Disaster unfolds slowly in the Gulf of Mexico

[murd0c]

the big difference hear is the big spill only happened in the Persian Gulf. The issue here is once it get's into the Atlantic is will cause a whole new shit storm with the ocean current's taking it all around the world.

[Senna4ever]

Originally Posted by Great68

Ok, the world is not going to fucking end from this oil spill.

There was 10x the amount of oil released into the Persian gulf in 1991. Nowadays you could hardly tell there was such a massive oil spill back then, wildlife came back, things are business as usual. The world didn't end then did it? Mother nature is pretty damn resiliant.

Source? I think almost all of that oil was burned and or was spilled in the desert, not into the Persian Gulf.

If true, this article is very scary: http://www.rense.com/general91/oilor.htm

[belka]

Originally Posted by Senna4ever

Source? I think almost all of that oil was burned and or was spilled in the desert, not into the Persian Gulf.

If true, this article is very scary: http://www.rense.com/general91/oilor.htm

Going a little overboard? Tsunami's? I somehow doubt this.

[_Hotsauce_]

^
Did you read the article? Seems plausible.

[Great68]

Originally Posted by Senna4ever

Source? I think almost all of that oil was burned and or was spilled in the desert, not into the Persian Gulf.

If true, this article is very scary: http://www.rense.com/general91/oilor.htm

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/meast/...iref=allsearch

Lessons learned from the largest oil spill in history

(CNN) -- As oil continues to pour into the Gulf of Mexico following the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion, comfort may come from an unusual direction: the largest oil spill in history.

Between five and 10 million barrels of oil poured into the Persian Gulf in 1991 when Iraqi troops, retreating from their occupation of Kuwait, set fire to desert oil wells and opened the valves on oil rigs and pipelines.

The spill -- at least five times the most recent estimate of that spilled in the Gulf of Mexico -- devastated marine wildlife and coastal habitats in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.

Yet, against all the odds, the Persian Gulf appears to have shown amazing resilience in response to the ecological disaster.

Nicolas Pilcher is a marine specialist with the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

He was in neighboring Saudi Arabia as oil began washing ashore on the beaches. It had flowed south along the coast from Kuwait.

"It was huge," Pilcher told CNN. "It's hard to describe for people who weren't there but it was basically a coast of black."

By the time Saudi authorities and international contractors initiated clean-up efforts, pumping oil from the sea into holding areas, much of the oil had sunk, evaporated or washed up on beaches, according to Pilcher.

"You would see oil on the beach or along the shoreline in the water, but it wasn't there for more than about a month," he said.

But oil slicks had an immediate and catastrophic impact on local wildlife.

Christophe Tourenq, science and research manager at the World Wildlife Fund's UAE office told CNN that researchers estimate 30,000 water birds were killed by the oil.

Fish eggs and larvae were killed by slicks, which in turn reduced the breeding success of some bird species by 50 percent in the year after the spill, he said.

But, according to researchers, in the years following the spill the Gulf's ecosystem began to make a remarkable comeback.

A 2008 joint German-Saudi research paper on the effects of oil pollution in the Persian Gulf stated that by 1994, fish and bird populations had returned to pre-spill levels. Whale, dolphin and turtle populations were largely unaffected, according to the same study.

The fishing industry was decimated after the oil spill and Iraqi mines made the Gulf a no-go area for Kuwaiti and Saudi fishermen. But, it too, had started to show signs of improvement by 1994, the same study shows, and is widely considered to have made a full recovery from the after effects of the spill today.

"What they found, and they've found in other places in the world, is that nature does recover," said Pilcher.

Although a colossal amount of oil was released into the Gulf, Pilcher said up to half may have simply disappeared from the water by a combination of evaporation and degradation by bacteria in the sea.

In the Persian Gulf, the local climate -- very hot and humid for most of the year -- would have helped.

Abdul Nabi Al-Ghadban of Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research has studied the impact of the spill.

