Deepwater Horizon a potential environmental disaster

Featured, News — By ken on May 7, 2010 at 6:34 pm

Deepwater Horizon was an ultra-deepwater, dynamically positioned, semi-submersible oil drilling rig built in 2001. The purpose of this rig was to drill oil wells deep underwater, moving from location to location, as needed. Once the drilling was complete, pumping production was handled by other equipment.

Deepwater Horizon is owned by Transocean and was leased to BP until September 2013 but encountered an explosion on April 20, 2010, and sank two days later. The resulting oil slick could be one of the worst environmental disasters in U.S. history.

Deepwater Horizon, on fire after the explosion

It is now two weeks since the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded and oil has been leaking unstopped for 18 days from the well, 50 miles (80km) off Louisiana.

Fire and explosion on Deepwater Horizon rig, 80 km off the Louisiana coast, kills 11 workers and causes it to sink on April 22 2010
More than 6 million litres of oil spilt in first two weeks
Slick threatens Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama
Thousands of metres of boom laid out on shore to protect wetlands from the oil
BP says relief well could take 90 days to set up
On May 6, BP says it has successfully plugged the smallest leak

The full impact of the disaster is being realised as a massive oil slick looms off the US Gulf coast, threatening to wipe out the livelihoods of shoreline communities. But the weather has made predicting the movement of the slick difficult. Now officials have confirmed a sheen of oil has washed ashore on the barrier islands off Louisiana, an important breeding and nesting area for birds, which also includes Freemason Island, a favourite fishing spot for recreational anglers some 30 miles (50km) off Louisiana’s coast.

Yellow arrow points to Freemason Island

The US coastguard confirmed that oil had made its way past protective booms and was surrounding Freemason Island, in the Breton national wildlife refuge area. Efforts to hold back the oil by repositioning booms were undermined by BP’s decision to break up the spill with dispersants. The resulting thinner oil was proving much harder to contain.

The confirmation that the slick had made shore came as BP workers began lowering a containment dome 1.5 kilometres onto the seabed, deeper than the technology has ever been deployed before.

The technology has been used a few times in shallow waters, but never at such extreme depths and under such high pressure.

They are hoping it will help stop most of the 5,000 barrels of oil still leaking into the ocean each day.

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Researcher: Oil Slick Could Reach Florida. Next Week

A state of emergency has been declared in Florida’s coastal counties because of the threat from the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

The state of emergency exists for the counties of Escambia, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa, Walton, Bay, Gulf, Manatee, Sarasota, Franklin, Wakulla, Jefferson, Taylor, Dixie, Levy, Citrus, Hernando, Pasco, Pinellas, and Hillsborough.

With the slick and tar balls just 50 miles offshore in Florida, the state’s top environmental official warned residents to brace for impacts to beaches and fisheries — from oyster beds in the Panhandle to, at least potentially, the shallow reefs of the Florida Keys.

Scientists also predict that oil could yet wash up in Miami, almost 700 miles from the leak, or creep inland to affect ecologically important national parks such as the Florida Everglades.

Meanwhile, hoteliers and tourism chiefs in Florida fear that the Gulf of Mexico oil spill will devastate the local tourism industry – despite being miles from any danger.

Uncertainty over the direction of the millions of gallons of oil spewing from the site of the former BP rig Deepwater Horizon, which exploded on April 20, has already resulted in a spate of cancellations from tourists unwilling to risk the chance of their holiday being ruined by tar-coated beaches. During 2009, the industry brought in $65 billion and 80 million tourists. Florida’s leisure and hospitality sectors make up nearly six percent of the state’s economy.

AssociatedPress May 6, 2010
Univ. of Miami Prof. Nick Shay is part of team trying to predict the path of the Gulf oil slick. He says oil could be picked up by the Gulf stream in about a week’s time– which in turn will bring it to the Florida straits and toward the Atlantic.

Heavy Oil Threatens Louisiana White Beaches

Oil sloshed ashore on a chain of islands off the Louisiana coast on Thursday as the oil slick expanded. At least 5,000 barrels (210,000 gallons/795,000 litres) have gushed into the Gulf each day since the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded two weeks ago off the Louisiana Coast, killing 11 workers.

Grand Isle, Louisiana boasts the state’s only white sand beaches. For days, the island seemed safe from the threat of oil coming ashore. Now, Governor Bobby Jindal and local officials are racing to protect the treasured land.

Coastal officials in Louisiana say they’re waiting for enough boom to corral oil from the Gulf spill. Grand Isle needs at least 50,000 more feet of oil-containing boom to protect its shores, though supply has been a problem since parish officials requested boom and skimmers from BP and the Coast Guard.

Grand Isle is a town in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, located on a barrier island of the same name. The island is at the mouth of Barataria Bay where it meets the Gulf of Mexico.

The Louisiana region also has a chain of islands containing tens of thousands of seabirds. Efforts are being made to protect the native fauna with oil-boom barriers lining the shores of the Breton National Wildlife Refuge, home to tens of thousands of breeding seabirds.

