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Vancouver Off-Topic / Current EventsThe off-topic forum for Vancouver, funnies, non-auto centered discussions, WORK SAFE. While the rules are more relaxed here, there are still rules. Please refer to sticky thread in this forum.
I agree with the fact that humans are dependent on this natural resource, but disagree with the fact that it's "everyones fault". There should have been more then ONE fucking fail safe. Sure, it's one of the deepest wells around, but yeah, RISK MANAGEMENT MOTHER FUCKERS. Learn it.
I'll have to watch the 20/20 Interview again because my terminology would be incorrect. But Failsafe #1 is the rubber drill valve that got damaged during drilling, and Failsafe #2 was an electronic control box on the drill.
First of all those are all part of one system: The blowout preventer. They are no other safety systems other than the BOP to stop a blowout.
Second, those devices cannot be called "fail safes" as they do not inherently put the system into a safe state. The rams that close in on the pipe are hydraulic and require a motor with adequate battery power to make them work. Many things could go wrong from keeping the system working.
A more conceptual "fail safe" design would be if they had constant hydraulic pressure keeping the rams OPEN against spring pressure or something, then if hydraulic pressure was lost the springs would ram the BOP closed. This is kind of how Air Brakes on trucks work, the air pressure keeps the brake shoes OFF the drums so if air pressure is lost the brakes are automatically applied hence fail safe. I'm not saying what I describe is practical to do on a BOP on the ocean floor, but it illustrates what actually is "fail safe" design.
They did not even design the BOP to be able to cut through joints in the drill pipe, which means they never did design for some of the worst-case scenarios in the first place. They just went on the fact that something like this had not happened before, so therefore they were safe. One GOOD thing that will come out of this disaster is that they will completely redesign the BOP's.
i will make a statement that will probably get me a lot of fails and flame but i havent had those in awhile so bring em on.
everyone here blames BP or the US government or whoever there is to blame. I bet some people even blame chuck norris for chopping the ground with his left hand and causing the crack on the sea bed. What people fail to realize is the ones to blame are EVERYONE. We drive bikes, planes trains and automobiles and consume oil on a daily basis. RS, VCC, E90, audizine, and other car forums are to blame as well. We modify our cars with bigger turbos, bigger engines, and "all they wanna do is "ma zoom zoom and a vroom vroom, just shake it up!" all of this adds up to consumers supplying and demanding more gasoline. obviously businesses strive on consumer demand and therefore supply it to make money. That ultimately leads to companies finding more supplies and thus we are faced with the current disaster before us and guess what is happening? thats right, "we start pointing fingers"
Now i love to point fingers just as much as the next guy, especially if "it wasnt me" who caused the problem but lets face it people... we are to blame! of course, as humans we tend to be stubborn and lazy and greedy. instead of finding a way to "heal the world", we instead stare at the "man in the mirror" and say: "remember the time" when this happened before? well it will pass", and away we go with our daily lives.
think about it guys... and while ur thinking, kindly press that fail (or thank) button. im starting to feel lonely here that no one is giving me either a negative or positive credit.
I agree with you that BP and the government shouldn't be blamed. As a matter of fact, we shouldn't be blaming. But your statement about being everyones fault goes waaay back into history. Do you expect to rely on nothigng except on what is in front of us made naturally but mother nature. You can't. In these situation, its okay to gather natural resources from this planet but we need to consider that there is a borderline and not just go out of everyones way top get them without even thinking that our planet is at stake. This kind of accident need to be dealt with immediately by anyone who can. All money and stocks and all that kinda bullshit needs to be put aside. Unfortunately, for the sake of business and not our home planet, everyone only worries about their wallet.
To the person saying that this is not a doomsday situation and everyone needs to calm down. Everyone needs to panick to put pressure on whoever is recovering this mess. Every minute and every hour, this mess gets bigger. If what rense.com say is true, then calming is definitely not something we should do. Posted via RS Mobile
What I'm kinda worried about now is the releif well that won't be ready until aug. One main concern with the original well is the unseen pressures comming from it. Who says that this releif well won't see the same pressures and could cause another blowout?????
