BP said it may shut off a live video link of oil spewing from a pipe connected to its leaking well in the Gulf of Mexico, when it tries its "top kill" option to pump the well shut with mud and other material.
It is under review," a spokesman told Reuters. He declined to give a reason why the camera would stop broadcasting.
BP plans to start its "top kill" plan in the coming days. The London-based company said the measure has a 60-70 percent chance to halt the leak. [ID:nN25132932]
Congressman Ed Markey, a harsh critic of BP's response to the tragedy, said he had learned that BP planned to shut off the camera and criticized the decision.
"It is outrageous that BP would kill the video feed for the top kill. This BP blackout will obscure a vital moment in this disaster," he said in an emailed statement.
Oil from the slick has already begun to wash up on the shore in Louisiana and threatens to devastate the Gulf Coast.
BP has been accused of covering up the full extent of the spill after its estimate of the amount of oil leaking was shown to be too low.
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Monday, May 31, 2010
NOAA Can do credibel calculations now
New video provided by BP (BP.L) of its leaking underwater oil well should make it easier to calculate how much crude is spewing into the Gulf of Mexico, a senior government official said on Wednesday.
It's only been in the last couple of days that we have gotten video that was high enough resolution, long enough length and fast enough shutter speed to really do credible calculations," Jane Lubchenco, who heads the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said a House committee hearing on the oil spill.
She did not say when NOAA would provide an updated estimate on the amount of oil leaking.
It's only been in the last couple of days that we have gotten video that was high enough resolution, long enough length and fast enough shutter speed to really do credible calculations," Jane Lubchenco, who heads the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said a House committee hearing on the oil spill.
She did not say when NOAA would provide an updated estimate on the amount of oil leaking.
A Fundamental Mistake
Earlier in the day, well pressure tests showed an imbalance between the drill pipe choke and kill lines running from the drill deck to the blowout preventer. The pressure in the drill pipe was 1,400 pounds per square inch, while the choke and kill lines read zero PSI, according to BP documents gathered by the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
In BP's internal investigation, made public by the committee, BP said it might have been a "fundamental mistake" to continue with the procedure because there was an "indication of a very large abnormality."
As methane surged up the drill pipe and enveloped the rig, Brown said, a loud hiss of gas escaped from the well, which set off a stream of alarms.
"Gas alarms just kept piling up on top of each other more and more and more," Brown said. The rig was hit by a power blackout, and the explosion came soon after, he said.
"The first explosion basically threw me up against the control panel that I was standing in front of," Brown said.
As Brown raced to reach the rig's lifeboats, "it was just complete mayhem, chaos, people were scared, they were crying," Brown said.
The rig worker taking a muster of workers boarding the lifeboat, a man that Brown said he had known for nine years, did not recognize him.
This is a man that has known me for nine years and he cannot even remember my name," Brown said.
"It was just completely chaotic and nobody was really paying attention in my opinion," Brown said. "They were more concerned about just getting off the rig - escaping."
In BP's internal investigation, made public by the committee, BP said it might have been a "fundamental mistake" to continue with the procedure because there was an "indication of a very large abnormality."
As methane surged up the drill pipe and enveloped the rig, Brown said, a loud hiss of gas escaped from the well, which set off a stream of alarms.
"Gas alarms just kept piling up on top of each other more and more and more," Brown said. The rig was hit by a power blackout, and the explosion came soon after, he said.
"The first explosion basically threw me up against the control panel that I was standing in front of," Brown said.
As Brown raced to reach the rig's lifeboats, "it was just complete mayhem, chaos, people were scared, they were crying," Brown said.
The rig worker taking a muster of workers boarding the lifeboat, a man that Brown said he had known for nine years, did not recognize him.
This is a man that has known me for nine years and he cannot even remember my name," Brown said.
"It was just completely chaotic and nobody was really paying attention in my opinion," Brown said. "They were more concerned about just getting off the rig - escaping."
BP, Transocean Workers Argue
Swiss-based Transocean Ltd's Deepwater Horizon rig exploded while it was drilling a well a mile beneath the Gulf of Mexico under contract for London-based BP Plc. Eleven rig workers are presumed dead.
The Transocean mechanic's account could give the company more ammunition in its verbal battle with BP to assign blame for the disaster, which caused what is likely the biggest oil spill in U.S. history.
Around noon, rig workers met in a room adjacent to the rig's galley and "there was a slight argument that took place and a difference of opinions," said Douglas Brown, the rig's chief mechanic, speaking to a federal board of investigators in Kenner, Louisiana.
Brown said "a skirmish" took place between "the company man" from BP -- whose name he said he did not know -- and three Transocean employees.
"The company man was basically saying, 'Well this is how it's going to be,'" and Transocean rig workers "reluctantly agreed," Brown said.
The argument concerned "displacing the riser," Brown said, a reference to a decision made by rig personnel to remove heavy drilling mud from the drill pipe and replace it with water, in an attempt to wrap up drilling operations and plug the well with cement.
Drilling mud is a mixture of synthetic ingredients that is pumped into the well to exert downward pressure and prevent a column of oil and gas from rushing up the pipe.
The Transocean mechanic's account could give the company more ammunition in its verbal battle with BP to assign blame for the disaster, which caused what is likely the biggest oil spill in U.S. history.
Around noon, rig workers met in a room adjacent to the rig's galley and "there was a slight argument that took place and a difference of opinions," said Douglas Brown, the rig's chief mechanic, speaking to a federal board of investigators in Kenner, Louisiana.
Brown said "a skirmish" took place between "the company man" from BP -- whose name he said he did not know -- and three Transocean employees.
"The company man was basically saying, 'Well this is how it's going to be,'" and Transocean rig workers "reluctantly agreed," Brown said.
The argument concerned "displacing the riser," Brown said, a reference to a decision made by rig personnel to remove heavy drilling mud from the drill pipe and replace it with water, in an attempt to wrap up drilling operations and plug the well with cement.
Drilling mud is a mixture of synthetic ingredients that is pumped into the well to exert downward pressure and prevent a column of oil and gas from rushing up the pipe.
U.S. To Suspend Arctic Drilling?
Democratic Senator Mark Begich said he had been told by the Interior Department that the Obama administration will announce that consideration of any applications for exploratory drilling in the Arctic is suspended until 2011.
The suspension is part of measures President Barack Obama plans to order in response to the runaway oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
He is also expected to announce tougher safety requirements for offshore oil drilling and strengthened inspections of oil rigs.
The Arctic decision will suspend plans by Shell Oil to drill exploratory wells off Alaska this summer.
Shell's plans to drill in the Arctic have faced increasing controversy in recent weeks as the government tries to contain the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
"I am frustrated that this decision by the Obama administration to halt offshore development for a year will cause more delays and higher costs for domestic oil and gas production to meet the nation's energy needs," Begich said in a statement
The suspension is part of measures President Barack Obama plans to order in response to the runaway oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
He is also expected to announce tougher safety requirements for offshore oil drilling and strengthened inspections of oil rigs.
The Arctic decision will suspend plans by Shell Oil to drill exploratory wells off Alaska this summer.
Shell's plans to drill in the Arctic have faced increasing controversy in recent weeks as the government tries to contain the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
"I am frustrated that this decision by the Obama administration to halt offshore development for a year will cause more delays and higher costs for domestic oil and gas production to meet the nation's energy needs," Begich said in a statement
Military IN-Charge?
I think the president doesn't have any choice and he better go in, completely take over, perhaps with the military in charge," Nelson said.
"You've got to have BP's cooperation because they've got the technical instruments, but we've got to have somebody take charge. I think the U.S. military is best suited to do that," he said.
A CBS News poll found that 35 percent of Americans surveyed approved of the Obama administration's handling of the oil spill, 45 percent disapproved and 20 percent were undecided.
Republicans eager to make gains on Democrats' majorities in Congress in November have begun to raise questions about whether oversight was lacking.
"The Obama administration approved drilling at this site, approved the oil spill response plan and says it was paying attention," said Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell.
The most immediate concern is stopping the leak. The problem for the White House is that it has no real alternative except to rely on BP's technology and expertise to do it.
That means Obama is forced into an uneasy alliance with BP -- outraged that the leak took place but hopeful that the energy giant can stop it.
A mixed message of sorts has resulted. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar has railed publicly about BP: "Deadline after deadline has been missed ... If we find they're not doing what they're supposed to be doing, we'll push them out of the way appropriately."
However, Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen, the U.S. disaster response chief, has softened his punches to avoid alienating the company. "They're exhausting every technical means possible to deal with that leak," Allen said.
Presidential historian Thomas Schwartz, a Vanderbilt University professor, said presidencies are often defined by the crises encountered.
He said the oil spill could prove to be a defining crisis but he cautioned against comparing the leak to Katrina, for instance.
"This one has been slowly developing and could have those qualities, but if BP were to suddenly get it capped, things could be defused very quickly. The air could go out of the balloon," Schwartz said.
"You've got to have BP's cooperation because they've got the technical instruments, but we've got to have somebody take charge. I think the U.S. military is best suited to do that," he said.
A CBS News poll found that 35 percent of Americans surveyed approved of the Obama administration's handling of the oil spill, 45 percent disapproved and 20 percent were undecided.
Republicans eager to make gains on Democrats' majorities in Congress in November have begun to raise questions about whether oversight was lacking.
"The Obama administration approved drilling at this site, approved the oil spill response plan and says it was paying attention," said Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell.
The most immediate concern is stopping the leak. The problem for the White House is that it has no real alternative except to rely on BP's technology and expertise to do it.
That means Obama is forced into an uneasy alliance with BP -- outraged that the leak took place but hopeful that the energy giant can stop it.
A mixed message of sorts has resulted. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar has railed publicly about BP: "Deadline after deadline has been missed ... If we find they're not doing what they're supposed to be doing, we'll push them out of the way appropriately."
However, Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen, the U.S. disaster response chief, has softened his punches to avoid alienating the company. "They're exhausting every technical means possible to deal with that leak," Allen said.
Presidential historian Thomas Schwartz, a Vanderbilt University professor, said presidencies are often defined by the crises encountered.
He said the oil spill could prove to be a defining crisis but he cautioned against comparing the leak to Katrina, for instance.
"This one has been slowly developing and could have those qualities, but if BP were to suddenly get it capped, things could be defused very quickly. The air could go out of the balloon," Schwartz said.
A Nightmare for Obama.
Unlike Hurricane Katrina and its immediate, frightful images of people in crisis, the gushing BP oil well has been a slow-moving behemoth that is now taking a political toll on the president.
