aupoet

I have to say these claims seem a little over the top to me. Of course petroleum is a biotic compound and totally "natural" but that does not mean it is not toxic. I don't want it or some man-made "get it out of the public's sight" chemical dispersant in my food chain or environment. One hole in his theory that I can think of, is where he states that once the oil has all gushed out, ocean water will flow under the seabed and super heat causing a massive eruption. The oil will only gush out on its own until the pressure pushing it up equals the pressure of the seawater surrounding it. At a depth of 1 mile the seawater pressure is just over 1 ton per square inch. Now because of oil's bouyancy it may still seep out and rise into the gulf waters but that means the water can only replace it slowly not rapidly. I hope and pray we don't ever find out if this is what will happen. In my opinion we should ban all offshore drilling.

momoese

Abiotic

Abiotic Oil and Gas: A Theory That Refuses To Vanish - Vinod Dar -- Seeking Alpha

Abnshrek

News said, they are 16 feet from completing the first relief well so almost have 2 gushers...

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sbl

I certainly hope not--this is bad enough. I haven't been to the beach, but I talked to someone that had. They said the sand where they walked lookled white, but when they got back to the car, their feet were black. He looked at the sand and said it looked like little specks of pepper in the sand--but when you walk on it, it ends up coating you feetand takes mineral spirits to remove it.

It will take months to get theis stuff off the surface of the Gulf, yrs to get this stuff out of the sand on the beach, decades to get it buried in the marshes and sediments of our bays. Even then it will get resuspended every time we get a hurricane. In reality it will probably be with us for over a century.

CoryS

Somebody read my mind.

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Jack Daw

Agreed. When Iraqis blew the oil wells, nobody could've stopped them for 2 months. And this was all ground drilling. How did they want to do it 1500 feet below the water surface. Well, maybe they didn't want to remedy it at all.

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Gardener972

As of today, Texas now has tar balls washing ashore. Now we're watching another potential hurricane.

Has anyone wondered if this is an act of terrorism?

Abnshrek

An act of stupidity and greed? Almost the same thing when it involves killing & ruining all that it will in time. Environmental Terrorism..

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sbl

I was just watching a report on CNN --they went out to the oyster beds and dredged up a bunch--they were all dead from the freshwater being diverted to keep the oil away. New spat cannot settle until next spring if it even can then. Then it will take 3 yrs to grow to harvest size--4 yrs gone at a minimum.

Gardener972

And even then, the floor of the ocean will be contaminated. Who would want to eat those oysters or shrimp, etc.? It IS environmental terrorism.

sbl

True--and that will apply for decades until the oil is buried--then it will be resuspended every time there is a hurricane--just like the PCB spill here in Pensacola Bay--released in the 60s --buried by the 80s--resuspended by Ivan--Our fish are again too contaminated with PCB to eat.

The next shrimp I buy will be farm raised on well water by a friend of mine in Port St Joe, FL--Wood's Fisheries--they should be ready in Sept/Oct.

mckoinld

The environmental disaster that is occurring in the gulf is horrendous and will be with us for decades. If it weren't for that sad fact this thread would almost be comical. Some of it reads like bad science fiction! Not logical-Not possible. What happened on that rig was nothing more than a perfect storm of catastrophic events. Any one of which would have been controllable but combined led to a series of events that cost 11 lives and much heartache and financial ruin for many families. The well was under control up to the time that BP started taking short cuts. Shortcuts that they were emboldened to take because there was no enforcement of regulations and safeguards.

They were in the final stages of getting off the well which means they had been at total depth for some time. The well was under control.

There were indications that the primary cement job was not holding. Which would have meant that it would have to be re done. Not unusual or catastrophic by its self. Just costly and time consuming. After multiple failed tests one passed so it must be good.....Shortcut

The BOP had problems. Multiple problems that were not addressed no real problem as long as the cement plugs held....Shortcut

Under normal conditions there is a waiting period with the BOP closed while the cement is allowed to set. Then the BOP is opened to test the cement plug and make sure the cement is holding. The drilling mud in the well bore is then displaced with lighter saltwater, the well is capped, and the rig moved. The mud above the BOP was displaced during the waiting period to save time and money........Shortcut.

