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“At the current flow rate, it would take from two to nearly four years for all the oil to leak from the field if it can’t be stopped.”_________________
The public relations television campaign states that BP now means beyond petroleum no longer appears on air. British Petroleum inescapably and unremittingly is now linked as the culpable corporate criminal of the greatest man made environmental disaster of all time. As confusing as the catastrophe seems, no one can reasonably deny the danger the Gulf of Mexico region has already suffered. The only unanswered aspect is how much more damage will migrate from beyond the drilling blow out.
Two months after the offshore oil-drilling platform Deepwater Horizon exploded, the initial report has no specific knowledge of what happened or if it was even a blowout. How much has changed since April 20th. The counting day clock is reminiscent of the CBS Walter Cronkite Iranian hostage countdown. The “Most Trusted Man in America” image died well before his passing. Replacing the naive belief in the accuracy of media reporting, today’s public relations spin is equal to the depth of the wellhead.
FACT: all attempts to cap the flow have failed.
This is no oil spill; it is a gusher. Previously, the largest known ‘wildcat’ oil gusher blew near Qom, Iran on August 26, 1956. The uncontrolled oil gushed at a rate of 120,000 barrels per day. The gusher was closed after 90 days’ work by Bagher Mostofi and Myron Kinley (USA). How long will it take to tame this wildcat or can it even be subdued?
The Christian Science Monitor states,
“Appearing before a House subcommittee, (BP executive) Hayward estimated that the reservoir tapped by the out-of-control well holds at least 50 million barrels of oil. At 42 gallons per barrel, that’s 2.1 billion gallons. According to government estimates of daily flow figures, anywhere from 73.5 million to 126 million gallons gushed from the breached wellhead — whether into the water or captured. That means the reservoir likely holds 94 to 97 percent of its oil. At the current flow rate, it would take from two to nearly four years for all the oil to leak from the field if it can’t be stopped.”
Do the math . . . the critical concern is HOW to plug the leak and STOP the continued flow. Now begins the tangible dilemma. With all the failed attempts and varied methods already tried, has the task become unfeasible? Mother Nature will ultimately heal herself, but can BP or the Obama administration help this process or are they increasing the risk to humanity and the environment with their secretive damage control techniques?
A lock down mode in the Gulf even has mainstream media screaming for access. MSNBC recently reported about an underwater blowout and the failure of the well casing. Florida Senator Bill Nelson reports oil seeping up from the seabed implying that the well casing may be pierced. CNN interviewed BP’s Chief Operating Officer Doug Suttles who acknowledged that BP’s data indicates that BP can’t cap the leaking oil, or it might cause the well casing to blow out. Suttles denies that there is evidence that the well casing has already blown out beneath the sea floor. The contrary assessment between Senator Nelson and BP Suttles illustrates the lack of disclosure of what is really going on over a mile deep. The BP high definition images on the internet avoid any mention that oil is pouring out in multiple locations.
The oil emanating from the seafloor contains about 40 percent methane, compared with about 5 percent found in typical oil deposits, said John Kessler, a Texas A&M University oceanographer who is studying the impact of methane from the spill.
That means huge quantities of methane have entered the Gulf, scientists say, potentially suffocating marine life and creating “dead zones” where oxygen is so depleted that nothing lives.
“This is the most vigorous methane eruption in modern human history,” Kessler said.
As bad as an environmental dead zone would be, the impending danger from an explosion is unthinkable. Terrence Aym writes on the Helium site: “Current engineering technology cannot contain gas that is pressurized to 100,000 psi.”
“With the emerging evidence of fissures, the quiet fear now is the methane bubble rupturing the seabed and exploding into the Gulf waters. If the bubble escapes, every ship, drilling rig and structure within the region of the bubble will instantaneously sink. All the workers, engineers, Coast Guard personnel and marine biologists measuring the oil plumes’ advance will instantly perish.
The burgeoning methane gas cloud will surface, killing everything it touches, and set off a supersonic tsunami with the wave traveling somewhere between 400 to 600 miles per hour.
While the entire Gulf coastline is vulnerable, the state most exposed to the fury of a supersonic wave towering 150 to 200 feet or more is Florida. The Sunshine State only averages about 100 feet above sea level with much of the coastline and lowlands and swamps near zero elevation.”
Is this the real reason why so much of the Gulf of Mexico is now off limit for ships and aircraft flyover? So what is the solution? Matt Simmons latest dramatic interview on Bloomberg proposes that a small-bore nuclear device is the only way to seal the oil column. He dispels the vaunted hope of relief well drillings because the casing is extensively damaged or destroyed.
Dr. Bill Deagle provides a valuable YouTube summary,
VOLCANIC TSUNAMI AND POISON GAS ALERT. Viewing this account explains the full impact and future risks from this calamity.
Considering the record of British Petroleum and the history that shaped UK political policy especially in the creation of Iraq, it would not be surprising that the American gulf would be any different from that in the Middle East. As for US governmental intentions, who can deny that the Obama administration is less concerned with stopping the oil flow than capitalizing on their deception for pushing another attempt to pass “Cap and Tax” legislation.
Bill Randall, a North Carolina Republican candidate for Congress is calling for a “thorough investigation” into whether President Barack Obama’s administration colluded with BP to allow the Gulf oil spill.
“There were procedures that were violated by BP that the federal government signed off on, safeguards that decades of engineering wherewithal and knowledge told them that this way the way to do it,” Randall told reporters earlier this week. “They intentionally bypassed that and the safety was compromised.”
The blame game will undoubtedly follow for political theater, while the oil keeps gushing from the seabed.
For an even more sinister viewpoint, Alex Thomas & Shepard Ambellas write, “British Petroleum has openly admitted that they have used at least 1,021,000 gallons of dispersant in the Gulf of Mexico. The active ingredient in this pesticide is a known neurotoxin that is acutely toxic to both human and aquatic life, causes cancer, and causes damage to internal organs such as the liver and kidneys simply by absorbing it through the skin and may even cause reproductive side effects.”
Their conclusion, “The EPA and British Petroleum are knowingly causing this oil spill to be potentially one hundred times worse and are participating it what can only be described as a chemical attack on the Gulf region.”
Is the BP oil disaster a predictable accident with absence of malice or is it being used as a “Seamy Green” opportunity to transform the energy economy into a hybrid limitation on prosperity? Neither is mutually exclusive, but the lack of a rational, timely and coordinated response for stopping the oil flow is visible for all to see. Greed, arrogance and ignorance steer this fiasco. Time is running out before an irreversible escalation overtakes, causing even more harm that fines will never repair.
Alternative energy replacement for the numerous uses of petroleum is preposterous. Halting drilling or failing to implement strict safety standards and methods might just be the lasting consequence of this tragic debacle. British Petroleum’s survival will not be found in – beyond petroleum. BP needs to retool into a responsible steward of the environment and the public trust.
SARTRE – June 20, 2010
James Hall
(585) 534-5581
(585) 210-8764
PO Box 657
Naples, NY 14512
The PPJ Gazette 
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