Worry that Gulf oil spreading into major current

[florida08]

Source: AP

NEW ORLEANS – BP said Monday it was siphoning more than one-fifth of the oil that has been spewing into the Gulf for almost a month, as worries escalated that the ooze may reach a major ocean current that could carry it through the Florida Keys and up the East Coast.

A researcher told The Associated Press that computer models show the oil may have already seeped into a powerful water stream known as the loop current, which could propel it into the Atlantic Ocean. A boat is being sent later this week to collect samples and learn more.

"This can't be passed off as 'it's not going to be a problem,'" said William Hogarth, dean of the University of South Florida's College of Marine Science. "This is a very sensitive area. We are concerned with what happens in the Florida Keys."...

Hogarth said a computer model shows oil has already entered the loop current, while a second shows the oil is 3 miles from it — still dangerously close. The models are based on weather, ocean current and spill data from the U.S. Navy and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, among other sources...

Hogarth said it's still too early to know what specific amounts of oil will make it to Florida, or what damage it might do to the sensitive Keys or beaches on Florida's Atlantic coast. He said claims by BP that the oil would be less damaging to the Keys after traveling over hundreds of miles from the spill site were not mollifying.

Damage is already done, with the only remaining question being how much more is to come, said Paul Montagna, from the Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies at Texas A&M University.


Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100517/ap_on_bi_ge/us_gulf_oil_spill

[protocol rv]

1. The way this works, most of that oil is bacteria food

And the bacteria are then eaten, and so on, so this is actually going to fertilize the oceans. There will be very large fish growing in the gulf of mexico by next year.

[Dr.Phool]

2. Too bad they'll all taste like Quaker State.

BP has managed to use a straw to siphon a fire hydrant.

[mbperrin]

3. Strange, the herring in Prince William Sound have still not recovered after 20 years.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2008912109_exxonherring24m.html

Exxon Valdez oil-spill recovery still is work in progress, 20 years later

"The herring fishery was the pinnacle of seining," Renner said. "It was the Super Bowl of fishing. The best, most competitive guys."

The harvest was canceled after the Exxon Valdez ran aground March 24, 1989, on Bligh Reef, spilling nearly 11 million gallons of oil -- enough crude to fill 125 Olympic-sized swimming pools. Instead of netting herring, Renner spent the spring picking up dead birds off the beach and running a shuttle service for the gargantuan cleanup effort.

Today, on the 20th anniversary of the largest oil spill in the nation's history, Renner again will be on shore during the spring harvest due to a prolonged collapse of the herring stock.

The plight of the herring underscores how much of the Prince William Sound recovery remains a work in progress.

[florida08]

6. very large fish growing in the gulf

bacteria can eat up the oil, which is good for the clean-up, but they also produce a byproduct, hydrogen sulfide, that draws oxygen out of the water. Oxygen depletion would, in turn, endanger animals in the area. Sure enough, the group has already found that some of the oil-soaked spots beneath the surface registered lower levels of oxygen.

http://www.desdemonadespair.net/2010/05/scientists-find-oil-plume-below-gulf.html

[Javaman]

8. Where did you pull that from?

This reeks of that bullshit "abiogenic hypothesis" canard that is thrown down by those who believe that oil is created by an endless bacterial process.

or are you trotting out this half assed solution, which has some major limitations.

Naturally Occuring Bacteria Could Help Clean Oil Spill

http://sites.google.com/a/loclynn.com/step-up/hot-news-1/naturallyoccuringbacteriacouldhelpcleanoilspill

The process of using naturally present microorganisms to clean up oil spills is called bioremediation. Unfortunately the process won’t work out at sea and can only be used when the oil reaches shore — which is what the coast guard and clean-up workers are currently trying to prevent. The microorganisms, even without fertilizers, will begin to chow down on the oil when it enters their natural habitat. So, with the addition of sulfate or nitrate fertilizers the microorganism multiply beyond their natural state and eat up the toxic metals invading their home at up to five times the rate that they would without assistance.

(the gulf is already soaked in sulfate and nitrate fertilizers due to run off from the various factory farms that line the Mississippi river, putting more in will certainly help the dead zones in the gulf :eyes: Plus since this article is riddled with spelling errors, I wouldn't take it as "expert")

[BeFree]

24. Awwwright!!

See, BP is doing us a favor..... there was that dead zone full of nitrates and stuff, and now with lots of food for the little bugs, they can eat up the dead zone and the oil too!

What a grand experiment we are all alive to witness!!

[laylah]

25. Maybe s/he pulled it from hope.

I have NO idea of the technical workings of all of this, I just know I am PISSED and discouraged because our government keeps giving these rapers passes. That said, may I please repeat myself, maybe the poster was posting from hope?

jenn

[Javaman]

26. You know what they say about hope and reality right?

Hope may bring reality, but reality never brings hope.

[Juneboarder]

21. Not only will they be very large...

they'll also have 3 eyes and maybe even a pair of legs... yummy!

