With the failure of a 100-ton box meant to capture oil leaking in the Gulf of Mexico, BP is searching for a new solution. The possibilities include using a smaller box that would be less likely to clog when the oil mixes with cold water and “injecting a solid rubbery and fibrous material” into the well to clog the leak, the Los Angeles Times reports.
BP is scrambling to stop the leak of about 5,000 barrels a day that started April 20 when a rig off the Louisiana coast exploded, killing 11 workers. The spill has reached the border islands near the mouth of the Mississippi River, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has cleaned oil from two seabirds so far.
The effects of the spill’s fumes are also being felt along the Gulf Coast. Louisiana health officials have received dozens of reports of foul smells, nausea and irritated eyes, with complaints coming from as far away as New Orleans. The Environmental Protection Agency is posting hourly updates on the air quality near the coast. Oil gives off compounds that produce ozone, and the Coast Guard’s burning of oil slicks is causing soot in the air. Officials don’t know what the full effects on air quality will be.
As the Gulf Coast braces itself for the slick making its way across the gulf, BP is trying to shift blame to the exploded rig’s owner, Transocean. BP CEO Tony Hayward told the Houston Chronicle that Transocean was responsible for the rig and the well and that its blowout preventer should have worked. But according to industry analysts, BP will have trouble escaping legal responsibility and will have to prove that something Transocean did — or didn’t do — led to the explosion.
The Wall Street Journal scrutinized Transocean’s safety record, finding that a merger in late 2007 may have led to a serious decline in its safety standards. Between 2005 and 2007, the company’s rigs were involved in 33 percent of all deep-water drilling incidents in the Gulf investigated by the U.S. Minerals Management Service. That figure is about the same as the percentage of deep-water rigs owned and operated by Transocean in the Gulf at the time. After expanding in late 2007, Transocean’s share of the incidents investigated by the Minerals Management Service jumped to 73 percent.
Transocean denies fault in last month’s explosion, and investigators haven’t identified the cause.
BP has no earthly idea how to shut this off. They are playing Three Dome Monty with us, scrambling for answers which should have been thought of in a contingency plan BEFORE THEY STARTED DRILLING IN A MILE DEEP OF WATER! Check all the skinny on Black Gulf
My idea on how to stop the leak.
1. Lower 10′ high steel box with no top around broken vent.
2. Lower much larger 15′ high box around first box.
3. Fill area between two boxes ( up to height of 10′) with cement that hardens under water.
4. Once cement is cured, fill small box with matterial which could be medium rocks, large ball bearings etc. to block most of flow.
5. Fill remaining space in boxes with cement
6 When all is cured more weights/cement can be added over the area for perminent seal.
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My idea on how to stop the leak.
1. Lower 10′ high steel box with no top around broken vent.
2. Lower much larger 15′ high box around first box.
3. Fill area between two boxes ( up to height of 10′) with cement that hardens under water.
4. Once cement is cured, fill small box with matterial which could be medium rocks, large ball bearings etc. to block most of flow.
5. Fill remaining space in boxes with cement
6 When all is cured more weights/cement can be added over the area for perminent seal.
If #4 does not stop leak, have a heavy steel lid slide on top of inner box. Could be done by robot.
B.P could build a 400 ft long auger that fits inside the leaking well. Then they could lower the auger down in side the well. After the auger is in place they would pump cement down the center pipe of the auger, cement will come out below the flights of the auger, inside the well. The flights may help hold the cement down the well so B.Ps top kill process may work.