Gulf Oil Platform Explosion and Spill

Thad Allen: Relief well timing depends on oil's spread
By JAY REEVES (AP) – 5 days ago

THEODORE, Ala. — A relief well being drilled deep into the seafloor of the Gulf of Mexico to shut down the gushing well could be completed ahead of a long-set deadline of mid-August only if conditions are ideal, government and BP officials said Thursday.

The relief well is currently the best hope for stanching the oil leak set off by the April 20 explosion aboard the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, which killed 11 workers and began an environmental catastrophe for the region.

National Incident Commander and retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen said Thursday that the relief well is expected to intercept and penetrate the Deepwater Horizon well pipe about 18,000 feet below sea level within seven to 10 days.

But they won't know how long it will take to stop the oil until they get there. The gushing well has several concentric rings, and oil could be coming up through multiple rings, Allen said.

The plan is to pump heavy mud and then cement into the well to overcome the upward pressure of the huge oil reservoir below.

If the oil is coming through the outer ring of the well, then they will have to pump in mud and cement to stop that layer first. Then they would have to drill through the hardened cement and repeat the process in each ring until they reach the center pipe and do it again.

That scenario would push into the middle of August, which is the timeline the company and government officials have held to for weeks, despite repeated reports that the drilling was ahead of schedule and the oil could be stopped as soon as late July.

"If you have to exhaust all means for the ways that hydrocarbons are coming up the pipe, then that puts you into middle August," Allen said.
If the oil is only coming up the center pipe, then it's possible to stop the leak sooner.
"We're a bit ahead of schedule, but it just takes one storm to change that," BP spokesman Scott Dean said.

Though workers are getting "tantalizingly close to the well," they are also entering a delicate part of the operation that requires slow, methodical action, Dean said. That's why the company is sticking with mid-August.
Shaving even days off timeline would stop millions of gallons of oil from escaping into the Gulf. The broken well has spewed between 86 and 169 million gallons of oil, according to federal estimates. That's enough oil to fill about 3.4 million standard bathtubs.

Allen declined to comment about BP's internal workings when asked whether speculation about a July goal could be tied to the release of the British oil giant's second-quarter earnings on July 27. Company managing director Robert Dudley told the Wall Street Journal on Thursday that a "perfect case" would have the oil well capped between July 20 and July 27, though he said it was unlikely.

more at the link : http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gIXWYBTpLtSayJtg41LKXpxSxVPAD9GR0G6G1


Love Always
mudra

July 13, 2010, 10:12 AM
Video of BP’s New Cap on Well
By ROBERT MACKEY

Video from BP, posted on the Web site of Britain’s Channel 4 News, shows a new well cap being put in place Monday under the Gulf of Mexico and a statement on the operation from Robert Gibbs, the White House press secretary.
As my colleague Henry Fountain reports, “With a new, tighter-fitting cap in place on its runaway well in the Gulf of Mexico, BP prepared on Tuesday to test whether the gusher could be stopped completely.”

In a statement posted on the company’s Web site, BP announced late on Monday that it had successfully attached the new cap on the well a mile beneath the gulf’s surface. BP said it planned to begin a test on Tuesday to see if the new cap could stop the flow of oil completely for a number of hours.

The company said the test’s duration “will be a minimum of 6 hours and could extend up to 48 hours” but added that even a successful test “will not however be an indication that flow from the wellbore has been permanently stopped.”

Mr. Fountain explains:

If the tests on the well show the pressure rising and holding — an indication that the well is intact, with no significant damage to the casing pipe that runs the length of the well bore to 13,000 feet below the seafloor — BP, working with government scientists, could decide to leave the valves closed, effectively shutting off the well.
But, as Kent Wells, a senior vice president of the company told reporters at a briefing on Tuesday, if the tests show pressures that are lower than expected, that would be an indication that the well is damaged and could be leaking oil and gas into the surrounding rock.