Obama was already immersed in a long list of problems -- pushing a financial regulation overhaul, prodding Europe to stem a financial crisis, pressuring Iran and North Korea.
And don't forget the 9.9 percent U.S. jobless rate, two wars and Obama's hopes for immigration and energy legislation before Washington stops for November 2 congressional elections.
Now the greatest environmental calamity since the Exxon Valdez spill in 1989 has fallen into his lap. He declared it "heartbreaking."
"We will not rest until this well is shut, the environment is repaired and the cleanup is complete," Obama said on Wednesday. He makes his second visit to the Gulf on Friday.
The word at the White House is that Obama is frustrated at the delays BP Plc has encountered in stopping the leak. "Plug the damn hole," he has told senior government officials.
And he is feeling heat from some of his own allies to get something done.
James Carville, the Louisiana native and Democratic consultant who helped Bill Clinton get elected in 1992, is known as the "Ragin' Cajun" and here is why:
"Man, you (Obama) got to get down here and take control of this! Put somebody in charge of this thing and get this moving! We're about to die down here!" he told ABC's "Good Morning America."
Florida Democratic Senator Bill Nelson, fearful for his state's coastline, was less bellicose, but just as worried.
He told CNN if a BP "top kill" procedure to stem the leak does not work, then Obama has to order the federal government to take over the operations
Obama was already immersed in a long list of problems -- pushing a financial regulation overhaul, prodding Europe to stem a financial crisis, pressuring Iran and North Korea.
And don't forget the 9.9 percent U.S. jobless rate, two wars and Obama's hopes for immigration and energy legislation before Washington stops for November 2 congressional elections.
Now the greatest environmental calamity since the Exxon Valdez spill in 1989 has fallen into his lap. He declared it "heartbreaking."
"We will not rest until this well is shut, the environment is repaired and the cleanup is complete," Obama said on Wednesday. He makes his second visit to the Gulf on Friday.
The word at the White House is that Obama is frustrated at the delays BP Plc has encountered in stopping the leak. "Plug the damn hole," he has told senior government officials.
And he is feeling heat from some of his own allies to get something done.
James Carville, the Louisiana native and Democratic consultant who helped Bill Clinton get elected in 1992, is known as the "Ragin' Cajun" and here is why:
"Man, you (Obama) got to get down here and take control of this! Put somebody in charge of this thing and get this moving! We're about to die down here!" he told ABC's "Good Morning America."
Florida Democratic Senator Bill Nelson, fearful for his state's coastline, was less bellicose, but just as worried.
He told CNN if a BP "top kill" procedure to stem the leak does not work, then Obama has to order the federal government to take over the operations
BP Chose Cheaper Casing for Well.
Workers from the Deepwater Horizon oil rig and the energy company have said that gases were leaking through the casing hours before an explosion caused a massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Investigators have said the leaks could have caused the explosion.
The casing pipe that lined the well had cement that, if it did not seal properly, would allow gas to leak to the wellhead, where there was only a single barrier, the Times said.
Using a different type of casing would have created two barriers.
The newspaper said the company decided to use the casing several days before the explosion. It was installed by the contractor Halliburton.
BP said the riskier single barrier option made the best economic case, according to the newspaper.
On Wednesday, federal investigators said the cementing on the well must have failed at some point. Halliburton has defended its work, saying that all of its cementing procedures were dictated by BP.
The casing pipe that lined the well had cement that, if it did not seal properly, would allow gas to leak to the wellhead, where there was only a single barrier, the Times said.
Using a different type of casing would have created two barriers.
The newspaper said the company decided to use the casing several days before the explosion. It was installed by the contractor Halliburton.
BP said the riskier single barrier option made the best economic case, according to the newspaper.
On Wednesday, federal investigators said the cementing on the well must have failed at some point. Halliburton has defended its work, saying that all of its cementing procedures were dictated by BP.
Bigger than 1979 Meltdown
That disaster literally put a stop to nuclear power in the U.S.," Rodman said at the summit. "I'm not sure Three Mile Island was as big as what has happened (in the Gulf)."
"What I worry about as an energy CEO is what effect this will have on energy policy," he said, noting it may lead people to look more seriously at electric cars, or complicate plans to pump carbon underground. "This BP thing has tentacles."
Along with the public at large, industry players were crossing their fingers on Thursday in hopes the latest attempt to plug the well would be successful.
Dave Roberts, head of worldwide upstream operations at Marathon Oil Corp (MRO.N), spoke frankly about everything that went wrong and the looming political fallout.
"These things just shouldn't happen," Roberts said, citing the industry's obligation to keep equipment working and its people safe. "On this particular incident, the industry has failed that obligation, and we're obviously very concerned about it."
Even energy lobbyists are changing their tack. Catherine Reheis-Boyd, president of the Western States Petroleum Association, readily conceded at a debate in San Francisco last week that what happened with the Horizon was a "game-changer."
"What I worry about as an energy CEO is what effect this will have on energy policy," he said, noting it may lead people to look more seriously at electric cars, or complicate plans to pump carbon underground. "This BP thing has tentacles."
Along with the public at large, industry players were crossing their fingers on Thursday in hopes the latest attempt to plug the well would be successful.
Dave Roberts, head of worldwide upstream operations at Marathon Oil Corp (MRO.N), spoke frankly about everything that went wrong and the looming political fallout.
"These things just shouldn't happen," Roberts said, citing the industry's obligation to keep equipment working and its people safe. "On this particular incident, the industry has failed that obligation, and we're obviously very concerned about it."
Even energy lobbyists are changing their tack. Catherine Reheis-Boyd, president of the Western States Petroleum Association, readily conceded at a debate in San Francisco last week that what happened with the Horizon was a "game-changer."
BP oil Spill Stuns the oilmen
Apache Corp (APA.N) CEO Steve Farris, a senior executive at the company for two decades, said he does his best to remain calm and keep the gushing well in perspective. But the first thing he does when he wakes at 5 a.m. is seek out the latest news developments.
"It has a psychological effect not only on America, but our industry, and you try to overcome that," Farris told the Reuters Global Energy Summit in Houston this week.
On top of the environmental catastrophe, the loss of 11 lives in last month's Deepwater Horizon explosion has left a deep emotional impact on the close-knit drilling community.
Apart from the possibility that it could happen to one of their own rigs, executives worry about the pall BP Plc's (BP.L) blown-out well has cast over a deepwater drilling sector that once had a persistently sunny outlook.
Black & Veatch Chief Executive Len Rodman, whose company does engineering for energy projects, said huge tragedies have changed the trajectory of the energy business before, such as the partial core meltdown in a unit at Pennsylvania's Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in 1979.
"It has a psychological effect not only on America, but our industry, and you try to overcome that," Farris told the Reuters Global Energy Summit in Houston this week.
On top of the environmental catastrophe, the loss of 11 lives in last month's Deepwater Horizon explosion has left a deep emotional impact on the close-knit drilling community.
Apart from the possibility that it could happen to one of their own rigs, executives worry about the pall BP Plc's (BP.L) blown-out well has cast over a deepwater drilling sector that once had a persistently sunny outlook.
Black & Veatch Chief Executive Len Rodman, whose company does engineering for energy projects, said huge tragedies have changed the trajectory of the energy business before, such as the partial core meltdown in a unit at Pennsylvania's Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in 1979.
Obama's Katrina??
Gulf residents fear the spilled oil could be whipped further inshore by what promises to be the most active Atlantic storm season since 2005, the year of Hurricane Katrina.
That deadly storm proved a political disaster for President George W. Bush, who was accused of complacency in handling it, and Obama is fighting to prevent the Gulf spill from becoming his own "Katrina" ahead of the November congressional elections.
Louisianans still recovering from Katrina's devastation were frustrated by the oil spill response. "It's been a screw-up from day one. Nothing was at the ready and no one was in a position to respond," said Claude Marquette, a retired physician, 68, speaking as he sat with his wife in his boat.
BP's Hayward had predicted that despite risks, the "top kill" had a 60 to 70 percent chance of success. He said he did not know why it failed to stop the gusher.
The misstep is likely to drive his credibility lower, along with his company's market value, which has dropped by 25 percent since the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded on April 20, killing 11 workers, and triggering the spill.
The government estimated last week that 12,000 to 19,000 barrels (504,000 to 798,000 gallons/1.9 million to 3 million liters) a day are leaking from the well. At that rate, the government now knows that the Gulf disaster has surpassed the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill in Alaskan waters.
That deadly storm proved a political disaster for President George W. Bush, who was accused of complacency in handling it, and Obama is fighting to prevent the Gulf spill from becoming his own "Katrina" ahead of the November congressional elections.
Louisianans still recovering from Katrina's devastation were frustrated by the oil spill response. "It's been a screw-up from day one. Nothing was at the ready and no one was in a position to respond," said Claude Marquette, a retired physician, 68, speaking as he sat with his wife in his boat.
BP's Hayward had predicted that despite risks, the "top kill" had a 60 to 70 percent chance of success. He said he did not know why it failed to stop the gusher.
The misstep is likely to drive his credibility lower, along with his company's market value, which has dropped by 25 percent since the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded on April 20, killing 11 workers, and triggering the spill.
The government estimated last week that 12,000 to 19,000 barrels (504,000 to 798,000 gallons/1.9 million to 3 million liters) a day are leaking from the well. At that rate, the government now knows that the Gulf disaster has surpassed the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill in Alaskan waters.
Oil Coming till August???
After giving up on Saturday an attempt to pump heavy fluids and blocking materials into the leaking well to "kill" it, BP is pursuing another option from its undersea toolbox.
But BP warns that the new procedure, which will try to fit a containment cap over the leaking well, could take between four and seven days. Even then success is not guaranteed because it has never been attempted before at the depth -- a mile down -- where the oil is leaking.
BP Managing Director Robert Dudley told NBC's "Meet the Press" the company would know by the end of the week whether the new containment effort worked.
The next BP step would involve undersea robots using diamond-rimmed saws to cut off a pipe over the well to put in place a containment device that would try to siphon off most of the leaking oil and gas up to a tanker ship on the surface.
Dudley said he did not think BP CEO Tony Hayward, who has faced heavy criticism, should be forced to resign.
A surer solution to the leak, a relief well already being drilled, is not expected to be finished until early August.
This means crude oil continues to spew out daily, feeding a huge, fragmented slick that has already polluted marshlands teeming with wildlife and rich fisheries in Louisiana.
There could be oil coming up until August." Browner told CBS's "Face The Nation," "We are prepared for the worst."
Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu called on BP to immediately invest $1 billion to protect marshes, wetlands and estuaries across the region. "While we may not be able to plug the leaking well right away, there is nothing that should stop us from getting help to the Gulf Coast immediately," she said.
