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BP finally stops oil spewing from Gulf gusher

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Re: BP finally stops oil spewing from Gulf gusher

#41

Post by ars »

Psyonic wrote: post #10
mindcrime wrote: post #3

Well, obviously it sucks that it took so long, and so much damage has been done, but nonetheless... this is great news, if true. Let's just hope that this new cap holds up until the relief wells are finished and things are truly under control. Wonder how long the cleanup process will take? Can something of this magnitude even ever be completely cleaned up?

"Can something of this magnitude even ever be completely cleaned up?" Likely no. Certainly improvements can and will be made, but there will be irreversible damage, at least on a human timescale.

Within a year or two you will have to search hard (i.e. dig) to find evidence there was ever a leak.

This is not the first time oil has leaked. It's biodegradable, the damage is totally reversible. Just look at the history from the ixtoc oil leak (about the same size as this one). There was pretty much no long term damage at all.

At the bottom of the sea the oil will probably last for a while, but it'll be buried very soon. Everywhere else it'll be gone quickly.

Read this if you don't believe me: http://www.nola.com/news/gulf-oil-spill/index.ssf/2010/07/19...

Re: BP finally stops oil spewing from Gulf gusher

#42

Post by c1sc0 »

simonw wrote: post #14

Third paragraph: > "Finally!" said Renee Brown, a school guidance counselor visiting Pensacola Beach, Fla., from London, Ky. "Honestly, I'm surprised that they haven't been able to do something sooner, though." Seems like an odd choice for the first quote in the article. Shouldn't they have chosen someone obviously qualified to comment?

Qualified opinions are boring and don't sell newspapers, better to ask the 'man in the street'. As a bonus, if that man in the street spews extremist ideas, you can do the 'both sides of the debate' trick.

Re: BP finally stops oil spewing from Gulf gusher

#43

Post by yardie »

DaemonXI wrote: post #39
stcredzero wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I still think the industry should put together a consortium that develops and builds such equipment and keeps it ready to go in the event of deep-water well failures like this. Seems like a lot of trial and error and onsite improvisation and engineering were done after the disaster. If it had been done ahead of time, then we may well have gotten to this point perhaps weeks sooner. A lot of oil might not have been spi…

It better be federally mandated. Lord knows the industry won't do it on their own. Case in point: BP oil disaster.

That blow out preventer was federally mandated. As was the dead backup battery.

The thing about mandates is they are easy to write. It's the enforcement that has the problem. If you look at every airplane crash, exclude pilot error and rare weather events, you will find the remainder were due to lax maintenance. Federally mandated lax maintenance.

Re: BP finally stops oil spewing from Gulf gusher

#44

Post by psyklic »

simonw wrote: post #14

Third paragraph: > "Finally!" said Renee Brown, a school guidance counselor visiting Pensacola Beach, Fla., from London, Ky. "Honestly, I'm surprised that they haven't been able to do something sooner, though." Seems like an odd choice for the first quote in the article. Shouldn't they have chosen someone obviously qualified to comment?

Airborne Dietary Supplement - Made by an Elementary School Teacher!

Shouldn't someone more obviously qualified make it?

Re: BP finally stops oil spewing from Gulf gusher

#45

Post by whatajoke »

ck2 wrote: post #37

Except there are probably dozens of little leaks all over the pipes from the failure event. That's what they kept arguing why the couldn't just close the top, it would make all the little leaks into big leaks. So basically they've just shut off the one that was getting the most attention. Geez the amount of wildlife they have killed - no-one will go to prison and it's practically the crime of the century.

> Geez the amount of wildlife they have killed - no-one will go to prison and it's practically the crime of the century.

The Iraq invasion by USA happened in this very century.

Re: BP finally stops oil spewing from Gulf gusher

#46

Post by ck2 »

whatajoke wrote: post #45
ck2 wrote: post #37

Except there are probably dozens of little leaks all over the pipes from the failure event. That's what they kept arguing why the couldn't just close the top, it would make all the little leaks into big leaks. So basically they've just shut off the one that was getting the most attention. Geez the amount of wildlife they have killed - no-one will go to prison and it's practically the crime of the century.

> Geez the amount of wildlife they have killed - no-one will go to prison and it's practically the crime of the century. The Iraq invasion by USA happened in this very century.

Very good point. I can't believe I've fallen for the lack of that in the news cycle.

Going to war is like a different, almost underground part of society now.

Re: BP finally stops oil spewing from Gulf gusher

#47

Post by justin_hancock »

I find it all rather sad. BP has committed an appalling act of negligence however the parties operating the rig and the company that provided the Blow Out Preventer (Trans Ocean and Halliburton) still seem to be avoiding the worst of the flack. They are culpable too, yet the administration chooses to ignore it. This has been a marvellous political tool for them.

Wonder if Dow Chemical has fixed the issues in Bhopal yet?

Re: BP finally stops oil spewing from Gulf gusher

#48

Post by qq66 »

stcredzero wrote: post #36
fr0sty wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They do, in theory. The Blow-Out-Preventer, basically an automatic cap, it installed in-line on every well currently being drilled. Yes, it failed but there is no guarantee that "this cap" will succeed in the case of another BOP failure.

I still think the industry should put together a consortium that develops and builds such equipment and keeps it ready to go in the event of deep-water well failures like this. Seems like a lot of trial and error and onsite improvisation and engineering were done after the disaster. If it had been done ahead of time, then we may well have gotten to this point perhaps weeks sooner. A lot of oil might not have been spi…

If a private company had built such a cap and kept it on standby, they could have probably sold it to BP for over $20 billion.

Re: BP finally stops oil spewing from Gulf gusher

#49

Post by sliverstorm »

ck2 wrote: post #46
whatajoke wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Geez the amount of wildlife they have killed - no-one will go to prison and it's practically the crime of the century. The Iraq invasion by USA happened in this very century.

Very good point. I can't believe I've fallen for the lack of that in the news cycle. Going to war is like a different, almost underground part of society now.

It's just hard to sustain public interest when it isn't getting particularly worse, isn't getting particularly better, isn't going away, and we are not in imminent danger. If we felt threatened and outraged like we did in past wars, people would be hanging on every word out of the news.
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