Has that even been brought up yet? It seems like they are saying once the 2nd well is drilled everything will be fine but it seems like no one has asked do we even have the technolgy to handle these pressures now????? Posted via RS Mobile
What I'm kinda worried about now is the releif well that won't be ready until aug. One main concern with the original well is the unseen pressures comming from it. Who says that this releif well won't see the same pressures and could cause another blowout?????
Has that even been brought up yet? It seems like they are saying once the 2nd well is drilled everything will be fine but it seems like no one has asked do we even have the technolgy to handle these pressures now????? Posted via RS Mobile
Pressure was only part of the equation. In the 60 minutes video, they knew the annular was broken because black chunks of rubber were comping up the pipe, but nobody decided to do anything about it.
The reason it blow-out occurred was because of faulty blow-out preventer (the rubber annular was not functioning). If the annular is functional in the new blow-out preventers then it should work. Hopefully......
__________________ If you always do what you've always done, you will always get what you've always got.
GULF SHORES, Ala. — Dolphins and sharks are showing up in surprisingly shallow water just off the Florida coast. Mullets, crabs, rays and small fish congregate by the thousands off an Alabama pier. Birds covered in oil are crawling deep into marshes, never to be seen again.
Marine scientists studying the effects of the BP disaster are seeing some strange — and troubling — phenomena.
Fish and other wildlife are fleeing the oil out in the Gulf and clustering in cleaner waters along the coast. But that is not the hopeful sign it might appear to be, researchers say.
The animals' presence close to shore means their usual habitat is badly polluted, and the crowding could result in mass die-offs as fish run out of oxygen. Also, the animals could easily get devoured by predators.
"A parallel would be: Why are the wildlife running to the edge of a forest on fire? There will be a lot of fish, sharks, turtles trying to get out of this water they detect is not suitable," said Larry Crowder, a Duke University marine biologist.
The nearly two-month-old oil spill has created an environmental catastrophe unparalleled in U.S. history as tens of millions of gallons of have spewed into the Gulf of Mexico ecosystem. Scientists are seeing some unusual things as they try to understand the effects on thousands of species of marine life.
Day by day, scientists in boats tally up dead birds, sea turtles and other animals, but the toll is surprisingly small given the size of the disaster. The latest figures show that 783 birds, 353 turtles and 41 mammals have died — numbers that pale in comparison to what happened after the Exxon Valdez disaster in Alaska in 1989, when 250,000 birds and 2,800 otters are believed to have died.
Researchers say there are several reasons for the relatively small death toll: The vast nature of the spill means scientists are able to locate only a small fraction of the dead animals. Many will never be found after sinking to the bottom of the sea or getting scavenged by other marine life. And large numbers of birds are meeting their deaths deep in the Louisiana marshes where they seek refuge from the onslaught of oil.
"That is their understanding of how to protect themselves," said Doug Zimmer, spokesman for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
For nearly four hours Monday, a three-person crew with Greenpeace cruised past delicate islands and mangrove-dotted inlets in Barataria Bay off southern Louisiana. They saw dolphins by the dozen frolicking in the oily sheen and oil-tinged pelicans feeding their young. But they spotted no dead animals.
"I think part of the reason why we're not seeing more yet is that the impacts of this crisis are really just beginning," Greenpeace marine biologist John Hocevar said.
As for the fish, locals are seeing large schools hanging around piers where fishing has been banned; apparently the fish feel safer now that they are not being disturbed by fishermen.
Also, researchers believe fish are swimming closer to shore because the water is cleaner and more abundant in oxygen. Father out in the Gulf, researchers say, the spill is not only tainting the water with oil but also depleting oxygen levels.
A similar scenario occurs during "dead zone" periods — the time during summer months when oxygen becomes so depleted that fish race toward shore in large numbers. Sometimes, so many fish gather close to the shoreline off Mobile that locals rush to the beach with tubs and nets to reap the harvest.
But this latest shore migration could prove deadly.
First, more oil could eventually wash ashore and overwhelm the fish. They could also become trapped between the slick and the beach, leading to increased competition for oxygen in the water and causing them to die as they run out of air.