But BP warns that the new procedure, which will try to fit a containment cap over the leaking well, could take between four and seven days. Even then success is not guaranteed because it has never been attempted before at the depth -- a mile down -- where the oil is leaking.
BP Managing Director Robert Dudley told NBC's "Meet the Press" the company would know by the end of the week whether the new containment effort worked.
The next BP step would involve undersea robots using diamond-rimmed saws to cut off a pipe over the well to put in place a containment device that would try to siphon off most of the leaking oil and gas up to a tanker ship on the surface.
Dudley said he did not think BP CEO Tony Hayward, who has faced heavy criticism, should be forced to resign.
A surer solution to the leak, a relief well already being drilled, is not expected to be finished until early August.
This means crude oil continues to spew out daily, feeding a huge, fragmented slick that has already polluted marshlands teeming with wildlife and rich fisheries in Louisiana.
There could be oil coming up until August." Browner told CBS's "Face The Nation," "We are prepared for the worst."
Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu called on BP to immediately invest $1 billion to protect marshes, wetlands and estuaries across the region. "While we may not be able to plug the leaking well right away, there is nothing that should stop us from getting help to the Gulf Coast immediately," she said.
Federal Investigation
Department of Justice officials are part of an ongoing federal investigation into the April 20 rig explosion that triggered the spill, and the Obama administration has not ruled out the possibility of a criminal prosecution.
In Louisiana, which has borne the brunt of the oil spill impact so far, local authorities demanded that BP and the federal government rush a plan to create a sand barrier to the oil by dredging and building up outlying sandbanks and islets.
"I'm devastated ... We are dying a slow death, every time that oil takes out a piece of the marsh, a piece of Louisiana is gone forever," said Billy Nungesser, president of Plaquemines Parish, where the oil has clogged wetlands.
"Even the government seems powerless and all the experts. If these people can't stop it, then who in the name of God can?" Father Gerry, a priest at St. Patrick Catholic Church in Port Sulphur, Louisiana, said, his voice heavy with emotion.
In Louisiana, which has borne the brunt of the oil spill impact so far, local authorities demanded that BP and the federal government rush a plan to create a sand barrier to the oil by dredging and building up outlying sandbanks and islets.
"I'm devastated ... We are dying a slow death, every time that oil takes out a piece of the marsh, a piece of Louisiana is gone forever," said Billy Nungesser, president of Plaquemines Parish, where the oil has clogged wetlands.
"Even the government seems powerless and all the experts. If these people can't stop it, then who in the name of God can?" Father Gerry, a priest at St. Patrick Catholic Church in Port Sulphur, Louisiana, said, his voice heavy with emotion.
Environmental Crime???
One congressman called the nearly six-week oil gush in the Gulf of Mexico an "environmental crime," while a Louisiana senator demanded BP invest $1 billion immediately to protect the region's treasured marshlands.
The failure on Saturday of a "top kill" technique attempted by London-based BP to try to seal its leaking Gulf well has unleashed a surge of anger and frustration that poses a major domestic challenge for President Barack Obama.
Obama, who has called the leaking BP well a "man-made disaster," is trying to fend off criticism that his administration acted too slowly in its response to the spill, now known to be the worst in U.S. history.
He is in a bind because it appears only BP can stop the leak, although he has made clear the government is in charge. But critics say he has not directed enough resources to the unfolding disaster and he has been present enough.
The White House said on Sunday that the government will triple clean-up resources in areas affected by the spill, while the administration's top energy and environment officials head back to the Gulf this week following Obama's second visit on Friday.
"This is probably the biggest environmental disaster we have ever faced in this country," top White House energy adviser Carol Browner told NBC's "Meet the Press."
BP, its reputation and market value already battered by the catastrophic spill, and the entire U.S. oil industry face more probing questions about why safety backups did not accompany their pursuit of oil in ever deeper offshore waters.
"I think without question if the word criminal should be used in terms of an environmental crime against our country, that what's going on in the Gulf of Mexico is going to qualify," U.S. Representative Ed Markey told CBS' "Face the Nation."
The failure on Saturday of a "top kill" technique attempted by London-based BP to try to seal its leaking Gulf well has unleashed a surge of anger and frustration that poses a major domestic challenge for President Barack Obama.
Obama, who has called the leaking BP well a "man-made disaster," is trying to fend off criticism that his administration acted too slowly in its response to the spill, now known to be the worst in U.S. history.
He is in a bind because it appears only BP can stop the leak, although he has made clear the government is in charge. But critics say he has not directed enough resources to the unfolding disaster and he has been present enough.
The White House said on Sunday that the government will triple clean-up resources in areas affected by the spill, while the administration's top energy and environment officials head back to the Gulf this week following Obama's second visit on Friday.
"This is probably the biggest environmental disaster we have ever faced in this country," top White House energy adviser Carol Browner told NBC's "Meet the Press."
BP, its reputation and market value already battered by the catastrophic spill, and the entire U.S. oil industry face more probing questions about why safety backups did not accompany their pursuit of oil in ever deeper offshore waters.
"I think without question if the word criminal should be used in terms of an environmental crime against our country, that what's going on in the Gulf of Mexico is going to qualify," U.S. Representative Ed Markey told CBS' "Face the Nation."
Slow Death
News that the top kill operation had failed was met with severe criticism from residents and the authorities on the Gulf coast.
"I'm devastated ... We are dying a slow death, every time that oil takes out a piece of the marsh, a piece of Louisiana is gone forever," Billy Nungesser, president of Louisiana's Plaquemines parish, one of the areas worst hit by the spill, said.
Mary Landrieu, a Louisiana Democratic senator, called on BP to immediately invest $1bn to protect marshes, wetlands and estuaries across the region.
She and David Vitter, a Louisiana Republican senator, urged BP and the federal government to immediately fund and support the plan to use dredging materials to create an offshore island barrier.
Barack Obama, the US president, who has called the leaking well a "manmade disaster", is trying to fend off criticism that his administration acted too slowly in its response to the spill.
"I'm devastated ... We are dying a slow death, every time that oil takes out a piece of the marsh, a piece of Louisiana is gone forever," Billy Nungesser, president of Louisiana's Plaquemines parish, one of the areas worst hit by the spill, said.
Mary Landrieu, a Louisiana Democratic senator, called on BP to immediately invest $1bn to protect marshes, wetlands and estuaries across the region.
She and David Vitter, a Louisiana Republican senator, urged BP and the federal government to immediately fund and support the plan to use dredging materials to create an offshore island barrier.
Barack Obama, the US president, who has called the leaking well a "manmade disaster", is trying to fend off criticism that his administration acted too slowly in its response to the spill.
The Dead Zone
"Scientists say there is a 30km long, 10km wide plume of oil about a kilometre under the water, potentially sucking up all the oxygen there, killing plankton ... creating a sort of dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico that will be spreading," our correspondent said.
Scientists from several universities have reported plumes of what appears to be oil suspended in clouds stretching for kilometres and reaching hundreds of metres beneath the Gulf's surface.
The findings - from the University of South Florida, the University of Georgia, Southern Mississippi University and other institutions – were based on initial observations of water samples taken in the Gulf over the last several weeks
James Cowan, a marine scientist at Louisiana State University, who reported finding a plume last week of oil about 80km from the spill site that reached to depths of at least 122 metres, said "there's been enough evidence from enough different sources".
But Tony Hayward, BP's chief executive, disputed the scientists' claims, saying BP's sampling showed "no evidence" that oil was suspended in large masses beneath the surface.
"The oil is on the surface," Hayward said. "Oil has a specific gravity that's about half that of water. It wants to get to the surface because of the difference in specific gravity."
In the six weeks since an explosion hit BP's Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, killing 11 workers, the leaking well has spewed an estimated 68 million litres of oil into the Gulf of Mexico.
The spill is the worst in US history - exceeding even the Exxon Valdez disaster in 1989 off the Alaska coast.
BP says it has so far spent $940m to try to plug the leak and clean up the sea and soiled coast.
The top kill operation, which involved pumping mud into the well - most of which escaped out of the well's damaged riser pipe - was the latest of several failed attempts to plug the leaking well.
In the days immediately after the explosion BP engineers tried to use robot submarines to close valves on the massive blowout preventer atop the damaged well.
Two weeks later ice-like crystals clogged a 100-tonne containment box the company tried placing over the leak.
And earlier this week engineers removed a mile-long siphon tube from the broken riser pipe after managing to extract a disappointing 3.4 million litres of oil from the well.
Scientists from several universities have reported plumes of what appears to be oil suspended in clouds stretching for kilometres and reaching hundreds of metres beneath the Gulf's surface.
The findings - from the University of South Florida, the University of Georgia, Southern Mississippi University and other institutions – were based on initial observations of water samples taken in the Gulf over the last several weeks
James Cowan, a marine scientist at Louisiana State University, who reported finding a plume last week of oil about 80km from the spill site that reached to depths of at least 122 metres, said "there's been enough evidence from enough different sources".
But Tony Hayward, BP's chief executive, disputed the scientists' claims, saying BP's sampling showed "no evidence" that oil was suspended in large masses beneath the surface.
"The oil is on the surface," Hayward said. "Oil has a specific gravity that's about half that of water. It wants to get to the surface because of the difference in specific gravity."
In the six weeks since an explosion hit BP's Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, killing 11 workers, the leaking well has spewed an estimated 68 million litres of oil into the Gulf of Mexico.
The spill is the worst in US history - exceeding even the Exxon Valdez disaster in 1989 off the Alaska coast.
BP says it has so far spent $940m to try to plug the leak and clean up the sea and soiled coast.
The top kill operation, which involved pumping mud into the well - most of which escaped out of the well's damaged riser pipe - was the latest of several failed attempts to plug the leaking well.
In the days immediately after the explosion BP engineers tried to use robot submarines to close valves on the massive blowout preventer atop the damaged well.
Two weeks later ice-like crystals clogged a 100-tonne containment box the company tried placing over the leak.
And earlier this week engineers removed a mile-long siphon tube from the broken riser pipe after managing to extract a disappointing 3.4 million litres of oil from the well.
Risky and Scary Proposition
BP has said that – if successful – the procedure will be able to get only a majority of the oil, not all of it, and the Obama administration said on Sunday that the amount of oil leaking from the ruptured well could increase as much as 20 per cent while efforts were made to cap it.
Experts also warned that the operation was risky because a bend in the damaged riser pipe was likely to be restricting the flow of oil.
"If they can't get that valve on, things will get much worse," Philip Johnson, an engineering professor at the University of Alabama, told the Associated Press news agency.
