BP begins retrieving old BOP evidence for DOJ (Or, criminals to turn in own murder weapons)

[seafan]

Suddenly, the much-anticipated regular public updates on the permanent kill of the Macondo Well have slipped off the radar.


Just what is going on as of today?


Meanwhile, over the summer, the story has changed daily from:


'The Red Adair of relief well drilling says 'no doubt about successful outcome' (7-11-10)



July 15: Provisional cap halts oil leak


to 'BP relief well within 100 feet of goal' (8-10-10)


to '30 feet left to drill' (8-10-10)


to 'drilling expected to be complete in 4 days' (8-12-10)


to 'BP May Not Need to Finish Drilling Relief Well, Allen Says' (8-13-10)


to Allen:'The relief well will be finished.' (8-15-10)



Ow, the whiplash.



to 'Man drilling relief well has perfect record' (8-16-10)


to 'Pressure worries stall relief well' (8-17-10)


to 'Feds: No timeline for completing Gulf relief well' (8-18-10)


to 'New blowout preventer to precede the final act' (8-19-10)


to ''Bottom kill' of BP's Gulf well now put off till after Labor Day' (8-19-10)



And, in today's news:


With pressure tests deemed successful, BP goes 'fishing' for lost pipe' (8-22-10)

By Rebecca Mowbray
The Times-Picayune

August 22, 2010

After declaring the latest pressure tests on its damaged Macondo well a success, BP on Saturday began looking for a mystery piece of drill pipe that is believed to be stuck in the well's blowout preventer.

.....

With the pressure tests deemed successful, Allen authorized BP in a letter late Friday to find and remove a piece of drill pipe that's stuck somewhere in the well, possibly in the blowout preventer.

The pipe was discovered in June when BP, preparing to cap the well, cut a piece of equipment called a riser, which guides the drill pipe into the well. Officials were surprised to discover two pieces of pipe where they expected to find one.

By the time a sealing cap was installed last month, however, one of the pipes -- believed to be 3,500 feet long -- had disappeared.

.....

Because BP doesn't know what it will find in its "fishing" expedition, BP spokesman Bill Salvin said the company sent 13 baskets of tools down into the ocean so the robots, known as "remotely operated vehicles," or ROVs, will have everything they may at their disposal.

With so little information about exactly where the pipe is, how it's stuck or whether it's lodged in cement, BP has no idea how long it will take to get it out.

"It could go very quickly, it could go a long time," Salvin said.

Ah, the ubiquitous BP disclaimer, stealing more time... And somewhere in those 13 baskets of tools is surely enough equipment to dismantle any annoying, *lingering evidence*.

Oooops. No evidence here.

Meanwhile, the video cameras on the ROVs -- which for two months delivered footage of black oil billowing out of the well to a fascinated worldwide audience -- flashed back to life Saturday morning as the fishing expedition began. The cameras had gone dark after the oil stopped flowing in July.

But the most interesting camera -- the one on the ROV that is actually going down into the well to look for the lost pipe -- was not available on BP's website Saturday.
Salvin said the camera is working, but the company was having problems getting it to stream over the Internet.

How convenient.

Allen's letter authorizing the fishing procedure also instructs BP to preserve the blowout preventer, capping stack and any other equipment it removes from the well and turn it over as evidence to officials with the U.S. Department of Justice. The company also is supposed to preserve the ROV footage of the removal efforts.

Allen also instructed BP to submit plans today for exactly how it will remove the blowout preventer and capping stack, as well as how it will deal with problems that may arise. Allen asked BP to make sure that Transocean Ltd., the company that owns the rig; Cameron International, the company that built the blowout preventer; and other parties with an interest in the evidence, agree with the plans.

A dozen justice officials were at the well site Saturday observing the work, Salvin said. The Justice Department did not respond Saturday to an inquiry about what agencies or entities were represented among the observers.

"They're prepared to take custody of any equipment," Salvin said.

.....

(bold type addded)


That is, if BP *can find any* evidence...... These people must take us for fools.



Throughout all of this time, since the Deepwater Horizon blowout on April 20, 2010:

BP accused of withholding data on blast, August 19, 2010

BP refusing to share basic data with government, August 19, 2010 (Hat tip to DUer nashville_brook)







Does anyone else think that expecting BP to preserve and hand over evidence of their own crimes to DOJ is about as likely as pigs are to fly?


It amounts to asking a murderer to bring in the murder weapon to the police station, if he doesn't mind, since they are a bit short-staffed with the investigation.




Why BP's assets were not seized by late spring, placed into receivership and US government-chosen independent experts called in to take over operations, is an obscenity.

[jaxx]

1. The drill pipe is out.

http://www.bp.com/liveassets/bp_internet/globalbp/globalbp_uk_english/incident_response/STAGING/local_assets/html/Enterprise_ROV_1.html

[seafan]

2. August 23, 2010 Gulf of Mexico update

Fishing For Pipe Continues As BP Moves To Permanently Kill Well


By Mark Peters, Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
August 23, 2010

BP PLC (BP, BP.LN) continued to try and remove a drilling pipe from a ruptured deepwater well Monday as the British oil giant moves to permanently kill it.

Ret. Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen said during a conference call that BP is in the third day of a "fishing" operation to remove the piping from a blowout preventer on the ocean floor that was supposed to shut down the well in case of emergency. The U.S. government has asked BP to come up with a plan to remove the blowout preventer with the piping still in it if the fishing operation doesn't succeed. BP and government officials will meet later Monday to discuss whether the pipe can be removed, and if not, what the next step would be, Allen said.

"We hoped to have this done in about three days, and we're almost at the end of three days," he said.

Bringing to the surface about 3,000 feet of pipe is the latest step as BP works to permanently end the deepwater spill. The well stopped leaking oil in mid-July when a sealing cap was place on top of it, and then a cement plug was put into place in early August.

.....

Meanwhile Thad Allen pens a defensive-sounding article in the Washington Post titled, 'The BP oil spill: An unprecedented response'.