Re: Oil Rig explosion/Gulf Oil Spill Nobody called you a liar, read it again. But you are definitely tossing names and insults yourself. There are other opinions out there besides yours. Nobody is hiding from you, I responded as soon as I read the thread. There is just no point is discussing the issue further with you. You have turned it into an insult fest that I have no interest in. I'm trying to defuse here. Just drop it as I have.
Re: Oil Rig explosion/Gulf Oil Spill It does sound legit, however, opening of the BOPs after a BOP test, more importantly, pulling of the Test Plug just below the BOPs normally has the rig crew alert to potential trapped gas below the test plug. I wonder if the Horizon had a BOP gauge below plug. I'm not positive but i think some deepwater rigs can monitor that position. There are definitly gauges above plug depth, in the BOPs. If the horizon had thought that there was the potential for trapped gas below the plug, they should have left the annular closed (top most BOP, a big rubber element with the potential for stripping pipe through while closed) and stripped up. The annular would have prevented gas from entering the riser and blowing out. It could have been circulated out properly. It seems to me, from all the public info., that at the stage and position that they were in (well cemented, about to P&A well in 2 days), no one thought of the potential for a gas buildup below BOPs, below test plug. Everyone thought this reservoir was sealed, i think. FYI i am a testing engineer for Schlumberger, I perforate and test oil wells.
Re: Oil Rig explosion/Gulf Oil Spill Red, you talked about the environmental scientist working right now with clean up, sampling, animal rescue, etc...those are the things I would like to know about. (obviously, I'm not expecting you to report it for me) My problem is that when I get on almost ANY site, accuweather, wunderground, wwl, cnn, foxnews.com, wherever, there are pictures of dead turtles, Alaskan loons absolutely COVERED with heavy black crude, etc..., next to articles with titles referring to THIS event. There is one bird that is documented to have been exposed to the oil. It was rescue and cleaned last week at Fort Jackson. I'm not so ignorant to think that it was the only bird affected, but it looked NOTHING like the birds in Alaska 21 years ago. This event happened offshore, not on land like Valdez, in an enclosed bay. This oil is a light crude, compared to the heavy black 6 oil looking stuff from the Valdez. - My problem is that the media...who at first seemingly ignored this event after the initial explosion and fire...is now so starved for a story that they are sensationalizing it to the nth degree. They have, to this point, caused FAR more damage than the leak has. They have now effectively CRIPPLED several industries that the coastal states, especially LA, depend on. Tourism, seafood, fishing, etc...devestated. And no, it's not OK just because BP says they're gonna pay for it. It affects everyone in the country. I'd hate to try to buy a lb of shrimp in Chicago today. Wait until the gas pumps start reflecting it. And to this point, it's in large part due to a bunch of made up stories implying total devestation of the regions fisheries, marshes, and all that depends on them. - The media should be held to higher standards than this. The National Enquirer is now just as legitimate as allegedly credible publications/organizations. There is no liberal or conservative in this. Fox News is supposedly the channel that conservatives follow...but they're doing the very same thing. On "The Drudge Report" last week, they were taking bets as to how soon that picture of the oil soaked loon would be all over papers/websites/TV/etc...and they nailed it. They can't find any animals that look pitiful enough to show, so they have now resorted to using 21 year old photos of an animal from a completely different part of the world to describe this event. That is wrong. The more credible ones are using photos of turtles that floated up dead and rotten on the MS beaches, even though necropsies have shown that there is no relation to their death and the spill. They claim that, although this is typically the time turtles show up dead on the beach, the numbers are higher since the spill. No, the numbers were higher over this past weekend. I wonder if it had anything to do with the tropical storm force south winds and heavy incoming surf, which also caused a coastal flood warning to be implemented for several days? I wonder if that would cause more turtles and jellyfish, and sticks and bottles and crates and whatever else to wash ashore more than normal?? They just cannot STAND to have either nothing to report, or nothing bad to report. The oil spill is bad enough without the obvious sensationalism. - I'm going fishing.
Re: Oil Rig explosion/Gulf Oil Spill I will try to dig up the article, but it was recommended as early as 2000 by the Minerals Management Service that multiple layers of protection from spills such as the acoustic trigger. In 2003, BP came out and said it was not needed. The topic was revisited a few years later and the result was the same. It stopped short of requiring it after the oil companies resisted due to the cost (est. $500,000) associated with the device. Now, I'm not an expert but everything that I read points to multiple levels of failure and this device being installed would not have made a difference. The issue seems to be with the BOP and certain redundancy systems. The manual trigger was severed, disabled, etc. due to the fire, but when they were actually able to get to the device via submersible it responded, but simply did not stop the flow of oil. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong...
Re: Oil Rig explosion/Gulf Oil Spill thats what i understand too. but in my expert opinion they shouldve had it because the other backups arent proven and the potential for catastrophe is great. some are questioning the ability of the clamps (whatever the hell they are called) to work at 5000ft.
Re: Oil Rig explosion/Gulf Oil Spill you are not wrong, but media is business. they compete for $. some teasing is ok though not preferable. readers have responsibility too.
Re: Oil Rig explosion/Gulf Oil Spill VERY true. But the truth should be in the headline...not hidden deep within the article. There is a good example of why readers should take responsibility too...about 3 posts up from this...:rolleye33:
Re: Oil Rig explosion/Gulf Oil Spill There is a major meeting on campus this afternoon regarding provisional Deepwater Hazard oil spill research efforts at LSU. I may know more then. Well, that is what I was sort of getting at. Despite the lurid headlines designed to attract search engines ( the are in a competitive business) the stories carefully reported all the facts. I was defending "environmentalists", not media sensationalism, which they do about everything. Today they are sensationalizing the Time Square bomb. Its what they do, they are whores for headlines. I'm a whore for research grants, you're a whore for redfish. I'm used to how they operate, but it is kind of misleading. Sometimes I think so when Glen Beck and his ilk pontificate, but ultimately they have to set their own standards. All we can do is vote with our remotes and our browsers and let the dishonest TV hacks lose ratings and the misleading websites drop to the bottom of the Google search. I'm going to a meeting.