"It's a scary proposition."
BP engineers have said that a permanent solution to the leak, a relief well currently being drilled, will not be ready until August.
"We are going to have to wait a long time for a definitive solution to this crisis, which is really very bad news," our correspondent said.
"And it's not just the damage on shore. We are hearing more and more from scientists and oceanographers about what's going on under the sea, and will be for years if not decades to come," Spicer said.
Experts also warned that the operation was risky because a bend in the damaged riser pipe was likely to be restricting the flow of oil.
"If they can't get that valve on, things will get much worse," Philip Johnson, an engineering professor at the University of Alabama, told the Associated Press news agency.
"It's a scary proposition."
BP engineers have said that a permanent solution to the leak, a relief well currently being drilled, will not be ready until August.
"We are going to have to wait a long time for a definitive solution to this crisis, which is really very bad news," our correspondent said.
"And it's not just the damage on shore. We are hearing more and more from scientists and oceanographers about what's going on under the sea, and will be for years if not decades to come," Spicer said.
BP Scrambles!!!
Oil giant BP has announced yet another plan to contain the oil gushing out of its well in the Gulf of Mexico, a day after its "top kill" manoeuvre to plug the leak failed.
Bob Dudley, BP's managing director, told NBC news on Sunday that the plan was designed to capture most of the oil on the sea floor and channel it to the surface for collection.
"I think engineering on this is simpler than the top kill ... It will be a four to seven day operation," Dudley said.
However, BP warned that the success of the new procedure, which will try to fit a containment cap over the leaking well, was not guaranteed.
Al Jazeera's Nick Spicer, reporting from the town of Empire in Louisiana, said the next effort would likely start on Monday or Tuesday.
It would involve cutting out the well head and moving a multi-tonne devise called a blow out preventer, and then having a drill ship send down a long-pipe with a nozzle that would suck up the oil coming out, our correspondent explained.
Bob Dudley, BP's managing director, told NBC news on Sunday that the plan was designed to capture most of the oil on the sea floor and channel it to the surface for collection.
"I think engineering on this is simpler than the top kill ... It will be a four to seven day operation," Dudley said.
However, BP warned that the success of the new procedure, which will try to fit a containment cap over the leaking well, was not guaranteed.
Al Jazeera's Nick Spicer, reporting from the town of Empire in Louisiana, said the next effort would likely start on Monday or Tuesday.
It would involve cutting out the well head and moving a multi-tonne devise called a blow out preventer, and then having a drill ship send down a long-pipe with a nozzle that would suck up the oil coming out, our correspondent explained.
Comparison To Katrina
But that does not mean the public will forgive the first-term president, who is anxious to avoid comparisons to former President George W. Bush and his government's much-criticized response to Hurricane Katrina.
His political opponents, and even some prominent Democrats, are calling on him to take command of the situation. That kind of rhetoric could hurt his credibility ahead of congressional elections in November, when Democrats are poised to lose seats.
Obama again tried to assuage Gulf residents on Saturday and told them he will keep the heat on BP to repair the damage to their lives and habitat.
"It is as enraging as it is heartbreaking, and we will not relent until this leak is contained, until the waters and shores are cleaned up, and until the people unjustly victimized by this manmade disaster are made whole," Obama said in his statement.
With the leak and the clean-up far from solved, BP now has a new headache: accusations that its 22,000 workers employed in clean-up are not adequately trained and equipped and some of them have been sickened by the oil.
His political opponents, and even some prominent Democrats, are calling on him to take command of the situation. That kind of rhetoric could hurt his credibility ahead of congressional elections in November, when Democrats are poised to lose seats.
Obama again tried to assuage Gulf residents on Saturday and told them he will keep the heat on BP to repair the damage to their lives and habitat.
"It is as enraging as it is heartbreaking, and we will not relent until this leak is contained, until the waters and shores are cleaned up, and until the people unjustly victimized by this manmade disaster are made whole," Obama said in his statement.
With the leak and the clean-up far from solved, BP now has a new headache: accusations that its 22,000 workers employed in clean-up are not adequately trained and equipped and some of them have been sickened by the oil.
What can Obama do?
The bad news came over the beginning to a three-day weekend at a daily briefing by the U.S. Coast Guard and BP Chief Operating Officer Doug Suttles.
Coast Guard Admiral Mary Landry said the failure was very disappointing and that the best option for ending the spill was the current drilling of a relief well which BP estimates will be finished by late July or early August.
Local residents angered by the string of failures and insufficient clean-up over nearly six weeks felt the same way.
"I knew it wasn't going to work," said Joey Toups, 53, a Louisiana shrimper idled by the spill and a former oil worker.
"I've worked in oil fields before. The only solution is that other drilling rig sitting out there. They need to get the relief well drilled."
BP's already tarnished reputation and its bottom line are likely to suffer further, as is the share price when markets re-open on Tuesday.
BP has thus far spent $940 million to try to plug the leak and clean up the sea and soiled coast.
The disaster has wiped out a quarter of its market value, or $50 billion, and its London-traded shares lost 5 percent on Friday alone as delays in the top kill made investors sell.
Top kill involved pumping heavy fluids known as drilling mud and other material into the well shaft to stifle the flow, then seal it with cement. Hayward said BP pumped 30,000 barrels of mud at high pressure before giving up.
Although the Obama administration has put the blame squarely on BP, polls show Americans are losing faith in the government's ability to mitigate the disaster.
In his second visit to the Gulf in the 40-day crisis on Friday, Obama faced criticism that he responded too slowly. He told people in Louisiana that they "will not be left behind" and that the "buck stops" with him.
There is not much Obama can do other than apply pressure to BP to get it right and put his best scientists in the room. The government has no deep-sea oil technology of its own.
Coast Guard Admiral Mary Landry said the failure was very disappointing and that the best option for ending the spill was the current drilling of a relief well which BP estimates will be finished by late July or early August.
Local residents angered by the string of failures and insufficient clean-up over nearly six weeks felt the same way.
"I knew it wasn't going to work," said Joey Toups, 53, a Louisiana shrimper idled by the spill and a former oil worker.
"I've worked in oil fields before. The only solution is that other drilling rig sitting out there. They need to get the relief well drilled."
BP's already tarnished reputation and its bottom line are likely to suffer further, as is the share price when markets re-open on Tuesday.
BP has thus far spent $940 million to try to plug the leak and clean up the sea and soiled coast.
The disaster has wiped out a quarter of its market value, or $50 billion, and its London-traded shares lost 5 percent on Friday alone as delays in the top kill made investors sell.
Top kill involved pumping heavy fluids known as drilling mud and other material into the well shaft to stifle the flow, then seal it with cement. Hayward said BP pumped 30,000 barrels of mud at high pressure before giving up.
Although the Obama administration has put the blame squarely on BP, polls show Americans are losing faith in the government's ability to mitigate the disaster.
In his second visit to the Gulf in the 40-day crisis on Friday, Obama faced criticism that he responded too slowly. He told people in Louisiana that they "will not be left behind" and that the "buck stops" with him.
There is not much Obama can do other than apply pressure to BP to get it right and put his best scientists in the room. The government has no deep-sea oil technology of its own.
Disappointment over the failure
BP Plc said on Saturday its complex "top kill" maneuver to plug the Gulf of Mexico oil well has failed, crushing hopes for a quick end to the largest oil spill in U.S. history already in its 40th day.
It may be another two months before the London-based energy giant can definitively turn off the gusher -- a delay that could undermine U.S. President Barack Obama as he faces growing criticism for a perceived slow response to the disaster.
"We will continue to pursue any and all responsible means of stopping this leak until the completion of the two relief wells currently being drilled," Obama said in a statement after the news, noting that the wells will take months to complete.
The beleaguered BP said its next option is a "lower marine riser package" that will not plug the well ruptured in a rig blast, but rather capture most of the oil on the sea floor and channel it to the surface for collection.
BP Chief Executive Tony Hayward called the containment cap "the best way to minimize the flow of oil into the Gulf" and said it would take around four days to put it in place.
But even Obama sought to lower expectations for this option, which he said is difficult and "has never been attempted before at this depth."
BP and Hayward's credibility are at new lows, after the chief executive had given the top kill a 60 to 70 percent chance of success although it had never been done at the depth of the well, a mile beneath the sea.
"I am disappointed this operation did not work," Hayward said in a statement. "The team executed the operation perfectly and the technology worked without a single hitch."
The news was a blow to Gulf coast residents, whose communities are still recovering from the 2005 Hurricane Katrina and now have to contend with oil invading fragile marshlands and waters vital to wildlife and a lucrative commercial fishing industry.
Louisiana's Plaquemines Parish president Billy Nungesser was about to address a crowd when he got news of the top kill failure. "I didn't have the heart to tell them it didn't work," he told CNN.
The Deepwater Horizon rig exploded on April 20, killing 11 workers and unleashing an underwater torrent of oil that the government estimated at 12,000 to 19,000 barrels (504,000 to 798,000 gallons/1.9 million to 3 million liters) a day.
This week, the government showed that the Gulf disaster has surpassed the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill in Alaskan waters.
It may be another two months before the London-based energy giant can definitively turn off the gusher -- a delay that could undermine U.S. President Barack Obama as he faces growing criticism for a perceived slow response to the disaster.
"We will continue to pursue any and all responsible means of stopping this leak until the completion of the two relief wells currently being drilled," Obama said in a statement after the news, noting that the wells will take months to complete.
The beleaguered BP said its next option is a "lower marine riser package" that will not plug the well ruptured in a rig blast, but rather capture most of the oil on the sea floor and channel it to the surface for collection.
BP Chief Executive Tony Hayward called the containment cap "the best way to minimize the flow of oil into the Gulf" and said it would take around four days to put it in place.
But even Obama sought to lower expectations for this option, which he said is difficult and "has never been attempted before at this depth."
BP and Hayward's credibility are at new lows, after the chief executive had given the top kill a 60 to 70 percent chance of success although it had never been done at the depth of the well, a mile beneath the sea.
"I am disappointed this operation did not work," Hayward said in a statement. "The team executed the operation perfectly and the technology worked without a single hitch."
The news was a blow to Gulf coast residents, whose communities are still recovering from the 2005 Hurricane Katrina and now have to contend with oil invading fragile marshlands and waters vital to wildlife and a lucrative commercial fishing industry.
Louisiana's Plaquemines Parish president Billy Nungesser was about to address a crowd when he got news of the top kill failure. "I didn't have the heart to tell them it didn't work," he told CNN.
The Deepwater Horizon rig exploded on April 20, killing 11 workers and unleashing an underwater torrent of oil that the government estimated at 12,000 to 19,000 barrels (504,000 to 798,000 gallons/1.9 million to 3 million liters) a day.
