Last week, BP lowered a four-story custom-designed concrete-and-metal box 5,000 feet into the Gulf of Mexico, where the plan was for it to rest atop the larger of two remaining oil leaks to capture escaping oil and send it via pipe to a drill ship on the water's surface.
But the oil did not flow through pipe properly because a buildup of frozen crystals, called hydrates, blocked the pipe opening where oil would come out after being sucked from the well. BP had planned for such a complication and used a warm solution between the pipes from the drill ship to keep the oil flowing, but it was not enough.
BP plans to use a smaller box to direct the oil from largest of the leaks into a pipe that will lead to a container vessel. Toward the end of next week, the company will also try to plug the well using a "junk shot", which means that BP will shoot trash at high speed into the blowout preventer (which did not prevent a blowout) to try to stop the flow of oil.
Satish Nagarajaiah, a Rice University engineer who works on offshore drilling issues, said he is concerned that the smaller box will not stay in place.
Neither of these methods inspire a great deal of confidence. I have a vision of trash floating in the oily water. Still, I hope, beyond hope, that one of the efforts is successful.
From NOLA.com.
UPDATE: From NOLA.com:
The company also will attempt a "top kill" of the failed blowout preventer that sits atop the wellhead, pumping what BP officials have called "junk," pieces of ground up tire or golf balls, into the valve assembly under very high pressure.
I wondered what sort of "junk" BP would use.
I'm glad you are continuing to post about this - it helps me to have one person's perspective. My parents live on the Florida side of the Gulf of Mexico, and my grandparents lived there - so even though I grew up in New England the Gulf has been a big part of my life. My grandparents taught me to love the herons and pelicans, and my mom still takes a keen interest in the wildlife. After Katrina I spent a some time at Camp Coast Care in Mississippi.
ReplyDeletePlease know that I'm praying for you and all the people who have such a close relationship to the beach, the water, and the wildlife.
the company will also try to plug the well using a "junk shot"
ReplyDeleteNo Comment---just a bunch of immature chortling!
[Sorry, Mimi. You know the saying: "I can laugh or I can cry, but laughing is less messy."]
Mary, thank you for the prayers. The Gulf is a part of the lives of many who don't live on the coast. When we go to the beach in Florida or Alabama, we meet folks who come from all over the country, year after year, to spend their vacations on the Gulf Coast.
ReplyDeleteJCF, it's naughty, then. I am such an innocent. Don't explain. I think I have it. :-)
ReplyDeleteSpeaks volumes for the arrogance of these people that with all the billions of dollars that pass through or stick to their fingers in the course of a year, they have not though it worth their while to spend the money to research and prepare a feasible, reasonably reliable response to a situation like this. For that reason alone, they should be held fully culpable.
ReplyDeleteLapin, it boggles the mind that BP had no disaster plan. Who would ever have expected...?
ReplyDeleteAnything substantive been heard from Vitter on the Gulf disaster?
ReplyDeleteAside from numerous cases of "Who Dat" diapers received to help with the clean-up effort.
ReplyDeletePresently, Vitter is lambasting the Obama administration for not having enough booms to contain the oil. Drill, baby, drill, but give us more booms to contain the spreading oil for this accident, and the next, and the next.
ReplyDeleteWhat JCF said.
ReplyDeleteIndeed; laughing is less messy!
ReplyDelete