The U.S. Coast Guard is chronicling BP's efforts to contain a massive oil leak 1,524 meters down in the Gulf of Mexico and corral the extensive oil slick heading toward the coast. The oil, as much as 757,000 liters per day, has been spewing into the gulf since April 20, when an explosion aboard the mobile offshore drilling unit Deepwater Horizon destroyed and later sunk the rig.

The Coast Guard is coordinating the response to the underwater oil geyser, although most of the work is being done by booms and skimmers that BP is paying for, a Coast Guard spokesman says. Deepwater was owned by Transocean Ltd. and leased to BP through September 2013.

Another key component of the emergency response is the placement of a four-story, 100-ton concrete-and-steel containment box on the ocean floor over the largest leak, where 85 percent of the oil is escaping. Officials should be able to tell by Monday if the box strategy works.

View a slide show of the cleanup and containment efforts

13 Comments

1. 1. Wayne Williamson 02:17 PM 5/8/10

   couple of thoughts on the containment action...
   
   1. is have atleast one sitting around all the time...also why don't the have thrusters and cameras mounted on it for final positioning....
   
   2. why are the slits up the side to where it's supposed to sink into the mud...the bottom should not have any of that...if it doesn't sink into the floor as expected the oil will just poor out though the slits....
   
   ps...i hope it all works as planned...
   

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2. 2. Bops in reply to Wayne Williamson 05:58 PM 5/8/10

   Wayne,
   Your ideas are excellent...maybe you could forward them to more important people.
   White House - 1-202 456-1414. I'm going to call just to see what departments are accessible and maybe some e-mails.
   We really need all the good help we can get.
   
   
   
   

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3. 3. Bops in reply to Wayne Williamson 05:59 PM 5/8/10

   Wayne,
   Your ideas are excellent...maybe you could forward them to more important people.
   White House - 1-202 456-1414. I'm going to call just to see what departments are accessible and maybe some e-mails.
   We really need all the good help we can get.
   
   
   
   

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4. 4. RobertJCraigs 09:10 AM 5/9/10

   Wayne,
   The slots are needed to straddle equipment sticking out that would otherwise be damaged. They are part of the reason positioning must be precise.

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5. 5. rquintanar 10:38 AM 5/10/10

   I read recently about the discovery of asphalt deposits on the seafloor that were the result of oil seeping to the surface naturally. I understand that chemistry of the oil and pressure are likely different, but can we learn something from this natural process that can help in plugging this man-made leak?

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6. 6. theitwiz 06:33 PM 5/10/10

   We learn that oil drilling is still more about gun-ho prove it is there quick than steady achievable extraction. At these depths the pressures bring with them dangers not found at other sites. Too late this experience will force exploration to put refined design containment chambers on drill heads at the start of the process! It might even be necessary to drill a tap network at the top of the borehole to enable a seal to be introduced at some depth below the main borehole (one bore crossing another enables a plug to be inserted in one bore across the other). I am sure it is costly, but it ensures the leak and wasted energy is controlled quickly.

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7. 7. gaetanomarano 05:10 AM 5/11/10

   .
   .
   read about my solution to solve the Gulf of Mexico's oil spill
   .
   http://www.ghostnasa.com/posts2/070oilspillsolution.html
   .
   .

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8. 8. jtdwyer in reply to gaetanomarano 07:18 AM 5/11/10

   gaetanomarano - I'm no expert, either, but I think you fail to consider the effects produced by the presence of an unknown amount of methane within the well - the original source of the explosion producing the problem leak. I expect that any ignition will not burn oil but will (eventually) produce another methane explosion, pretty much like the previous one.

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9. 9. daveboat 01:43 PM 5/21/10

   There is a lot of comments from people about how to clean the oil.One is good and that is using a straw type material or switch grass ,spread the material on the water as the oil appears the straw will suck up the oil then clean up the straw.