BP hopes to use the new containment cap to capture more of the oil flowing from the damaged well until a relief well can permanently halt the flow. The company’s statement noted, “Relief well operations continue throughout this period and remain the sole means to permanently seal and isolate the well.”

Before the operation to put the new cap in place was complete, Mr. Wells explained the process in this animated guide posted on BP’s YouTube channel:



Love Always
mudra

*

Join Date
May 2010
Posts
26

Re: Read this : The Macondo Well may be capped this week


<BLOCKQUOTE class="postcontent restore ">
Thank you so much, Bill, for your updates. I feel so happy and relieved. This forum has become my main source for information. I trust info coming from this forum more than anywhere else."



Well, I DONT, and I never trust a man who can not take his hat off, I live with a baldy and his dad told him it was a solar panel for sexual energy, I guess Bill never heard that. WHO DOES HE WORK FOR?
ok, so now we know Bill doesn't have to buy toilet paper he has an endless supply of bottom feeders. oh pardon me with the wickedness.
Have not looked at that forum for yonks, and it does not disappoint if you have a taste for the sychophantic, but for REAL news, you have to come here.
Mudra that is fantastic you have the attention of a journalist, what would be even better is if it was YOU doing the reporting, you have brought so much to the table, the articles on BP and Iran plus the previous incident of polluting are gems, if you can say that about the ugly truth.
jeeze as if its all good news and everything is fine, HELLOOO, if it stopped today it would still not be fine. The pressure must remain to seek truth and REAL solutions, most everyone just wants to get back on the couch for American Galdiators or is it American Idol these days?
and yes trancoso, the corEXIT does seem to be causing rectal bleeding, it has been reported by quite a few sources. So, wonder where the good news on THAT is Bill? Mr Disinfo and his crew of happy campers, the modsquad ! what a show.

</BLOCKQUOTE>

urrrgh, I can not get the hang of posting stuff so it looks right, the above was a copy and pasted post from Avaloon as if it needs saying , plus my comments.

I am probably in a bad mood because my kidneys hurt and many people I know have aching kidneys and nasty bladder problems these past few weeks, I honestly blame the chemtrails which we have had a relentless bombardment of in the fine weather, so everyone was much more exposed to it than usual being outside so much. Maybe its just a coincidence but I didn't know kidney ache or cystitis was so catching.

It causes me to feel solidarity and real pain for all the people under the corexit attack zone. I think it is an insult to minimize this situation, and not to be negative, but just as truthful as possible, because, as they say the truth will set you free, .
Until then, I love a quote this week from Charlie Veitch (the love police,) "If you are going through hell, keep on going!" may as well

anomalous cowherd wrote:



Join Date
May 2010
Posts
26

Re: Read this : The Macondo Well may be capped this week


<blockquote class="postcontent restore ">
Thank you so much, Bill, for your updates. I feel so happy and relieved. This forum has become my main source for information. I trust info coming from this forum more than anywhere else."



Well, I DONT, and I never trust a man who can not take his hat off, I live with a baldy and his dad told him it was a solar panel for sexual energy, I guess Bill never heard that. WHO DOES HE WORK FOR?
ok, so now we know Bill doesn't have to buy toilet paper he has an endless supply of bottom feeders. oh pardon me with the wickedness.
Have not looked at that forum for yonks, and it does not disappoint if you have a taste for the sychophantic, but for REAL news, you have to come here.
Mudra that is fantastic you have the attention of a journalist, what would be even better is if it was YOU doing the reporting, you have brought so much to the table, the articles on BP and Iran plus the previous incident of polluting are gems, if you can say that about the ugly truth.
jeeze as if its all good news and everything is fine, HELLOOO, if it stopped today it would still not be fine. The pressure must remain to seek truth and REAL solutions, most everyone just wants to get back on the couch for American Galdiators or is it American Idol these days?
and yes trancoso, the corEXIT does seem to be causing rectal bleeding, it has been reported by quite a few sources. So, wonder where the good news on THAT is Bill? Mr Disinfo and his crew of happy campers, the modsquad ! what a show.