He told CNN: "If you have a higher air/water temperature the lighter fraction of the oil, which is more toxic, evaporates, and the heavy fraction, which is least toxic, goes to the bottom."

"That's why with an incident like the Exxon Valdez, although in terms of volume it was far less than the spill in the Arabian Gulf, in that part of the world, because of the colder water the impact can be stronger.

"The lighter fraction stays there for a longer period and can inflict a lot of damage compared with hot areas."

Nonetheless, the oil spill has left the Gulf with some scars that have not yet healed. Ghadban said coral reefs have been damaged, particularly off the coast of Saudi Arabia.

And the heavier oil fractions, which don't evaporate or dissolve, have sunk into coastal sediments.

A 2003 U.S. study found huge quantities of oil in the sediment of salt marshes, mudflats and mangroves on the coast of Saudi Arabia.

Laila Hayat, of Kuwaiti activists Green Line Environmental Group, told CNN she feared that oil buried in beach sands could be released by the erosive action of coastal currents. It's a fear shared by Ghadban, who said studies are being carried out to test the likelihood of that occurring.

So, can any lessons from the Persian Gulf spill be applied to the ongoing Gulf of Mexico spill?

According to the latest U.S. government estimates, up to 855,000 barrels of oil have spilled into the Gulf of Mexico since a 5,000-foot-deep well erupted after an explosion and fire aboard the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig on April 20.

"There are probably similarities [between the spills], although it's too early to tell," said Pilcher. "One issue in the Gulf of Mexico is the sunken oil -- whether that ever makes it up on the surface and on the shores, or will it just sink to the bottom.

"In terms of the clean up, I think some coastal habitats are just way too fragile to be touched.

"Some of those coastal marshes will probably be more damaged by clean-up activities than they would be if they were left to deal with the disaster on their own."

For Ghadban, the lessons from the 1991 oil spill are all too relevant to the Gulf of Mexico spill.

"If you have an offshore operation you need to have a good contingency plan in case of spillage, damage, earthquake, or a problem with the pipeline.

"We learned the lesson that we have to have an action plan -- you have to expect the unexpected."

[7seven]

I was reading a blurb in the Gartman Letter last week and a very good point was made, during World War 2, German U-Boats sunk over 40 Oil Tankers off the Gulf Coast spilling approx. 500,000 tons of crude oil, refined oil and aviation fuel into the Gulf Coast. No booms, dispersants or any clean up was ever done and we all know that the wildlife, waters and shoreline restored itself.

[orange7]

^

true.. it will restore itself eventually.....

but we shouldn't look at the situation like this.

[- kT]

let's just hope that this time will be the same as those other instances

[murd0c]

the earth has died and come back to life hundreds of times I'm sure, this is just it's natural cycle is will happen again it's just really a matter of time. Fail me if you want but it happened with the Dinosaurs, if there is such a thing called Atlantis and I'm sure other cultures that have been wiped of the face of the earth we don't know about.

Like I said it might not happen now but the way we are destroying the earth it will happen again it's just up to us how quick it will happen this time.

[penner2k]

I'm still gonna go around telling girls that this oil spill does mean the end of the world and they should have fun while they still can.

[mr_chin]

Microbes will work but it will not solve the entire problem. You will need a lot of microbe to clean this up.

You can't expect mother nature to solve it. It will heal but it'll definitely leave something behind. Thing of earth as our body. If we leave a scar untreated it'll heal but it'll leave a big scar.

Nukes is problem a very very last resort because 1) if it doesn't work and it blows a bigger whole, then what? 2) radiation will create a much bigger problem than 1,000,000 barrels leaking a day.

BP is clearly not dealing with it because they're slowly raking up the oil to recover their cost. the US and every country aroud the world should realize that this is a global issue and whoever has the right yo terminate their rights still be there should come in a help aid the problem.
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[goo3]

Originally Posted by Great68

For Ghadban, the lessons from the 1991 oil spill are all too relevant to the Gulf of Mexico spill.

