The Gulf of Mexico oil spill is still getting bigger and officials within the government say the ruptured well might be spewing five times more crude that was estimated at first. The coast guard had a news conference late Wednesday night as strategies to stop the leak failed. Rear Adm. Mary E. Landry told reporters the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration had revised its previous estimate of the leak from 1,000 barrels a day to 5,000. There is experimenting with burning the oil slick going on with cleanup crews working on the oil spill. Weather reports indicate the oil spill could reach the gulf coast of Louisiana by Friday night. Landry said the US military could be called for assistance as the crisis escalates, which would cost a lot of money today.
Gulf coast oil spill accelerating
The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has been spreading given that April 20 when a drilling rig leased by BP exploded and sank about 50 miles off the Louisiana coast, leaving 11 workers missing and presumed dead. It was originally thought the oil was issuing from two leaks in the riser, a 5,000-foot-long pipe leading from the rig to the wellhead on the ocean floor. Doug Suttles, chief operating officer for exploration for BP, said a new lead was discovered according to The New York Times. The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, stretching about 100 miles across, had advanced to 16 miles offshore Wednesday, closing in on the Mississippi River Delta.
Gulf coast oil spill estimates
Scientists are eyeballing video feeds from remote submersibles to estimate output of the leaks in the riser. “That takes a practiced eye,” said Doug Helton in an e-mail message to the New York Times Wednesday night. “Like being able to look at a garden hose and judge how many gallons a minute are being discharged. The surface approach is to measure the area of the slick, the percent cover, and then estimate the thickness based on some rough color codes.” The majority of the slick is a thin sheen on the water’s surface, according to CNN. About 3 percent of it is a heavy, pudding like crude oil.
Fire oil slick
An oil slick fire is being tested to diminish damage to the shoreline from the oil spill within the Gulf of Mexico. BP and Coast Guard crew late Wednesday afternoon began an oil slick fire test 30 miles east of the Mississippi delta of the Mississippi river, as outlined by the Associated Press. . Ignited with hand held flares was the oil that was taken away from the main body of the spill. The Coast Guard expected the flames to vaporize between 50 percent to 90 percent of the oil in the boom. Prevailing winds were expected to blow the toxic black cloud of smoke and soot out to sea.
Oil Slick cleanup assistance by military
Since the slick within the Gulf of Mexico is continuing to spread, Thursday morning cleanup planners briefed chairman of the Joint Chiefs of staff, Adm. Michael Mullen, as outlined by CNN. The military is working on plans that could contain putting a ship within the Gulf to support and resupply cleanup vessels or provide aircraft to help map the spill. Also, there could be a supply base established on the coast for equipment and supplies for the cleanup of the oil, which appears to be a long term operation.
Gulf coast oil slick may spread for months
CNN reports that to stop the oil spill from spreading further, the NOAA said a rig will start drilling the first relief well a half mile from the disaster site on Friday. But the well, intended to stop up the gushing leak with concrete, mud or other heavy liquid, will take several months to complete. A shorter term solution that is expected to take two to four weeks is a dome lowered over the leak at the sea floor which routs leaking oil to a surface collection point. It is uncertain whether the dome technique would be effective. It hasn’t ever been tried so deep within the water.
The oil spill price tag for cleanup
. Oil industry officials say replacing the rig that exploded and sank could cost up to $ 700 million. BP said containing the oil spill will cost $ 6 million. The cost of the disaster continues to rise and is expected to exceed $ 1 billion.
Article Resources
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/29/us/29spill.html?pagewanted=2&ref=us