</blockquote>
, couldn't have written what i feel as well you did. i couldn't agree more.

i'm sorry you feel so ill, kidney pain is no joke, will send some healing.

it is so difficult reporting on some articles on the gulf, you go to post an article or pics and think twice weather it's fearmongering or real.

my heart and spirit go out to all the people being slowly poisioned and NO-ONE seems to give a XXXX.

we're really only starting to see a lot of chemtrails over the mountain this year, spraying away over the citys water supply. 4/5 at a time.

are they that bad where you are? though they seem to be really a lot worse for you.

it's ok to feel bad too, at least it's real, and it's only time and time passes, though unfortunly not for those living in the gulf

look your quote from the love police,

blessings SW.

Thank you so much, Bill, for your updates.Thank you so much, Bill, Thank you Bill, Thank you so much, Bill, for your updates.Thank you so much, Bill, Thank you Bill, Thank you so much, Bill, for your updates.Thank you so much, Bill, Thank you Bill, Thank you so much, Bill, for your updates.Thank you so much, Bill, Thank you Bill, Thank you so much, Bill, for your updates.Thank you so much, Bill, Thank you Bill, Thank you so much, Bill, for your updates.Thank you so much, Bill, Thank you Bill, Thank you so much, Bill, for your updates.Thank you so much, Bill, Thank you Bill, Thank you so much, Bill, for your updates.Thank you so much, Bill, Thank you Bill,

O, & by the way, thank you so much Bill, for the demolition of PA1!!!

You know, after reading your post, you really should thank Bill.

Yes it was really nice to destroy PA1. PA2 is so much better......NOT.

Live feeds from ROVs at Deepwater Horizon oil disaster:
http://www.sanaracreations.fi/rov-feeds/index.html

Now look at the screen where the oil is still gushing out of the 'pipe' & compare the colour of the ocean (BRIGHT & BLUE) with that on the other screens.


Skandi - ROV 2

ooooh we loves a good rant round billl, a laugh at someone else's expense ( the bill goes to bill) is just so much MORE fun, and he fits the ......bill , yuck yuck , did I say bill enough ? Hi bill, ( one more time)
Fun hanging out with you misfits but now I need to get back to some pressing business, and yes I am ironing.
( Hi SW, thanks for the nice thoughts and appreciating my small mindedness )
A lovely day to all is decreed!( from my bigger self)

um, Im sure bill is doing the best he can....

Live feeds from ROVs at Deepwater Horizon oil disaster:
http://www.sanaracreations.fi/rov-feeds/index.html

Now look at the screen - Skandi - ROV 2 where the oil is still gushing out of the 'pipe' & compare the colour of the ocean (BRIGHT & BLUE) with that on the other screens.

Vet told caller the National Guard is readying for mass evacuations and tent cities / stadium relocation (Katrina style), 50 miles inland from Texas to Florida.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzRoGIQ8msk



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxixwYQ-3Gg



The soldiers coming back from Iraq sure have the training required for concentration camps:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zahkl1q7oT4

TRANCOSO wrote:Thank you so much, Bill, for your updates.Thank you so much, Bill, Thank you Bill, Thank you so much, Bill, for your updates.Thank you so much, Bill, Thank you Bill, Thank you so much, Bill, for your updates.Thank you so much, Bill, Thank you Bill, Thank you so much, Bill, for your updates.Thank you so much, Bill, Thank you Bill, Thank you so much, Bill, for your updates.Thank you so much, Bill, Thank you Bill, Thank you so much, Bill, for your updates.Thank you so much, Bill, Thank you Bill, Thank you so much, Bill, for your updates.Thank you so much, Bill, Thank you Bill, Thank you so much, Bill, for your updates.Thank you so much, Bill, Thank you Bill,

O, & by the way, thank you so much Bill, for the demolition of PA1!!!