This week, the government showed that the Gulf disaster has surpassed the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill in Alaskan waters.
A Generational Event
Coastal tent cities are about to rise to house the workers and contractors minimizing the damage. Sand banks and barriers are being built. But the consensus around the Gulf Coast is turning more apoplectic and apocalyptic. This is, people are starting to say, a generational event — tragic to this generation, potentially crippling to the next.
"The oil spill is part of prophecy," said Turner, the Louisiana minister. "The Bible prophesized hardships. If we believe the word of God is true — and we do — we also know that in addition to prophecying hardships he promised to take care of us."
The Obama administration, which has been grilled for not taking the reins sooner, sought to assure the public.
"I am resolute and confident that we will see a better day ahead of us," Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said Saturday. And yet that statement, stacked up against the word "August," tempers the optimism for many watching this saga unfold.
They see a dissembling corporation, an ineffective government and an ocean surface covered by a viscous shell with the consistency of molasses and the peril of poison. To them, it comes down to only this: There is still a hole in the Earth. Crude oil is still spewing from it. And there is still, excruciatingly, no end in sight.
"The oil spill is part of prophecy," said Turner, the Louisiana minister. "The Bible prophesized hardships. If we believe the word of God is true — and we do — we also know that in addition to prophecying hardships he promised to take care of us."
The Obama administration, which has been grilled for not taking the reins sooner, sought to assure the public.
"I am resolute and confident that we will see a better day ahead of us," Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said Saturday. And yet that statement, stacked up against the word "August," tempers the optimism for many watching this saga unfold.
They see a dissembling corporation, an ineffective government and an ocean surface covered by a viscous shell with the consistency of molasses and the peril of poison. To them, it comes down to only this: There is still a hole in the Earth. Crude oil is still spewing from it. And there is still, excruciatingly, no end in sight.
BP To Use Undersea Robotic Maneuvers
BP's next containment effort involves an assortment of undersea robot maneuvers that would redirect the oil up and out of the water it is poisoning.
The first step in BP's latest effort is the intricate removal of a damaged riser that brought oil to the surface of the Deepwater Horizon rig. The riser will be cut at the top of the crippled blowout preventer, creating a flat surface that a new containment valve can seal against.
The valve would force the oil into a new riser, bringing it up to a ship. The seal, however, would not prevent all oil from escaping. White House energy czar Carol Browner said Sunday the effort could result in a temporary 20 percent increase in the flow. BP has said it didn't expect a significant increase in flow from the cutting and capping plan.
If the containment valve fails, BP may try installing a blowout preventer on top of the existing one.
In the end, however, a relief well would ease the pressure on the runaway gusher in favor of a controlled pumping — essentially what the Deepwater Horizon was trying to do in the first place. But that will take at least two months.
Using government figures, if the leak continues at its current pace and is stopped on Aug. 1, 51 million to 106 million gallons will have spilled.
"They are going to destroy south Louisiana. We are dying a slow death here," said Billy Nungesser, president of Plaquemines Parish, La.
The first step in BP's latest effort is the intricate removal of a damaged riser that brought oil to the surface of the Deepwater Horizon rig. The riser will be cut at the top of the crippled blowout preventer, creating a flat surface that a new containment valve can seal against.
The valve would force the oil into a new riser, bringing it up to a ship. The seal, however, would not prevent all oil from escaping. White House energy czar Carol Browner said Sunday the effort could result in a temporary 20 percent increase in the flow. BP has said it didn't expect a significant increase in flow from the cutting and capping plan.
If the containment valve fails, BP may try installing a blowout preventer on top of the existing one.
In the end, however, a relief well would ease the pressure on the runaway gusher in favor of a controlled pumping — essentially what the Deepwater Horizon was trying to do in the first place. But that will take at least two months.
Using government figures, if the leak continues at its current pace and is stopped on Aug. 1, 51 million to 106 million gallons will have spilled.
"They are going to destroy south Louisiana. We are dying a slow death here," said Billy Nungesser, president of Plaquemines Parish, La.
Most Alarming Thing
Perhaps most alarming of all, 40 days after the Deepwater Horizon blew up and began the underwater deluge, hurricane season is at hand. It brings the horrifying possibility of wind-whipped, oil-soaked waves and water spinning ashore and coating areas much farther inland. Imagine Katrina plus oil spill.
The spill is already the worst in American history — worse, even, than the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster. It has already released between 18 million and 40 million gallons of oil into the Gulf, according to government estimates.
"This is probably the biggest environmental disaster we've ever faced in this country," White House Energy and Climate Change Advisor Carol Browner said on NBC's "Meet the Press."
At some point — the widespread debut of the BP "spillcam" is as good a delineation point as any — this tipped, in the national conversation, from a destructive event into a calamitous, open-ended saga. And for the bruised and cantankerous American psyche, it could not come at a worse time.
Fear is everywhere, and polarization prevails. Faith in institutions — corporations, government, the media — is down. Americans are angry, and they long ago grew accustomed to expecting the resolution of problems in very short order, even if reality rarely works that way.
So when something undefined and uncontrollable happens, they speculate in all the modern forums about collusion and nefarious dealings. In the process, this tale of environmental disaster and economic damage cripples the sea-to-shining-sea narrative that usually offers Americans comfort during uncertain times.
"There are people who are getting desperate, and there are more getting anxious as we get further into the shrimping season and there is less chance they will recover," said the Rev. Theodore Turner, 57, at Mount Olive Baptist Church in Boothville, near where oil first washed ashore. Fishermen make up about a third of his congregation.
The spill is already the worst in American history — worse, even, than the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster. It has already released between 18 million and 40 million gallons of oil into the Gulf, according to government estimates.
"This is probably the biggest environmental disaster we've ever faced in this country," White House Energy and Climate Change Advisor Carol Browner said on NBC's "Meet the Press."
At some point — the widespread debut of the BP "spillcam" is as good a delineation point as any — this tipped, in the national conversation, from a destructive event into a calamitous, open-ended saga. And for the bruised and cantankerous American psyche, it could not come at a worse time.
Fear is everywhere, and polarization prevails. Faith in institutions — corporations, government, the media — is down. Americans are angry, and they long ago grew accustomed to expecting the resolution of problems in very short order, even if reality rarely works that way.
So when something undefined and uncontrollable happens, they speculate in all the modern forums about collusion and nefarious dealings. In the process, this tale of environmental disaster and economic damage cripples the sea-to-shining-sea narrative that usually offers Americans comfort during uncertain times.
"There are people who are getting desperate, and there are more getting anxious as we get further into the shrimping season and there is less chance they will recover," said the Rev. Theodore Turner, 57, at Mount Olive Baptist Church in Boothville, near where oil first washed ashore. Fishermen make up about a third of his congregation.
The Robotic Arm To be used
The latest attempt — using a remote robotic arm to stuff golf balls and assorted debris into the gash in the seafloor — didn't work. On Sunday, as churches echoed with prayers for a solution, BP PLC said it would focus on containment rather than plugging the undersea puncture wound, effectively redirecting the mess it made rather than stopping it. Yet the new plan carries the risk of making the torrent worse, as top government officials warned Sunday.
"We failed to wrestle this beast to the ground," said BP Managing Director Bob Dudley, doing the rounds of the Sunday talk shows.
As the oil washes ashore, crude-coated birds have become a frequent sight. At the sea's bottom, no one knows what the oil will do to species like the newly discovered bottom-dwelling pancake batfish — and others that remain unknown but just as threatened.
Scientists from several universities have reported large underwater plumes of oil stretching for miles and reaching hundreds of feet beneath the Gulf's surface, though BP PLC CEO Tony Hayward on Sunday disputed their findings, saying the company's tests found no such evidence of oily clouds underwater.
"The oil is on the surface," Hayward said. "Oil has a specific gravity that's about half that of water. It wants to get to the surface because of the difference in specific gravity."
"We failed to wrestle this beast to the ground," said BP Managing Director Bob Dudley, doing the rounds of the Sunday talk shows.
As the oil washes ashore, crude-coated birds have become a frequent sight. At the sea's bottom, no one knows what the oil will do to species like the newly discovered bottom-dwelling pancake batfish — and others that remain unknown but just as threatened.
Scientists from several universities have reported large underwater plumes of oil stretching for miles and reaching hundreds of feet beneath the Gulf's surface, though BP PLC CEO Tony Hayward on Sunday disputed their findings, saying the company's tests found no such evidence of oily clouds underwater.
"The oil is on the surface," Hayward said. "Oil has a specific gravity that's about half that of water. It wants to get to the surface because of the difference in specific gravity."
OHH The huricane Season Approaches!!!!!!
There is still a hole in the Earth, crude oil is still spewing from it and there is still, excruciatingly, no end in sight. After trying and trying again, one of the world's largest corporations, backed and pushed by the world's most powerful government, can't stop the runaway gusher.
As desperation grows and ecological misery spreads, the operative word on the ground now is, incredibly, August -- the earliest moment that a real resolution could be at hand. And even then, there's no guarantee of success. For the United States and the people of its beleaguered Gulf Coast, a dispiriting summer of oil and anger lies dead ahead.
Oh ... and the Atlantic hurricane season begins Tuesday.
As desperation grows and ecological misery spreads, the operative word on the ground now is, incredibly, August -- the earliest moment that a real resolution could be at hand. And even then, there's no guarantee of success. For the United States and the people of its beleaguered Gulf Coast, a dispiriting summer of oil and anger lies dead ahead.
Oh ... and the Atlantic hurricane season begins Tuesday.
Sand Berms A New Hope.
That plan is awaiting approval from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
After surveying oil-stricken areas Saturday, Plaquemines Parish President Billy Nungesser said the berms were the marshes' last hope.
"It's getting in between all the cane and it's working through from one bayou to the next," he said.
Smaller spills have been occurring in the marshes for decades. In the past, cleanup crews would sometimes slice out oiled vegetation and take it to a landfill, said Andy Nyman with Louisiana State University.
But with the plants gone, water from the gulf would roll in and wash away the roots, turning wetlands to open water.
Adm. Allen said that where conditions are right, crews could set fire to oil-coated plants.
Nyman and other experts, though, warn it's tricky. If the marsh is too wet, the oil won't burn. Too dry, the roots burn and the marsh can be ruined.
BP PLC — which leased the sunken rig and is responsible for the cleanup — said Saturday that cleanup crews have started more direct cleanup methods along Pass a Loutre in Plaquemines Parish. Shallow water skimmers were attempting to remove the oil from the top of the marsh.