The spill threatens an environmental catastrophe on the coasts of four states and has forced President Barack Obama to rethink plans to open up more waters to offshore drilling.

AssociatedPress May 6, 2010
Grand Isle, Louisiana boasts the state’s only white sand beaches. For days, the island seemed safe from the threat of oil coming ashore. Now, Governor Bobby Jindal and local officials are racing to protect the treasured land.

Exclusive Video: Oil Containment Box Lowered

On the Gulf of Mexico a crane is lifting a giant oil containment box off of a ship and is preparing to lower it 5,000 feet into the Gulf of Mexico in an unprecedented attempt to divert an oil leak.

If it works, the system could collect as much as 85 percent of the oil that’s been leaking from the ocean floor after the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded April 20, killing 11 workers.

More than 200,000 gallons of oil a day is pouring from the well.

AssociatedPress May 6, 2010
AP Exclusive video shows workers easing a giant concrete-and-steel box into the Gulf of Mexico late Thursday, starting the long process of lowering the contraption over the blown-out oil well.

By Any Measure, Gulf Oil Spill Is Big

AssociatedPress May 4, 2010
It can be hard to get a handle on the scope of the growing oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Nearly three million gallons of oil may have spilled so far, but that’s just part of the story.

Oil Spill Has Tourists Canceling Beach Trips

AssociatedPress May 4, 2010
As the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico grows, along the Florida panhandle there is a major concern about the impact the spill could have on tourism, the lifeblood of the state’s economy.

Gulf Oil Spills Brings Emotional Toll

AssociatedPress May 4, 2010
Two weeks after the explosion of an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico, the uncertainty surrounding the subsequent oil spill is taking a toll on coastal residents. AP’s Rich Matthews reports.

Fishermen Frustrated in Mississippi

AssociatedPress May 4, 2010
Fishermen in Biloxi, Mississippi, say frustration doesn’t even begin to capture how they feel about how the clean-up efforts are being handled — let alone the future of their livelihood.

Troops Set Up Wall in Water to Hold Back Oil

AssociatedPress May 3, 2010
National Guard troops are in Dauphin Island, Alabama trying to set up a fence in the water in hopes of stopping the oil slick from reaching the beaches but stormy weather is hampering the efforts.

AP Reporters Detail Gulf Oil Spill’s Menace

AssociatedPress May 3, 2010
AP correspondents have fanned out across the Gulf states to report on the approaching oil slick. They describe the situation from their vantage points.

Timeline: 20 years of major oil spills

March 24, 1989 – The oil tanker Exxon Valdez hits Prince William Sound’s Bligh Reef in Alaska, spilling 40.9 million litres of crude oil. It is thought to be one of the worst man made environmental disasters ever.
1991 – The Gulf War oil spill is estimated to be the largest oil spill in history. In order to ward of a potential landing by United States marines, the Iraqi military dumped up to 1.5 million tonnes of oil from several tankers into the Persian Gulf. The oil damaged the ecosystem in the Persian Gulf, around Kuwait and Iraq.
February 15, 1996 – The oil tanker MV Sea Empress hits rocks while entering the Cleddau Estuary in Wales, spilling up to 73,000 tonnes of oil into the bay. The spill was particularly deadly to the local bird population.
December 12, 1999 – The oil tanker MV Erika sinks off the coast of France after a heavy storm. The tanker released thousands of tonnes of oil which killed marine life and washed up on shores around Brittany, France.
November 19, 2002 – The oil tanker Prestige sinks off the coast of Spain after being damaged in a storm. Up to 20 million gallons of oil leaked into the ocean, washing up on more than 1,000 beaches on the Spanish and French coast.
July, 2006 – Up to 30,000 tonnes of oil leaked into the Mediterranean after the storage tanks at the Jiyeah Power Station were bombed during the Israel-Lebanon conflict that year. The slick killed fish and there are fears it may have increased the risk of cancer.
December 7, 2007 – The MT Hebei Spirit leaked around 10,800 tonnes of oil into South Korea’s Yellow Sea, after a collision with a crane barge. The slick affected local sea farms and up to 40 beaches.
March 11, 2009 – Around 230 tonnes of fuel oil and 620 tonnes of ammonium nitrate leaked into the ocean north of Moreton Bay in Queensland after unsecured cargo on the Pacific Adventurer shifted during a cyclone. The spill washed up on 60 kilometres of coastline in south-east Queensland, however authorities say the full environmental cost is unknown.
August 21, 2009 – Up to 30,000 tonnes of oil spilled into the Timor Sea off the north-west Australian coast after the West Atlas oil rig began leaking oil and gas.
April 3, 2010 – The bulk coal carrier ShenNeng 1 runs aground east of Rockhampton in Central Queensland. Around three to four tonnes of fuel oil leaked into the ocean and around three kilometres of the Great Barrier Reef was severely damaged.
April 20, 2010 – A massive explosion rips through Deepwater Horizon oil rig off the United States coast, killing 11 people. The explosion sinks the rig, owned by BP, and some six million litres of oil begin spilling into the sea, threatening the coasts of Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana. US President Barack Obama describes it as an “unprecedented” environmental disaster.