The Oil Drum offers up this piece by Heading Out that discusses the Gulf leak and the activities that were underway prior to the explosion in marvelous detail. You may know that BP has a plan to get the leak under control, and this comment stream within the post gives the details on that. One caveat; it's never been tried at this depth, 5,000 ft. What I am reading in various comments is a belief that no matter what is tried, or how well it works, relief wells are the only sure cure for this problem, and they are likely to take a couple of months to get in place.
Also saw some postings indicating the current weather conditions have slowed the progress of the oil towards shore. The expectation is that it will make its way into the Loop Current eventually and ultimately wind up around the Keys. If it gets into the South Pass, which is the entry way into the Mississippi and New Orleans, we could be in real trouble. Freighters and tankers will be held up to get the oil off the hulls rather than let it into the river. Some of those ships may get redirected elsewhere to offload if that happens.
This is very bad no matter how you slice it.
No comments:
Post a Comment