Streams of water could later be used in a bid to wash oil from between cane stalks.
In other cases, the company will rely on "bioremediation" — letting oil-eating microbes do the work.
"Nature has a way of helping the situation," said BP spokesman John Curry.
But Nyman said the dispersants could slow the microbes from breaking down the oil.
White, the Loyola scientist, predicted at least short-term ruin for some of the wetlands he's been studying for three decades. Under a worst-case scenario, he said the damage could exceed the 217 square miles of wetlands lost during the 2005 hurricane season.
"When I say that my stomach turns," he said.
After surveying oil-stricken areas Saturday, Plaquemines Parish President Billy Nungesser said the berms were the marshes' last hope.
"It's getting in between all the cane and it's working through from one bayou to the next," he said.
Smaller spills have been occurring in the marshes for decades. In the past, cleanup crews would sometimes slice out oiled vegetation and take it to a landfill, said Andy Nyman with Louisiana State University.
But with the plants gone, water from the gulf would roll in and wash away the roots, turning wetlands to open water.
Adm. Allen said that where conditions are right, crews could set fire to oil-coated plants.
Nyman and other experts, though, warn it's tricky. If the marsh is too wet, the oil won't burn. Too dry, the roots burn and the marsh can be ruined.
BP PLC — which leased the sunken rig and is responsible for the cleanup — said Saturday that cleanup crews have started more direct cleanup methods along Pass a Loutre in Plaquemines Parish. Shallow water skimmers were attempting to remove the oil from the top of the marsh.
Streams of water could later be used in a bid to wash oil from between cane stalks.
In other cases, the company will rely on "bioremediation" — letting oil-eating microbes do the work.
"Nature has a way of helping the situation," said BP spokesman John Curry.
But Nyman said the dispersants could slow the microbes from breaking down the oil.
White, the Loyola scientist, predicted at least short-term ruin for some of the wetlands he's been studying for three decades. Under a worst-case scenario, he said the damage could exceed the 217 square miles of wetlands lost during the 2005 hurricane season.
"When I say that my stomach turns," he said.
Lessons from History
Back in 1989, crews fighting the Exxon Valdez tanker spill — which unleashed almost 11 million gallons of oil into Alaska's Prince William Sound — used pressure hoses and rakes to clean the shores. The Gulf Coast is just too fragile for that: those tactics could blast apart the peat-like soils that hold the marshes together.
Hundreds of miles of bayous and man-made canals crisscross the coast's exterior, offering numerous entry points for the crude. Access is difficult and time-intensive, even in the best of circumstances.
"Just the compaction of humanity bringing equipment in, walking on them, will kill them," said David White, a wetlands ecologist from Loyola University in New Orleans.
Marshes offer a vital line of defense against Gulf storms, blunting their fury before they hit populated areas. Louisiana and the federal government have spent hundreds of millions of dollars rebuilding barriers that were wiped out by hurricanes, notably Katrina in 2005.
They also act as nursery grounds for shrimp, crabs, oysters — the backbone of the region's fishing industry. Hundreds of thousands of migratory birds nest in the wetlands' inner reaches, a complex network of bayous, bays and man-made canals.
To keep oil from pushing deep into Louisiana's marshes, Gov. Bobby Jindal and officials from several coastal parishes want permission to erect a $350 million network of sand berms linking the state's barrier islands and headlands.
Hundreds of miles of bayous and man-made canals crisscross the coast's exterior, offering numerous entry points for the crude. Access is difficult and time-intensive, even in the best of circumstances.
"Just the compaction of humanity bringing equipment in, walking on them, will kill them," said David White, a wetlands ecologist from Loyola University in New Orleans.
Marshes offer a vital line of defense against Gulf storms, blunting their fury before they hit populated areas. Louisiana and the federal government have spent hundreds of millions of dollars rebuilding barriers that were wiped out by hurricanes, notably Katrina in 2005.
They also act as nursery grounds for shrimp, crabs, oysters — the backbone of the region's fishing industry. Hundreds of thousands of migratory birds nest in the wetlands' inner reaches, a complex network of bayous, bays and man-made canals.
To keep oil from pushing deep into Louisiana's marshes, Gov. Bobby Jindal and officials from several coastal parishes want permission to erect a $350 million network of sand berms linking the state's barrier islands and headlands.
Oil wet lands impossible to fix
The gooey oil washing into the maze of marshes along the Gulf Coast could prove impossible to remove, leaving a toxic stew lethal to fish and wildlife, government officials and independent scientists said.
Officials are considering some drastic and risky solutions: They could set the wetlands on fire or flood areas in hopes of floating out the oil.
They warn an aggressive cleanup could ruin the marshes and do more harm than good. The only viable option for many impacted areas is to do nothing and let nature break down the spill.
More than 50 miles of Louisiana's delicate shoreline already have been soiled by the massive slick unleashed after the Deepwater Horizon rig burned and sank last month. Officials fear oil eventually could invade wetlands and beaches from Texas to Florida. Louisiana is expected to be hit hardest.
On Saturday, a major pelican rookery was awash in oil off Louisiana's coast. Hundreds of birds nest on the island, and an Associated Press photographer saw some birds and their eggs stained with the ooze. Nests were perched in mangroves directly above patches of crude.
Plaquemines Parish workers put booms around the island, but puddles of oil were inside the barrier.
"Oil in the marshes is the worst-case scenario," said Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, the head of the federal effort to contain and clean up the spill.
Also Saturday, BP told federal regulators it plans to continue using a contentious chemical dispersant, despite orders from the Environmental Protection Agency to look for less toxic alternatives. BP said in a letter to the EPA that Corexit 9500 "remains the best option for subsea application."
The EPA didn't immediately comment on BP's decision.
Oil that has rolled into shoreline wetlands coats the stalks and leaves of plants such as roseau cane — the fabric that holds together an ecosystem that is essential to the region's fishing industry and a much-needed buffer against Gulf hurricanes. Soon, oil will smother those plants and choke off their supply of air and nutrients.
In some eddies and protected inlets, the ochre-colored crude has pooled beneath the water's surface, forming clumps several inches deep.
With the seafloor leak still gushing at least hundreds of thousands of gallons a day, the damage is only getting worse. Millions of gallons already have leaked so far.
Coast Guard officials said the spill's impact now stretches across a 150-mile swath, from Dauphin Island, Ala. to Grand Isle, La.
Over time, experts say weather and natural microbes will break down most of the oil. However, the crude will surely poison plants and wildlife in the months — even years — it will take for the syrupy muck to dissipate
Officials are considering some drastic and risky solutions: They could set the wetlands on fire or flood areas in hopes of floating out the oil.
They warn an aggressive cleanup could ruin the marshes and do more harm than good. The only viable option for many impacted areas is to do nothing and let nature break down the spill.
More than 50 miles of Louisiana's delicate shoreline already have been soiled by the massive slick unleashed after the Deepwater Horizon rig burned and sank last month. Officials fear oil eventually could invade wetlands and beaches from Texas to Florida. Louisiana is expected to be hit hardest.
On Saturday, a major pelican rookery was awash in oil off Louisiana's coast. Hundreds of birds nest on the island, and an Associated Press photographer saw some birds and their eggs stained with the ooze. Nests were perched in mangroves directly above patches of crude.
Plaquemines Parish workers put booms around the island, but puddles of oil were inside the barrier.
"Oil in the marshes is the worst-case scenario," said Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, the head of the federal effort to contain and clean up the spill.
Also Saturday, BP told federal regulators it plans to continue using a contentious chemical dispersant, despite orders from the Environmental Protection Agency to look for less toxic alternatives. BP said in a letter to the EPA that Corexit 9500 "remains the best option for subsea application."
The EPA didn't immediately comment on BP's decision.
Oil that has rolled into shoreline wetlands coats the stalks and leaves of plants such as roseau cane — the fabric that holds together an ecosystem that is essential to the region's fishing industry and a much-needed buffer against Gulf hurricanes. Soon, oil will smother those plants and choke off their supply of air and nutrients.
In some eddies and protected inlets, the ochre-colored crude has pooled beneath the water's surface, forming clumps several inches deep.
With the seafloor leak still gushing at least hundreds of thousands of gallons a day, the damage is only getting worse. Millions of gallons already have leaked so far.
Coast Guard officials said the spill's impact now stretches across a 150-mile swath, from Dauphin Island, Ala. to Grand Isle, La.
Over time, experts say weather and natural microbes will break down most of the oil. However, the crude will surely poison plants and wildlife in the months — even years — it will take for the syrupy muck to dissipate
Oil Spill in Pictures
Birds fly over oil on the water April 29 near Breton Sound Island, on the southernmost tip of the Chandeleur Islands. (Reuters/Sean Gardner/Greenpeace/Handout)
Oil Spill in Pictures
An oil-covered dragonfly, stuck to marsh grass, tries to clean itself May 18 in Garden Island Bay near Venice. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert
Oil Spill in Pictures
A Greenpeace worker collects samples of oil May 19 that washed up along the mouth of the Mississippi River near Venice, La. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel
Oil Spill in Pictures
A glob of oil thought to be from the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico sits on a reed on a beach in Southwest Pass, La., on May 15. (Reuters/Lee Celano
Oil Spill in Pictures
Pelicans fly past a nest of eggs apparently stained with oil on a Louisiana island May 22. The island is home to hundreds of brown pelican nests as well as terns, gulls and roseated spoonbills. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
Oil Spill in Pictures
Contractors unload oil booms to protect marshlands May 13 in Hopedale, La. (John Moore/Getty Images
Oil Spill in Pictures
An oil-stained cattle egret is seen on the deck of the Joe Griffin supply vessel May 9. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert
Oil Spill in Pictures
A pod of bottlenose dolphins swims in the oily water of Chandeleur Sound on May 6. Five days later, six dead dolphins were found along the Gulf Coast. Officials were investigating oil's role in the deaths. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Oil Spill in Pictures
An aerial view of the northern Chandeleur barrier islands, 20 miles from the main Louisiana coastline, shows sheens of oil reaching land May 6. (AP Photo/David Quinn)
Oil Spill in Pictures
Risers, the outer casings of oil drill pipes, are seen on the deck of the service vessel Joe Griffin as it prepares to head to Port Fourchon, La., on May 11. (Pool Photo/Gerald Herbert)
Oil Spill in Pictures
A Coast Guard plane flies over the Development Driller III oil drilling platform, which was drilling a relief well May 12 at the site of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
Oil Spill in Pictures
A dead jellyfish floats amid oil May 6 in the Gulf of Mexico, southwest of the Southwest Pass of the Mississippi River on the coast of Louisiana. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
Oil Spill in Pictures
A Portuguese man-of-war is seen from under the oily water in Chandeleur Sound on May 6. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Oil Spill in Pictures
An oil-soaked bird struggles against the side of an Iron Horse supply vessel at the site of the oil spill off Louisiana on May 9. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
Oil Spill in Pictures
Shrimp boats equipped with booms collect oil in Chandeleur Sound, La., on May 5. (AP Photo/Eric Gay
A Summary
It’s been more than a month since an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig killed 11 people and blew out an undersea well that continues to gush oil into the Gulf of Mexico. In the following weeks, there have been attempts to contain and control the scope of the environmental damage.