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10. 10. Dougpol1 09:20 AM 5/26/10

    Spread micro balloons or saw dust on the water. They roll in the wavelets and wrap the oil sheen around themselves. I have seen this work they make grease balls that are hardened by the sun on the surface. They do little damage to marshes and can be cleaned up. they do not harm wildlife These balls grow to 6" in diameter and are oil that can be refined. A single ball may have hundreds of miles f oil sheen wrapped around it.

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11. 11. Dougpol1 09:39 AM 5/26/10

    Here is an Article from my Blog on the oils spill clean up

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12. 12. Dougpol1 09:41 AM 5/26/10

    Sorry about that ! here is the articleMild oil spill damage may not last a long time.
    Bear Creek east Of Baltimore Md. always had a layer of oil on it. It leaked from settling ponds of local industry. The creek was basically dead. A few crabs lived at the mouths of drainage ditches as did small fish but that was about all the life there was. All the beds of sea Grass had died. It was a dead little sea. In the late 1940's a major polluter found itself in a labor dispute and on strike and shut down. The creek came alive with amazing speed. In three weeks there was some fish in the creek. In six weeks there where a lot of fish as well as crabs. The had moved in from the bay and though not exactly thriving they were living in the creek. Local residents of the area were amazed to be catching rock-fish, croaker, white perch and spot. Taylor blues were breaking the water feeding on plentiful alewives. You could drag up a net with enough grass shrimp for a days fishing. Watermen who had them, put their shedding pots back in the water and sold soft crabs again. To the mixed feelings of all who were glad to be going back to work the fishing was not to last. As the manufacturing started up anew and the water was ever more streaked with oil, fish floated on their sides.And lined the banks.
    I think this shows that a body of water can repair itself pretty quick when the pollution stops. This true of oil polution but some things are longer lasting. I think the Gulf will recover quickly as soon as the oil can be removed from the water. My solution of rolling particles on the water will not likely remove the heavy oil but it will take that long lasting sheen that lingers after a spill. This sheen damages the coast line for a long time after the heavier concentrations of oil are gone. There is hope for the Gulf coast!
    Douglas Pollard from my blog.

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13. 13. Dougpol1 10:33 AM 5/26/10

    Spilled Oil on Troubled Waters
    There is oil on the water in the Gulf of Mexico and it is not hard to get rid of a huge amount of it. As a kid I played on a creek near Baltimore that had an almost continual sheen of oil on it's surface coming from Nearby Industry. The creek had become barren of fish, crabs and sea weed. Natures way of cleaning the water was for dust and pollen to land on the water and roll with the wavelets. As these particles roll in the water they keep adding a thin layer of oil that is the sheen on the water. The particle grows in size and continues to increase in size, from then on. These we called grease balls. They were a kind of emulsion formed by a combination of water and oil. I have seen these balls as big as 6" in diameter with many more in smaller sizes. Any dust that will float will roll up into these balls cleaning the surface of the water.
    A powder could be spread on the Gulf. It might be saw dust, or wood sanding dust. It might be micro balloons. Any round particulate that can roll freely will pick up oil. Maybe a few tractor trailer loads of the material would be a good test. There is likely a best size and shape for this and a little research would certainly determine that.
    These grease balls will roll up into marsh grass and on beaches. They will not kill birds or fish as they harden on the surface in sunlight. They need not get to shore as they can be dredged up in nets and sent to refineries for processing. Because oil floats these balls will float no matter how big they get These nodules will be working day and night at cleaning the waters surface and the operating cost is zero, zilch, nothing. The value of the crude will not be lost when refined. I would think a shrimper might make a pretyy good days wages by dredging up grease balls and selling them to the refineries. Everybody wins. Doug Pollard
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    Posted by Doug at 11:13 AM
    Labels: clean that oil sheen, income for Gulf States watermen, oil on the water, oil sheen, oil spill. save the marshes from oil, rolling up oil, saving crude oil off the water, turn spilled crude to money
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