Indeed. The way the posters over there are disappearing up Bill's arse before our very eyes is most alarming.
Im more of a kind of wait and see person as far as the Gulf situ goes. as usual I found some of the stories alarmist but its still to early to tell and there are a lot of side effects to be dealt with.
He's wrong to put it to bed.

`No-fly' list often snares wrong persons

By Leonard Pitts
lpitts@MiamiHerald.com
20/07/04

http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/07/04/1715114/no-fly-list-often-snares-wrong.html

On the face of it, they'd seem to have little in common.

One is a disabled former Marine, born in Miami and living in Egypt. Another is a 28-year-old student from Corona, Calif., a German citizen and permanent resident of the U.S. Another is a refugee from Guinea who works as a caregiver for a family in New York. Another is an Air Force veteran and retired fireman, originally from Las Cruces, New Mexico.

There are 10 of them in all, 10 individuals from 10 walks of life who it turns out do have something in common not only with one another, but also with several toddlers, nuns and the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy. Namely, they've all been refused permission to board planes bound for, or traveling within, the United States, because their names showed up on a terrorist ``no-fly'' list.

As of last week, the 10 have something else in common. They are plaintiffs in a lawsuit filed by the ACLU against Attorney General Eric Holder, FBI Director Robert Mueller and Timothy Healy, director of the Terrorist Screening Center. The ACLU is seeking an injunction on behalf of individuals who, as the suit puts it, ``the government deems too dangerous to fly, but too harmless to arrest.''

It's more than a clever turn of phrase. It is also an apt description of the legal limbo to which the the government has consigned an untold number of innocent people in the name of fighting terror.

more at the link

Love Always
mudra

Mental, Emotional & Spiritual Dimensions of Gulf Disaster
Posted by Mark Sircus on 06 July 2010 | Filed under Medicine

Stressed Out In The Gulf and What To Do About It

Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Louisiana Office of Mental Health, Dr. Anthony Speier said, “We have been seeing an escalation of stress and symptoms. People are starting to grieve over what they see as the end of their lifestyle and work. Realities are setting in and there is a definite threat of people moving from sad to hopeless.” The mass public media though is not representing the reality of the mega-disaster; it is instead promoting the government’s and corporate agenda, meaning we know a lot more about how much money BP is spending then we do about the suffering of the people in the Gulf region. With every month this goes on the greater the area of contamination and harm becomes and eventually it could be many millions of people who will move from sadness to hopeless despair.

Blanchard, 51, said he and the fishermen who supply him spend a lot of time sitting around in his office trying to figure out what to do. “We start talking and pretty soon, before you know it, we’re all there crying,” he said. “I never seen so many grown men cry in my life. Tough men, you know? Tough, tough men. Tough as they come. Just break down and cry.” The world has always been a highly dangerous place. But now millions who have lived in comfort are going to be confronted with something that they are ill-prepared for, and we are not just talking about oil here.

Today’s Americans have a lot on their plate. Not only are they facing dire economic and financial crisis but now many millions will be exposed to a new threat: chemicals in air, water, sand, soil, and food as a result of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. People’s lives have begun to change and for many along the Gulf Coast and perhaps all of Southeastern United States it will never be the same again. If you think that’s a bit dire think about the news in the mainstream press sporting Bill Clinton himself thinking it’s a good idea to nuke the oil well and hope for the best. You know the big boys are sweating it when they allow something like that to enter the media stream.

It is important to understand the potential toxic effects and take appropriate protective actions to reduce exposure and harm. This is common sense and basic medicine but you tell me how institutions that are responsible for poisoning the environment and people’s bodies can protect and help the public avoid suffering and even dying from the intense toxicity that is expanding out rapidly from ground zero in the Gulf. We are getting reports that it’s starting to hit Texas so all the Gulf States are now involved. It is important to note that Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina are in harm’s way as well as the oil races up the east coast following the Gulf Stream. And the wind and the rain, my God, you would think people even in Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee would fear what’s coming down from the skies even without a hurricane.

