a legal necessity to have an emergency shut off valve on the sea bed. A law (or is that flaw) that only applies to North America!

 

[michael1703]

the cynic in me says that if it were texaco or some american company there wouldnt be as much coverage

 

[jugs]

Dramatic pics of the rig explosion

http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/episode/gulf-oil-spill-5488/Overview#tab-Photos/0

Also look @ the video

 

[Angusdog]

Although it is an environmental disaster, two points kind of need to be made:

1. The Gulf shores are largely dead thanks to the run-off from US agriculture. It's far from a pristine world heritage park. See the attached image of the dead zone from Wikipedia's article.

2. The words 'Pigeons', 'Roost' and 'coming home to' spring to mind. The US consumption of hydrocarbons just boggles the mind. I'm surprised this didn't happen earlier and it will happen more frequently as oil exploration goes into more marginal areas in search of the black gold. And then it will run out.

I also have to say that some of the tweets on the fake BP Twitter pages are superb. "KFC now offering the Top Kill sandwich! Bacon. Cheese. Mud. Sandwiched between two oily chicken slabs served on a plate of shame #bpcares"

 

[Omniata]

I don't know why they don't detonate a small strategically placed nuke over the well site on the sea bed, it would either staunch the flow or seal it off.

Sorry only just seen this....

Either of those two or thirdly ignite it like a spectacular Olympic torch in the middle of the sea, "Welcome to the Gulf of Mexico Olympics, I hope you like water sports"


Angusdog: Love the SpongeBob pic, I hate that cartoon at the best of times

 

[jugs]

A new live link from an ROV

http://www.bp.com/liveassets/bp_int...local_assets/bp_homepage/html/rov_stream.html

 

[Angusdog]

Tweets:
We feel terrible about spilling oil in American waters, we'll make sure the next spill happens where the terrorists live. #bpcares

I'm sorry, are people mad at us for drilling in the ocean?!? Maybe God shouldn't have put oil there in the first place. DUH. #bpcares

The good news: Mermaids are real. The bad news: They are now extinct. #bpcares

 

[MrFluffy]

The BOP itself was blown off !! Hence the problem !!

The BOP was breached by mud debris and a pipe falling into the well, noted as being breached in a safety report months beforehand and dismissed in the pursuit of profit.
The whole story :-

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/30/us/30rig.html?pagewanted=all