:sarcasm:

[GliderGuider]

4. "more than one-fifth of the oil"

This is based on BP's stated flow rate of 5,000 bpd. Do we believe them? If the rate is actually 20,000 bpd then their recovery of 1000 bpd is only 5% of the flow. If it's 70,000 bpd as some estimates have said, then it's only 1.5% of the escaping oil.

[complain jane]

23. Next Up: Crazy Straws

[Scruffy1]

5. one thousand gallonns is no one fifth

The true size of this leak is at a minimum of 25,000 barrels a day and 50,000 barrels a day is a better approximation. Once the videos were released the flow is easy to calculate by anyone with junior high math skills. We always knew that the 5,000 barrels a day number was wrong. To five you an approximation a 3 inch pipe could deliver this amount under less than 200psi, and of course volume increases by the square of the square of the pressure and the diameter increases by the square of the radius. The mainstream media is still pushing this number that no one in the industry believed. Dr. McDonalds earlier estimate of 25,000 barrels a day was based on satellite photos and he couldn't view the oil that is suspended at different levels. On such formation is ten miles long and three miles wide. Do the math. Just one square mile by one foot thick is about 150 million gallons or about 3.5 million barrels. We'll need more info on these to get a better approximation. But any way you look at it that 1000 gallons a day is not going to effect the disaster much.
The main thing two remembr is that it can't be cleaned up. Only about 8% of the Exxon Valdiz spill was cleaned up. All those birds people are washing will die anyhow so it would be more humane to euthanize them. I also suspect that the dispersants they are using will have a very bad effect on Marine Life, BYE_BYE GULF OF MEXICO>

[Bragi]

7. Of course it will spread into major currents

Media reports of this disaster keep suggesting that bad shit from this blowout "may" occur, and may be "worrisome".

Well then, here's an update for everyone: the Gulf will be deeply damaged for a long time after this blowout, and this is just the first such blowout. There will be more.

If we want to be honest, we should accept the notion that the decision to allow for the extraction of oil deep from the oceans signals the death-knell for our oceans as we have known them.

With continued oil extraction, the oceans and much of our ocean shorelines will eventually be fouled by a series of what will no doubt be described by media, politicians and oil industry types as "unexpected" and "one-off" disasters.

If the carbon industry was honest, it would level with people and begin to talk about what we need to do after the oceans are destroyed by carbon extraction.

But the carbon industry didn't get where it is today being honest, nor do people around the world appear to have any appetite for honestly addressing what would have to happen to avoid the catastrophe that awaits us on land and sea.

Have a nice day! : )

[snooper2]

9. So maybe it will reach Rush's house...

Bet pig fucker changes his tune if that happens...

[florida08]

10. Does anyone know if a flare stack

was being used on this rig?

[IScreamSundays]

11. Oil Leak Siphon Working, but is it too Late?

Source: CBS

CBS/AP) Engineers finally figured out how to siphon some of the oil that has been spewing into the Gulf for almost a month, but it could be too late to stop the ooze from reaching a major ocean current that could carry it through the Florida Keys and up the East Coast.

After weeks of failed solutions, BP PLC crews on Sunday hooked up a mile-long tube to funnel the crude from a blown well into a tanker ship. However, millions of gallons of crude are already in the Gulf of Mexico.

A researcher told The Associated Press that computer models show the oil may have already seeped into a powerful water stream known as the loop current, which could propel it into the Atlantic Ocean. A boat is being sent later this week to collect samples and learn more.

"This can't be passed off as 'it's not going to be a problem,"' said William Hogarth, dean of the University of South Florida's College of Marine Science. "This is a very sensitive area. We are concerned with what happens in the Florida Keys."

snip>

Read more: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/05/17/national/main6491206.shtml?tag=stack

[no limit]

12. It's working? Wow, talk about a bullshit headline.

From BP's own estimates it is only picking up about 1/5th of the oil. Other estimates are much much smaller.

This isn't working by any stretch of the imagination.

[DURHAM D]

14. + 1000 nt

[stray cat]

13. Since oil is still pouring out - anything that slows it down is not too late

if it can reduce more damage - unless you assume the patient is dead and can not get deader

[tavalon]

20. I've been assuming that the patient is dead for about two weeks now

And yeah, more dead doesn't really matter. I'm wondering if this deadness is going to spread to the Atlantic.

[DrDan]

15. am I all wet about this - but has BP just figured out a way to recoup some costs

by siphoning some of this oil onto transfer ships - salvaging some of their oil profits.

[Robbien]

16. Sipping up a thousand barrels of oil

four weeks after 70,000 barrels a day has been spewing is just a sideshow. A small band-aid.

Where's the major operation to take care of the major problem?

[jimshoes]

18. Hey at $71.00 a bbl

they just recouped $71,000.00. This must make them giddy as young boys with their first playboy.

[damntexdem]

17. It's not that it's too late -- it's that it's not enough.

Even if it really does collect 1000 barrels of oil a day, that is a small portion of what is pouring into the Gulf.

[Owl]

19. Is there a new video that shows the pipe spewing even with the small pipe inserted?

[complain jane]

22. Wait what do you mean by "working"?

Maybe we should start by defining "working".