Video: Oil Spill and Mental Health
http://ca.hadnews.com/video-oil-spill-and-mental-health.htm

Read full article at the link : http://blog.imva.info/?p=949


Love Always
mudra

Gulf Oil Gusher: Methane, Climate & Dead Zones

DK Matai
Chairman: mi2g, ATCA, The Philanthropia
Posted: July 3, 2010
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dk-matai/gulf-oil-gusher-methane-c_b_634550.html

Gas and Methane Levels At Record

As much as one million times the normal level of methane is showing up near the Gulf of Mexico oil gusher, enough potentially to create dead zones in the water. "These are higher levels than we have ever seen at any other location in the ocean itself," according to sources cited by Reuters. The "flow team" of the US Geological Survey estimates that 2,900 cubic feet of natural gas, which primarily contains methane, is being released into the Gulf waters with every barrel of oil. The constant flow of around 65,000 barrels of crude oil places the total daily amount of natural gas at over 188 million cubic feet. So far, over 13 billion cubic feet may have been released, making it one of the most vigorous methane eruptions in modern human history. The crude oil from the "Macondo Prospect" well contains around 40 percent methane, compared with about 5 percent found in typical oil deposits. To add to the challenge, methane and other toxic gases are trapped in deep water locations. Methane measurements can give a view to the extent of the oil gush in the Gulf of Mexico. Note our previous briefing: "Gulf Oil Gusher: Danger of Tsunamis From Methane?"

Accelerating Effects

Like-for-like, methane is 23 times more potent than Carbon Dioxide or CO2 at trapping solar radiation, as recognised within the Kyoto Protocol in 1997. Methane is far more reflective and calculated over a period of 20 years, as opposed to 100 years, its radiative force is 72 times that of CO2 emissions. This makes vast releases of methane very powerful "positive feedback" loops that accelerate global warming.


Read full article here :

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dk-matai/gulf-oil-gusher-methane-c_b_634550.html

parts 2/3/4 https://www.youtube.com/user/FreedomFilesus#p/a/3BD0DFB5E8898CE3/1/TqBC1Furh90

Freedom Files with James Burns Radio Show (7/13/2010): Matt Smith 1/4
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Gulf gusher to keep flowing as cap test delayed

By TOM BREEN
The Associated Press
Updated: 1:04 a.m. Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Posted: 4:36 a.m. Tuesday, July 13, 2010

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/money/gulf-gusher-to-keep-flowing-as-cap-test-799289.html

NEW ORLEANS — A pivotal moment in the Gulf oil crisis hit an unexpected snag Tuesday evening when officials announced they needed more time before they could begin choking off the geyser of crude at the bottom of the sea.

BP and federal officials did not say what prompted the decision or when the testing would begin on a new, tighter-fitting cap it had just installed on the blown-out well. The oil giant had been scheduled to start slowly shutting off valves on the 75-ton cap, aiming to stop the flow of oil for the first time in three months.

It seemed BP was on track to start the test Tuesday afternoon. The cap, lowered over the blown-out well Monday night, is designed to be a temporary fix until the well is plugged underground.

A series of methodical, preliminary steps were completed before progress stalled. Engineers spent hours on a seismic survey, creating a map of the rock under the sea floor to spot potential dangers, like gas pockets. It also provides a baseline to compare with later surveys during and after the test to see if the pressure on the well is causing underground problems.

An unstable area around the wellbore could create bigger problems if the leak continued elsewhere in the well after the cap valves were shut, experts said.

"It's an incredibly big concern," said Don Van Nieuwenhuise, director of Professional Geoscience Programs at the University of Houston. "They need to get a scan of where things are, that way when they do pressure testing, they know to look out for ruptures or changes."

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/money/gulf-gusher-to-keep-flowing-as-cap-test-799289.html?page=2

Love Always
mudra

Scientists say Gulf spill altering food web

By RAMIT PLUSHNICK-MASTI
The Associated Press
Wednesday, July 14, 2010

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/state/scientists-say-gulf-spill-altering-food-web-801467.html

NEW ORLEANS — Scientists are reporting early signs that the Gulf of Mexico oil spill is altering the marine food web by killing or tainting some creatures and spurring the growth of others more suited to a fouled environment.