Combine all these Shortcuts with some we probably don't know about and add it to the fact that the rig emergency release from the drill pipe did not work thus causing the rig to eventually sink and carry the drill pipe to the bottom with it...... Catastrophe!!

No political Agenda
No conspiracy
Just arrogance, greed and disregard for life and the environment.

Now as to the "Oil Volcano"

Law of Logical Argument - Anything is possible if you don't know what you are talking about. And nothing is impossible if you don't have to do it yourself.

If you learn just a little bit about Specific Gravity, the dynamics of fluid, and the fluids that an oil well produces you would understand why this oil volcano-Tsunami-mass destruction is fiction.

The most damage done by this is through the use of dispersant. It hides the oil and won't allow it to collect and form "tar balls" that could be easily cleaned up. And by the government not allowing local interests to create temporary sand barriers to limit where the oil can be deposited. IMHO the best remedy for the marshes is to do what has been done for decades by nature and by man. Let fire cleanse and renew. BURN THE COASTAL MARSHES. Do not allow the oil to sit there and soak in.

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momoese

momoese

A little more in depth, pardon the pun.

Cheney?s Culture of Deregulation and Corruption

Abnshrek

What measures will they resort to.. :^)
[IMG][/IMG]

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mckoinld

Its just as much this administrations failings as any. All the blame cannot be laid as the feet of any one administration. They have all taken money from the large oil interests. It is the oilfield culture that is the main problem. The people making the decision to push their subordinates into shortcuts are immune to repercussion of those actions. MMS agents are more interested in coffee and a news paper than what is happening on the rig. Just paperwork! No real inspection. And many cases no real world experience to know if something is not as it should be.

I'll get off my soap box now.

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sbl

Lonie, I agree with your earlier post about the dispersant. It is just to help BP hide how much oil was/is really being released. I don't know that much about the drilling process, but it is clear that they were cutting corners to save time and money with no concern for the risk. What I know about is the chemistry of the oil. And I know that some components of the oil--the PAHs-- are carcinogens and are very resistant to degradation. They will be with us for a long time.

What I am most worried about is the fisheries--which ones will be wiped out--will they ever recover?

momoese

Lonnie the thing I'm pointing out is that due to de-regulation the acoustic switch was not installed on this well. If the company had been required to install the switch we probably would not even be talking about this now. So now we have all these other wells, some very deep like the Horizon that also have no acoustic switch on them. What now?

CoryS

I agree with "arrogance, greed and disregard for life and the environment" as being what led to the disaster. Obama keeps pushing the 6 month halt to offshore drilling but if one or more existing Horizon-depth wells fails, that really won't mean much. So I too would like to know if anyone, on Capital hill or elsewhere, is considering acoustic switches to prevent new disasters.

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mckoinld

Mitchel the BOP failed. It did not close and seal the well. An acoustic switch is not a not a wellhead valve. It is a communications device to actuate the wellhead valve. It is used in tandem with or instead of a dead man switch. To simplify-it is a wireless switch. If you want to learn a little about it check this site
"Acoustic Switch" Would Not Have Saved BP Well - The Daily Hurricane

It also has some interesting comments.

On producing wells there is no BOP. There are surface safety valves and sub surface safety valves valves. These valves do not have to shear drill stem. They are fail close valves that automatically close when control pressure is lost. Totally different setup.

BP has an abysmal safety record. They and companies like them should not receive permits to drill in American waters. If BP had not cut corners...If they had operated according to industry standards this would not have happened. I am for offshore drilling. Drill baby drill. But do it by the rules and responsibly. Make safety performance a key requirement. Put teeth in the laws for those who intentionally violate the rules. And remove the cap on liability limits. It adds incentive for safe environmentally sound operation if a company stands to loose everything if they are found negligent.

Sbl I agree there is some nasty stuff that comes to the surface with hydrocarbons. The fisheries will be decimated. They will recover maybe in our lifetime if we are lucky.

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