"Their ability to avoid it may be limited in the long term, especially if in near-shore refuges they're crowding in close to shore, and oil continues to come in. At some point they'll get trapped," Crowder said. "It could lead to die-offs."
The fish could also fall victim to predators such as sharks and seabirds. Already there have been increased shark sightings in shallow waters along the Gulf Coast.
The counting of dead wildlife in the Gulf is more than an academic exercise; the deaths will help determine how much BP pays in damages.
Roger Helm, chief of the Fish and Wildlife Service's contaminants division, said the government expects a battle with BP over the extent of the damage and has every incentive to be scientifically credible.
"Both sides go to their own corner and interpret the data the way they want," Helm said. "This is a legal process, and if we can't get an agreement we'll end up in court."
(CNN) -- The oil spill on the Gulf Coast has states and visitors bureaus working hard to keep the public updated and reassure beach-bound travelers.
Here are some of the latest updates from destinations affected by the oil disaster:
Northwest Florida
Dime-size to 5-inch tar balls continue to wash up in widely scattered areas of the region, but all of Florida's beaches remain open, according to Visit Florida, the state's tourism corporation.
"There have been no reports of Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill-related oil products reaching the shore beyond the Northwest Florida region," Visit Florida's website said.
The beaches and waters at tourist hot spots like Destin, Fort Walton Beach and Okaloosa Island are open, according to the Emerald Coast Convention and Visitors Bureau, which represents the three destinations.
"The air here is also still fresh and clean, with no smell of oil whatsoever," the bureau's website said.
A few tar balls have been spotted, however, and there is a chance the area could see the approach of oil sheen in the coming week, according to the bureau.
iReport: Share your photos of affected beaches
There have been no oil effects in Panama City Beach, Florida, and the area's beaches and waters are open, the Panama City Beach Convention and Visitors Bureau website said.
The water at Pensacola Beach is also open for swimming and fishing, according to the Pensacola Bay Area Convention and Visitors Bureau.
A health advisory has been issued for beaches stretching from the Florida-Alabama line to the entrance of Johnson Beach on Perdido Key, the Pensacola Bay Area visitors bureau said. Swimming and fishing in the affected waters are not advised.
Gulf Islands National Seashore
All of the Gulf Islands National Seashore sites, which are located in Florida and Mississippi, are open, the park service's website said.
Crews are finishing the cleanup of existing oil on Petit Bois Island, Mississippi.
Meanwhile, more oil has been reported approaching Pensacola Pass, between the western point of Fort Pickens on Santa Rosa Island and the eastern coast of Perdido Key, according to the website.
Gulf Shores and Orange Beach, Alabama
Gulf Shores and Orange Beach, Alabama, have experienced significant oiling, according to the Alabama Gulf Coast Convention and Visitors Bureau.
The beaches remain open for sunbathing and walking, but the City of Orange Beach is flying double red flags, meaning the waters are closed to the public.
Public beaches in Gulf Shores are flying a yellow flag, meaning that caution is necessary.
The Alabama Department of Public Health has issued an advisory against swimming in waters off Gulf Shores, Orange Beach and Fort Morgan or in bay waters close to Fort Morgan, Bayou St. John, Terry Cove, Cotton Bayou or Old River.
Grand Isle, Louisiana
Oil is affecting more than 45 miles of Louisiana coast, according to a state emergency website, although most of the coast is unaffected.
"The primary affected area is from the mouth of the Mississippi River extending east. Over 75 percent of Louisiana's coastal waters extend westward from the mouth of the Mississippi River," according to the Cajun Coast Visitors and Convention Bureau website.
Grand Isle has closed its public beach, the site said.
pictures like this are so disheartening when you know the wildlife are already under constant detrimental anthropogenic pressures and everyday they struggle to survive. Yet after enduring for so many years (judging by the size of the turtle) it ends up being intoxicated and poisoned with oil...
^
A company that has 6000+ oil rigs in the Gulf, I think it would be hard to oversea the safety regulations, and general operations of every single one.
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