Near the spill site, researchers have documented a massive die-off of pyrosomes — cucumber-shaped, gelatinous organisms fed on by endangered sea turtles.

Along the coast, droplets of oil are being found inside the shells of young crabs that are a mainstay in the diet of fish, turtles and shorebirds.

And at the base of the food web, tiny organisms that consume oil and gas are proliferating.

If such impacts continue, the scientists warn of a grim reshuffling of sealife that could over time cascade through the ecosystem and imperil the region's multibillion-dollar fishing industry.

Federal wildlife officials say the impacts are not irreversible, and no tainted seafood has yet been found. But Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass., who chairs a House committee investigating the spill, warned Tuesday that the problem is just unfolding and toxic oil could be entering seafood stocks as predators eat contaminated marine life.

"You change the base of the food web, it's going to ripple through the entire food web," said marine scientist Rob Condon, who found oil-loving bacteria off the Alabama coastline, more than 90 miles from BP's collapsed Deepwater Horizon drill rig. "Ultimately it's going to impact fishing and introduce a lot of contaminants into the food web."

The food web is the fundamental fabric of life in the Gulf. Once referred to as the food chain, the updated term reflects the cyclical nature of a process in which even the largest predator becomes a food source as it dies and decomposes.

What has emerged from research done to date are snapshots of disruption across a swath of the northern Gulf of Mexico. It stretches from the 5,000-feet deep waters at the spill site to the continental shelf off Alabama and the shallow coastal marshes of Louisiana.

Much of the spill — estimated at up to 182 million gallons of oil and around 12 billion cubic feet of natural gas — was broken into small droplets by chemical dispersants at the site of the leaking well head. That reduced the direct impact to the shoreline and kept much of the oil and natural gas suspended in the water.

But immature crabs born offshore are suspected to be bringing that oil — tucked into their shells — into coastal estuaries from Pensacola, Fla., to Galveston, Texas. Oil being carried by small organisms for long distances means the spill's effects could be wider than previously suspected, said Tulane professor Caz Taylor.

read more at the link :

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/state/scientists-say-gulf-spill-altering-food-web-801467.html

Love Always
mudra

Oil spill investigation transcripts released

June 18, 2010

Washington, D.C. — A joint investigation into the cause of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill is being conducted by the Minerals and Management Service and the U.S. Coast Guard.

The facts collected at this hearing, along with conclusions and recommendations will be forwarded to Coast Guard Headquarters and MMS for approval. Once approved, the final investigative report will be made available to the public and the media.

If the investigation reveals criminal misconduct on the part of any involved parties, then the Coast Guard will determine if

the matter should be referred to the Department of Justice for possible prosecution.

Here are the most recently released transcripts of the hearings.

See released transcripts at the link :

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/oil-spill-investigation-transcripts-released-755883.html

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deleted

I KNOW I already posted this before, but that was before I could embed, and maybe it was even the old forum . My kneejerk is activated when I see the words "wild horses", so I hope someone enjoys a lttle musical interlude one more time and for those that mist it B4 .

anomalous cowherd wrote:I KNOW I already posted this before, but that was before I could embed, and maybe it was even the old forum . My kneejerk is activated when I see the words "wild horses", so I hope someone enjoys a lttle musical interlude one more time and for those that mist it B4 .

Thanks for this anomalous . I had'nt seen it before.
When it comes to animals it's hard to bear how power and greed is wiping out everything that constitutes the beauty of
life itself on it's passage.
In our present society it is believed that animals can't talk .
In fact they do telepatically . There is a woman here in Belgium who has the ability to understand their
message and she serves as a mediator between animals and people .
I remember times or rather higher consciousness levels where we could all do this and where communication
with the whole of creation took place from Heart to Heart .

Love from me
mudra