But so far none have been successful. Over the weekend, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal announced he intended to proceed with plans to construct sand booms to protect his state's shoreline — without waiting for federal approval. Meanwhile, engineers for BP are working feverishly to prepare for their "top kill" maneuver, hoping an injection of heavy mud will stop the leak.
Dead sharks and dolphins are washing ashore. Crabs, turtles and birds are being found soaked in oil as the slick sloshes into Louisiana’s wetlands. South of New Orleans, chocolate-like globs of oil have shut down the public beach.
Coast Guard officials say the spill’s impact now stretches 150 miles. Some scientists fear the spreading plumes will catch the ocean current to the Florida Keys and up to the eastern seaboard.
Photographers' images, some of them chillingly beautiful, can only begin to hint at the enormity of the disaster.
But so far none have been successful. Over the weekend, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal announced he intended to proceed with plans to construct sand booms to protect his state's shoreline — without waiting for federal approval. Meanwhile, engineers for BP are working feverishly to prepare for their "top kill" maneuver, hoping an injection of heavy mud will stop the leak.
Dead sharks and dolphins are washing ashore. Crabs, turtles and birds are being found soaked in oil as the slick sloshes into Louisiana’s wetlands. South of New Orleans, chocolate-like globs of oil have shut down the public beach.
Coast Guard officials say the spill’s impact now stretches 150 miles. Some scientists fear the spreading plumes will catch the ocean current to the Florida Keys and up to the eastern seaboard.
Photographers' images, some of them chillingly beautiful, can only begin to hint at the enormity of the disaster.
What Next after "Top Kill"????
Suttles said BP is already preparing for the next attempt to stop the leak that began after the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig exploded in April, killing 11 people.
The company plans to use robot submarines to cut off the damaged riser from which the oil is leaking, and then try to cap it with a containment valve. The effort is expected to take between four and seven days.
"We're confident the job will work but obviously we can't guarantee success," Suttles said of the new plan, declining to handicap the likelihood it will work.
He said that cutting off the damaged riser isn't expected to cause the flow rate of leaking oil to increase significantly.
The permanent solution to the leak, a relief well currently being drilled, won't be ready until August, BP says.
Experts have said that a bend in the damaged riser likely was restricting the flow of oil somewhat, so slicing it off and installing a new containment valve is risky.
"If they can't get that valve on, things will get much worse," said Philip W. Johnson, an engineering professor at the University of Alabama.
Johnson said he thinks BP can succeed with the valve, but added: "It's a scary proposition."
Word that the top-kill had failed hit hard in the fishing community of Venice, La., near where oil first made landfall in large quanities almost two weeks ago.
"Everybody's starting to realize this summer's lost. And our whole lifestyle might be lost," said Michael Ballay, the 59-year-old manager of the Cypress Cove Marina.
The company plans to use robot submarines to cut off the damaged riser from which the oil is leaking, and then try to cap it with a containment valve. The effort is expected to take between four and seven days.
"We're confident the job will work but obviously we can't guarantee success," Suttles said of the new plan, declining to handicap the likelihood it will work.
He said that cutting off the damaged riser isn't expected to cause the flow rate of leaking oil to increase significantly.
The permanent solution to the leak, a relief well currently being drilled, won't be ready until August, BP says.
Experts have said that a bend in the damaged riser likely was restricting the flow of oil somewhat, so slicing it off and installing a new containment valve is risky.
"If they can't get that valve on, things will get much worse," said Philip W. Johnson, an engineering professor at the University of Alabama.
Johnson said he thinks BP can succeed with the valve, but added: "It's a scary proposition."
Word that the top-kill had failed hit hard in the fishing community of Venice, La., near where oil first made landfall in large quanities almost two weeks ago.
"Everybody's starting to realize this summer's lost. And our whole lifestyle might be lost," said Michael Ballay, the 59-year-old manager of the Cypress Cove Marina.
BP Admits Defeat.
BP admitted defeat Saturday in its attempt to plug the Gulf of Mexico oil leak by pumping mud into a busted well, but said it's readying yet another approach to fight the spill after a series of failures.
BP PLC Chief Operating Officer Doug Suttles said the company determined the "top kill" had failed after it spent three days pumping heavy drilling mud into the crippled well 5,000 feet underwater. More than 1.2 million gallons of mud was used, but most of it escaped out of the damaged riser.
In the six weeks since the spill began, the company has failed in each attempt to stop the gusher, as estimates of how much is leaking grow more dire. It's the worst spill in U.S. history — exceeding even the Exxon Valdez disaster in 1989 off the Alaska coast — dumping between 18 million and 40 million gallons into the Gulf, according to government estimates.
"This scares everybody, the fact that we can't make this well stop flowing, the fact that we haven't succeeded so far," Suttles said. "Many of the things we're trying have been done on the surface before, but have never been tried at 5,000 feet."
The company failed in the days after the spill to use robot submarines to close valves on the massive blowout preventer atop the damaged well, then two weeks later ice-like crystals clogged a 100-ton box the company tried placing over the leak. Earlier this week, engineers removed a mile-long siphon tube after it sucked up a disappointing 900,000 gallons of oil from the gusher.
BP PLC Chief Operating Officer Doug Suttles said the company determined the "top kill" had failed after it spent three days pumping heavy drilling mud into the crippled well 5,000 feet underwater. More than 1.2 million gallons of mud was used, but most of it escaped out of the damaged riser.
In the six weeks since the spill began, the company has failed in each attempt to stop the gusher, as estimates of how much is leaking grow more dire. It's the worst spill in U.S. history — exceeding even the Exxon Valdez disaster in 1989 off the Alaska coast — dumping between 18 million and 40 million gallons into the Gulf, according to government estimates.
"This scares everybody, the fact that we can't make this well stop flowing, the fact that we haven't succeeded so far," Suttles said. "Many of the things we're trying have been done on the surface before, but have never been tried at 5,000 feet."
The company failed in the days after the spill to use robot submarines to close valves on the massive blowout preventer atop the damaged well, then two weeks later ice-like crystals clogged a 100-ton box the company tried placing over the leak. Earlier this week, engineers removed a mile-long siphon tube after it sucked up a disappointing 900,000 gallons of oil from the gusher.
"TOP KILL" Fails!!!!
A “top kill” operation intended to stop the flow of oil from the MC252 well in the Gulf of Mexico has failed, according to BP. The procedure was intended to stem the flow of oil gas and ultimately kill the well by injecting heavy drilling fluid through the blow-out preventer on the sea bed and down into the well.
The company said that it successfully pumped a total of over 30,000 barrels of heavy mud and deployed a wide range of different bridging materials, but that the operation did not overcome the flow from the well.
BP and the U.S. government have decided to move to the next step in the sub-sea operations, the deployment of the Lower Marine Riser Package (LMRP) Cap Containment System. The plan involves cutting and removing the damaged riser from the top of the failed blow-out preventer, leaving a cleanly-cut pipe at the top of the preventer’s LMRP. The cap is designed to be connected to a riser and placed over the LMRP, with the intention of capturing most of the oil and gas flowing from the well. The cap is already on site and is expected to be connected in about four days.
BP said that the operation has not been previously carried out in 5,000 feet of water and so successful deployment cannot be assured.
The company said that it successfully pumped a total of over 30,000 barrels of heavy mud and deployed a wide range of different bridging materials, but that the operation did not overcome the flow from the well.
BP and the U.S. government have decided to move to the next step in the sub-sea operations, the deployment of the Lower Marine Riser Package (LMRP) Cap Containment System. The plan involves cutting and removing the damaged riser from the top of the failed blow-out preventer, leaving a cleanly-cut pipe at the top of the preventer’s LMRP. The cap is designed to be connected to a riser and placed over the LMRP, with the intention of capturing most of the oil and gas flowing from the well. The cap is already on site and is expected to be connected in about four days.
BP said that the operation has not been previously carried out in 5,000 feet of water and so successful deployment cannot be assured.
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Three Witnesses Change of Plans
The panel had tough questions for a BP official who wrote the company’s plans for the cement and well casing that may have failed and contributed to the explosion. The official, Mark E. Hafle, a drilling engineer, denied wrongdoing.
“Nobody believed there was going to be a safety issue,” Mr. Hafle said. “All the risks had been addressed, all the concerns had been addressed, and we had a model that suggested if executed properly we would have a successful job.”
Panel members and lawyers for Transocean questioned Mr. Hafle about BP’s decision not to conduct a test known as a “cement bond log,” which measures the strength of the cement.
“I think it’s logical that everyone here realizes the cement didn’t work,” said John McCarroll, a panel member and Minerals Management Service official. “Eleven people were killed. Do you still think the cement job was a success?”
“I don’t have any data that suggests the cement job was not a success,” Mr. Hafle replied, saying the explosion could have been caused by other failings.
The hearings this week began Wednesday and will conclude Saturday, before resuming in July. They have grown increasingly tense, with frequent disputes among the various parties’ lawyers.
“Nobody believed there was going to be a safety issue,” Mr. Hafle said. “All the risks had been addressed, all the concerns had been addressed, and we had a model that suggested if executed properly we would have a successful job.”
Panel members and lawyers for Transocean questioned Mr. Hafle about BP’s decision not to conduct a test known as a “cement bond log,” which measures the strength of the cement.
“I think it’s logical that everyone here realizes the cement didn’t work,” said John McCarroll, a panel member and Minerals Management Service official. “Eleven people were killed. Do you still think the cement job was a success?”
“I don’t have any data that suggests the cement job was not a success,” Mr. Hafle replied, saying the explosion could have been caused by other failings.
The hearings this week began Wednesday and will conclude Saturday, before resuming in July. They have grown increasingly tense, with frequent disputes among the various parties’ lawyers.
Questions for a BP official
The panel had tough questions for a BP official who wrote the company’s plans for the cement and well casing that may have failed and contributed to the explosion. The official, Mark E. Hafle, a drilling engineer, denied wrongdoing.
