Friday 23 July 2010

Confidence in Oil Well Cap Growing; End Near?

With confidence in the cap that is currently sealing the ruptured oil well in the Gulf of Mexico on the rise, BP and representatives of the federal government are moving forward with plans to permanently halt the flow of oil that has caused one of the largest natural disasters in U.S. history.

Early Wednesday morning, AFP reporter Alex Ogle stated that officials at the petroleum company were "gaining confidence" in the cap, but that the seal was still under evaluation.

"We're just going to continue on with the tests. And every day that we continue on with the tests, that gives us more confidence when we don't see any anomalies," BP vice president Kent Wells told reporters during a Tuesday press briefing.

"We continue to be pleased with the progress," added retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, who is heading up the government's response to the spill, according to Associated Press (AP) reports. Allen also noted that a relief tunnel is expected to reach the well by the weekend, which according to the AP means that "the three-month-old gusher could be snuffed for good within two weeks."

Ogle notes that the apparent success of the tunnel does not mean that relief workers have ruled out the possibility of a "static kill"--the use of materials to seal off the flow sooner.

Coast Guard Cutter Walnut, a 225-foot sea-going buoy tender based in Honolulu, skims oil
July 16 near the BP oil spill site with the help of a barge and a tugboat. The Walnut has
been skimming since it arrived in the Gulf after transiting the Panama Canal.

"The relief well is exactly where we want it, pointed in the right direction. So we're feeling good about that," Wells said. "The intercept of the Macondo well is still for the end of July and then the kill procedure, dependent upon whether we have flow up the annulus casing or both, could take anywhere from a number of days to a few weeks."

Meanwhile, environmentalists and those involved in the clean-up of past oil spills have publicly started criticizing some of the methods used in the Gulf recovery effort, according to a Wednesday article by the AP's Cain Burdeau. Burdeau reports that more than 5,000 vessels have been participating in the clean-up, making it "the largest fleet assembled since the Allied invasion of Normandy."

"Hordes of helicopters, bulldozers, Army trucks, ATVs, barges, dredges, airboats, workboats, cleanup crews, media, scientists and volunteers have descended on the beaches, blue waters and golden marshes of the Gulf Coast," Burdeau adds. "That's a lot of propellers, anchors, tires, and feet for a fragile ecosystem to take, and a tough truth is emerging: In many places, the oil cleanup itself is causing environmental damage."

In addition to the machinery, the use of the chemical dispersant Corexit early in the process has drawn criticism, since marine biology experts are unsure that the product is safe for aquatic life. As Greenpeace USA oceans campaign director John Hocevar told Burdeau, "Basically, we conducted uncontrolled experiments in the open ocean--that does not seem like a good idea to me."

Likewise, critics have blasted Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal's decision to build sand islands and other barriers along the Gulf coast. While said barriers were designed to block oil from washing up onto the coast, they also are said to interfere with the migration of shrimp and fish. As former coastal restoration advisor Leonard Bahr told the AP, "None of the coastal scientists have signed onto this thing."

Source : Red Orbit