BP finally choked off the flow of oil into the Gulf of Mexico on Thursday — 85 days and up to 184 million gallons after the crisis unfolded — then began a tense 48 hours of watching to see whether the capped well would hold or blow a new leak.
To the relief of millions of people along the Gulf Coast, the big, billowing brown cloud of crude at the bottom of the sea disappeared from the underwater video feed for the first time since the disaster began in April, as BP closed the last of three openings in the 75-ton cap lowered onto the well earlier this week.
"Finally!" said Renee Brown, a school guidance counselor visiting Pensacola Beach, Fla., from London, Ky. "Honestly, I'm surprised that they haven't been able to do something sooner, though."
Sounds good right? I mean for months we have watched this oil gush into the Gulf and now it is stopped, so how could that potentially be a bad thing?
Well this is BP we are talking about. What if the main goal was not to stop the oil but rather to make it harder to measure how much oil had spilled into the Gulf.
Keith Olbermann discussed this very topic with oil industry expert Bob Cavnar on Countdown a few days ago.
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I would like to celebrate this potential success as much as anybody else, but I think I will reserve judgement until i see what happens next.
I read an article yesterday about some guy who had sent BP an email a few days after the well exploded with this exact method of capping the oil, but they ignored him.
ReplyDeleteI can't find it now, maybe someone knows what I'm talking about and can post the article? I don't remember if I saw it on Huffpost, Talking Points Memo or Raw Story...It came through my newsreader
This is really great news. But stupid comments like this burn me up:
ReplyDelete"Finally!" said Renee Brown, a school guidance counselor visiting Pensacola Beach, Fla., from London, Ky. "Honestly, I'm surprised that they haven't been able to do something sooner, though."
As if a guidance counselor knows anything about the problem. Listen people, if it were easy, we wouldn't be at day 85. The Industry has the expertise and it is/was their responsibility all along. That still doesn't mean we lookie-loos on the sidelines get to act like the experts we are not.
Sunshine,
ReplyDeleteif this is indeed true, it goes into either the "everybody's and expert" file or the "hindsight is 20/20" file.
This is a last ditch effort to turn this into a production well before the relief wells connect and they have to seal it for good. Since the integrity of the casing is suspect throughout the bore, the likelihood of fracturing the surrounding strata is high. It's an irresponsible attempt to make some money off this well, putting the health of the gulf well behind the opportunity to cash in. As you said, "it's BP".
ReplyDeleteI would like to know why it took them so long to come up with this solution. Has anyone heard their "explanation"? Seems like they could have done this three months ago.
ReplyDeleteOff topic. did you see the Jeffery Dunn article in huffo with some fat lazy paranoid fuckers carrying assault rifles in the Bear Paw parade in Eagle River. just a bunch nut bag Scarah supporters. The worst kind of Alaskans. how embarrassing!!
ReplyDeleteOK, I remember Republicans tripping all over themselves to be the first one in front of a microphone to blame the leak on President Obama; so where are they now? Are they all going to step up and credit President Obama for stopping the leak? Don't hold your breath!
ReplyDeleteI can't "get happy" about the cap. I won't "get happy" until it's permanently plugged. Many mornings I step out my door to the smell on the breeze & I'm a mile from the shore. My memories of our sugar sand beaches go back to the '50's when there were only a few stop signs here. The year-round pop. of Gulf Shores was est. at 7,700 in 2008. In the Summer, tourists fuel the economy. In Winter, there are many(in thousands)of Snowbirds enjoying our awesome Winter weather & aiding the economy & contributing to the community.
ReplyDeleteSorry to ramble and that this post is mostly self-centered.
This is a major disaster that was caused by GREED! and I know this is paraphrased but .. Love of Money is the root of evil. Greed....and not just this BP evil crap, so easy to look around and see ..even Palin's behavior and those poor ignorant idiots thatfollow her & feed her Greed.
I've appreciated the concern and interest of so many AK(mostly)bloggers that have helped me w/ my case of P.I.S.T., Palin Induced Stress & Trauma and now w/ B.P.I.S.T.
Thanks for listening, back to lurkdom.
In Gulf Shores.
Lets remember that as soon as they poke a hole in the pipe from the secondary bore the same pressures that casued the first blow out are present.
ReplyDeleteAnd as soon as they start pumping concrete the same pressures and heat from the setting of the concrete and resultant production of expanding methane gas will reoccur.
There remains the trememdous force of oil trying to push up the pipe against the flow of the concrete that they could not over come twice before.
Do you believe Bee Pee?
ReplyDeleteI don't believe Bee Pee.
Did they suddenly get a clue and make the right move???
Is this the right move???
Ask me again if I believe Bee Pee- ask after they have some people actually SHOW UP AND ACTUALLY TESTIFY in the Coast Guard and congressional investigations.