“Nobody believed there was going to be a safety issue,” Mr. Hafle said. “All the risks had been addressed, all the concerns had been addressed, and we had a model that suggested if executed properly we would have a successful job.”
Panel members and lawyers for Transocean questioned Mr. Hafle about BP’s decision not to conduct a test known as a “cement bond log,” which measures the strength of the cement.
“I think it’s logical that everyone here realizes the cement didn’t work,” said John McCarroll, a panel member and Minerals Management Service official. “Eleven people were killed. Do you still think the cement job was a success?”
“I don’t have any data that suggests the cement job was not a success,” Mr. Hafle replied, saying the explosion could have been caused by other failings.
The hearings this week began Wednesday and will conclude Saturday, before resuming in July. They have grown increasingly tense, with frequent disputes among the various parties’ lawyers.
“Nobody believed there was going to be a safety issue,” Mr. Hafle said. “All the risks had been addressed, all the concerns had been addressed, and we had a model that suggested if executed properly we would have a successful job.”
Panel members and lawyers for Transocean questioned Mr. Hafle about BP’s decision not to conduct a test known as a “cement bond log,” which measures the strength of the cement.
“I think it’s logical that everyone here realizes the cement didn’t work,” said John McCarroll, a panel member and Minerals Management Service official. “Eleven people were killed. Do you still think the cement job was a success?”
“I don’t have any data that suggests the cement job was not a success,” Mr. Hafle replied, saying the explosion could have been caused by other failings.
The hearings this week began Wednesday and will conclude Saturday, before resuming in July. They have grown increasingly tense, with frequent disputes among the various parties’ lawyers.
A Transocena Official
Another Transocean official, Miles Ezell, whose title is senior tool pusher, recalled a panicked phone call from an assistant driller moments before the explosion.
“ ‘We have a situation,’ ” he said he was warned. “ ‘The well has blown out.’ ”
Then the rig shook violently, and Mr. Ezell was sent 20 feet across the room, he said. He stood up, disoriented, to the smell of smoke and methane gas.
Crawling through the rig, Mr. Ezell said, he passed wounded, screaming victims and heard cries of “God, help me” and “Someone help me please.”
A pair of feet sticking out from the rubble turned out to belong to a senior Transocean official who was rescued and carried from the rig on a stretcher, he said. The rig’s highest-ranking official, Jimmy Harrell, the offshore installation manager, was wearing no shoes and struggling to open his eyes. Mr. Harrell, a Transocean employee, testified previously that he had been showering at the time of the explosion.
“It was just total chaos,” Mr. Ezell said.
Mr. Pleasant, the official who tried to activate the emergency system, testified that he had been initially instructed by the Transocean captain, Curt R. Kuchta, to wait. But only 30 seconds later, after the captain left the room, Mr. Pleasant said, he chose to use his own authority to attempt a disconnect.
“It was my equipment,” he said. “I had the authority.”
Indeed, Captain Kuchta testified Thursday, he had not been trained on the emergency system and believed that subsea engineers like Mr. Pleasant were authorized to activate it.
“ ‘We have a situation,’ ” he said he was warned. “ ‘The well has blown out.’ ”
Then the rig shook violently, and Mr. Ezell was sent 20 feet across the room, he said. He stood up, disoriented, to the smell of smoke and methane gas.
Crawling through the rig, Mr. Ezell said, he passed wounded, screaming victims and heard cries of “God, help me” and “Someone help me please.”
A pair of feet sticking out from the rubble turned out to belong to a senior Transocean official who was rescued and carried from the rig on a stretcher, he said. The rig’s highest-ranking official, Jimmy Harrell, the offshore installation manager, was wearing no shoes and struggling to open his eyes. Mr. Harrell, a Transocean employee, testified previously that he had been showering at the time of the explosion.
“It was just total chaos,” Mr. Ezell said.
Mr. Pleasant, the official who tried to activate the emergency system, testified that he had been initially instructed by the Transocean captain, Curt R. Kuchta, to wait. But only 30 seconds later, after the captain left the room, Mr. Pleasant said, he chose to use his own authority to attempt a disconnect.
“It was my equipment,” he said. “I had the authority.”
Indeed, Captain Kuchta testified Thursday, he had not been trained on the emergency system and believed that subsea engineers like Mr. Pleasant were authorized to activate it.
New Details Emerge
New details emerged Friday about the frantic final actions of the crew aboard the Deepwater Horizon oil rig after it exploded April 20, killing 11 workers and triggering the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
An official for Transocean, the company that owned the rig, testified to government investigators that he tried in vain to activate an emergency system that would shut down the well, despite orders from his captain to wait.
The official, Christopher B. Pleasant, a subsea supervisor, said the procedure was unsuccessful but showed early signs of success.
A panel flashed the words “E.D.S. activated,” he said, referring to the Emergency Disconnect System. The emergency mechanism appeared to have closed, he said. But it would not function, and plumes of smoke were billowing from the rig, he said, so he fled to a lifeboat.
His was one of many stories of panic and failure recounted to a six-member panel of Coast Guard and Minerals Management Service officials trying to determine the cause of the disaster.
An official for Transocean, the company that owned the rig, testified to government investigators that he tried in vain to activate an emergency system that would shut down the well, despite orders from his captain to wait.
The official, Christopher B. Pleasant, a subsea supervisor, said the procedure was unsuccessful but showed early signs of success.
A panel flashed the words “E.D.S. activated,” he said, referring to the Emergency Disconnect System. The emergency mechanism appeared to have closed, he said. But it would not function, and plumes of smoke were billowing from the rig, he said, so he fled to a lifeboat.
His was one of many stories of panic and failure recounted to a six-member panel of Coast Guard and Minerals Management Service officials trying to determine the cause of the disaster.
Drilling for Certainity (Final)
Over the past years, we have seen smart people at Fannie Mae, Lehman Brothers, NASA and the C.I.A. make similarly catastrophic risk assessments. As Gladwell wrote in that 1996 essay, “We have constructed a world in which the potential for high-tech catastrophe is embedded in the fabric of day-to-day life.”
So it seems important, in the months ahead, to not only focus on mechanical ways to make drilling safer, but also more broadly on helping people deal with potentially catastrophic complexity. There must be ways to improve the choice architecture — to help people guard against risk creep, false security, groupthink, the good-news bias and all the rest.
This isn’t just about oil. It’s a challenge for people living in an imponderably complex technical society.
So it seems important, in the months ahead, to not only focus on mechanical ways to make drilling safer, but also more broadly on helping people deal with potentially catastrophic complexity. There must be ways to improve the choice architecture — to help people guard against risk creep, false security, groupthink, the good-news bias and all the rest.
This isn’t just about oil. It’s a challenge for people living in an imponderably complex technical society.
Drilling for Certainity (v)
Finally, people in the same field begin to think alike, whether they are in oversight roles or not. The oil industry’s capture of the Minerals Management Service is actually misleading because the agency was so appalling and corrupt. Cognitive capture is more common and harder to detect.
In the weeks and hours leading up to the Deepwater Horizon disaster, engineers were compelled to make a series of decisions: what sort of well-casing to use; how long to circulate and when to remove the heavy drilling fluid or “mud” from the hole; how to interpret various tests. They were forced to make these decisions without any clear sense of the risks and in an environment that seems to have encouraged overconfidence.
In the weeks and hours leading up to the Deepwater Horizon disaster, engineers were compelled to make a series of decisions: what sort of well-casing to use; how long to circulate and when to remove the heavy drilling fluid or “mud” from the hole; how to interpret various tests. They were forced to make these decisions without any clear sense of the risks and in an environment that seems to have encouraged overconfidence.
Drilling for Certainity (iv)
Fourth, people have a tendency to match complicated technical systems with complicated governing structures. The command structure on the Deepwater Horizon seems to have been completely muddled, with officials from BP, Transocean and Halliburton hopelessly tangled in confusing lines of authority and blurred definitions of who was ultimately responsible for what.
Drilling for Certainity (iii)
Third, people have a tendency to place elaborate faith in backup systems and safety devices. More pedestrians die in crosswalks than when jay-walking. That’s because they have a false sense of security in crosswalks and are less likely to look both ways.
On the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, a Transocean official apparently tried to close off a safety debate by reminding everybody the blowout preventer would save them if something went wrong. The illusion of the safety system encouraged the crew to behave in more reckless ways. As Malcolm Gladwell put it in a 1996 New Yorker essay, “Human beings have a seemingly fundamental tendency to compensate for lower risks in one area by taking greater risks in another.”
On the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, a Transocean official apparently tried to close off a safety debate by reminding everybody the blowout preventer would save them if something went wrong. The illusion of the safety system encouraged the crew to behave in more reckless ways. As Malcolm Gladwell put it in a 1996 New Yorker essay, “Human beings have a seemingly fundamental tendency to compensate for lower risks in one area by taking greater risks in another.”
Drilling for Certainity (ii)
Second, people have a tendency to get acclimated to risk. As the physicist Richard Feynman wrote in a report on the Challenger disaster, as years went by, NASA officials got used to living with small failures. If faulty O rings didn’t produce a catastrophe last time, they probably won’t this time, they figured.
Feynman compared this to playing Russian roulette. Success in the last round is not a good predictor of success this time. Nonetheless, as things seemed to be going well, people unconsciously adjust their definition of acceptable risk.
Feynman compared this to playing Russian roulette. Success in the last round is not a good predictor of success this time. Nonetheless, as things seemed to be going well, people unconsciously adjust their definition of acceptable risk.
Drilling for Certainity
In the weeks since the Deepwater Horizon explosion, the political debate has fallen into predictably partisan and often puerile categories. Conservatives say this is Obama’s Katrina. Liberals say the spill is proof the government should have more control over industry.
In the first place, people have trouble imagining how small failings can combine to lead to catastrophic disasters. At the Three Mile Island nuclear facility, a series of small systems happened to fail at the same time. It was the interplay between these seemingly minor events that led to an unanticipated systemic crash.
In the first place, people have trouble imagining how small failings can combine to lead to catastrophic disasters. At the Three Mile Island nuclear facility, a series of small systems happened to fail at the same time. It was the interplay between these seemingly minor events that led to an unanticipated systemic crash.
All of Washington to pay for thisss
Sad to say, the Gulf's black hole tells of a larger political gulf: The one between an angry public and a Washington that doesn't seem to work," says Gloria Berger at CNN.com. So Democratic and Republican incumbents alike should fear the backlash over the giant oil slick floating in the Gulf and threatening to smother Louisiana's wetlands. Because it will only fuel the fire in voters already eager to throw the bums out.
"Oil spill's danger for Democrats"
"Oil spill's danger for Democrats"
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