"If you have an offshore operation you need to have a good contingency plan in case of spillage, damage, earthquake, or a problem with the pipeline.

"We learned the lesson that we have to have an action plan -- you have to expect the unexpected."

This is the problem right here. Can't just blame BP, blame the govt too for not setting and enforcing safety standards.

What if something fucks up? The answers apparently were "Oh, it won't fuck up" and "We'll figure something out if it happens. Maybe we'll nuke it."

[Ducdesmo]

I like how everyone thinks everything is all fine and dandy and that the earth will repair itself and life goes on. Humans created this mess and are ultimately responsible for the diaster. When the well continues to gush in august at millions of gallons per day, I hopes it knocks some sense into people. Though I would love to be wrong.
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[7seven]

Originally Posted by orange7

^

true.. it will restore itself eventually.....

but we shouldn't look at the situation like this.

I'm not saying this isn't a serious problem, but just that everyone thats running around like chicken little screaming that the sky is falling needs to relax a bit, its not all doom and gloom/end of the world scenario.

[haymura]

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.

[Alphamale]

^Happy?

[Ducdesmo]

Originally Posted by 7seven

I'm not saying this isn't a serious problem, but just that everyone thats running around like chicken little screaming that the sky is falling needs to relax a bit, its not all doom and gloom/end of the world scenario.

Expect the worst, hope for the best. Nobody knows if this is the end of the world. If that is the case everyone would be selling everything they own and buying hookers and blow all day long. Point is, sure there have been bigger spills in the past. But things are a bit different this time around. An estimated 20-70k psi is gushing out. A normal well is measured at 1000psi. There are toxic gases and fumes that are not being disclosed. Militrary on the shores. Bp hiding shit. People getting sick. WTF is going on.
Posted via RS Mobile

[Great68]

Originally Posted by haymura

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.

Gasoline is only one product that is produced from oil. Do you own anything made out of plastic?

Modern existence would have to de-evolve 100 years to end our dependence on oil.

[_Hotsauce_]

Originally Posted by haymura

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 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.

[Noir]

Originally Posted by _Hotsauce_

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.

There were a couple of failsafes. The problem was that when the failsafe was damaged during drilling, and the other non-responsive, no repairs were made due the BP pushing for expediency.

[Onassis]

Everyones just gotta look at the brighter side of things, we can finally add this to the list of reasons why West Coast > East Coast.

[_Hotsauce_]

Originally Posted by Noir

There were a couple of failsafes. The problem was that when the failsafe was damaged during drilling, and the other non-responsive, no repairs were made due the BP pushing for expediency.

To my knowledge it was just the blowout preventer. What else was there?

Every fail safe should have a fail safe. Non-responsive fail safes should are UNACCEPTABLE in this kind of situation. They should have had 10 emergency shutoff's to prevent against "non responsive" issues, or damage to another. But no, all about increasing profit and decreasing expenses.

[Noir]

Originally Posted by _Hotsauce_

To my knowledge it was just the blowout preventer. What else was there?

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.

[_Hotsauce_]

Lol....First estimates stated 5,000 barrels of oil a day leaking into the gulf. Today, scientists state it's more like 60,000 barrels per day. (Figured calculated by 2.52 mil / standard barrel size of 42 gal)

Source -->http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37700674...er_in_the_gulf

I still find it funny that they can't pinpoint an actual amount...in the article they state "between 1.47 million and 2.52 million gallons". I know little about statistics, but you know +/-1000, or +/- 5000 would be understandable, but saying it could be figure X or X2 (roughly). Just seems a little odd to me.

Also in the article BP is quoted saying "it hopes to trap as much as roughly 2.2 million gallons of oil daily by the end of June as it deploys additional containment equipment, including the flaring system. " which is great even though they don't have an accurate # of barrels that are leaking....I guess roughly means +/- 1,000,000 gallons

[cressydrift]

^ Considering the estimated volume of the oil well was 13 trillion barrels, which starts from gulf and goes all the way to South America. There is a shit load of oil coming out...