Amount of Spilling Oil Could Soar, BP Admits

[Frank Booth]

Source: NY Times

WASHINGTON — In a closed-door briefing for members of Congress, a senior BP executive conceded Tuesday that the ruptured oil well in the Gulf of Mexico could conceivably spill as much as 60,000 barrels a day of oil, more than 10 times the estimate of the current flow.

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The Senate energy committee has summoned executives from BP and Transocean Ltd., the rig operator, as well as a number of oil industry technical experts to a hearing next week. The next day, the oversight and investigations subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee will hold a hearing, to which top executives of BP, Transocean and Halliburton have been asked to appear, a committee spokeswoman said.

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At the briefing, Mr. Rainey and officials from Transocean and from Halliburton, which was providing cementing services on the platform, also acknowledged that they did not know how likely it was that oil from the spill would be caught up in the so-called loop currents in the gulf and be carried through the Florida Keys into the Atlantic Ocean. “What we heard today from BP, Halliburton and Transocean were a lot of worst-case scenarios without any best-case solutions,” said Representative Edward J. Markey, Democrat of Massachusetts, who leads the Energy and Environment Subcommittee of the House energy panel.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/05/us/05spill.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&src=ig

[flamingdem]

1. What can we do? At a minimum we have to stop all drilling nt

[Frank Booth]

2. The government should be hiring and training people right now for the clean-up efforts.

It's going to be a massive job, there are plenty of unemployed people who would love to be working, and there are soon to be many more since this oil spill is decimating the fishing industry. The oil companies need to pay in the end, but right now the most important thing is trying to fix this debacle as much as possible.

[SpaceEagle]

9. Re: The government should be hiring and training people right now for the clean-up efforts.

BP should be paying to hire and train people for the clean-up efforts. They have the knowledge of the oil and technology. They should be made to pay environmentalists and animal specialists to be sure that the methods they employ will be safe and satisfactory as well. If the fossil fuel corporations were held accountable and made to pay for the clean up of their messes, perhaps they would make wiser choices about production in the future. The government should be passing and enforcing laws to make the corporations comply.

[Frank Booth]

11. Good luck waiting for BP, and good luck waiting for congress to pass those laws.

I agree BP needs to pay, but the environment doesn't have time to wait for the finances to be worked out.

[SpaceEagle]

8. Stop Drilling

We NEED to stop drilling in the oceans and waterways. Drilling is bad enough on land. The sensible thing to do would be to start shifting to alternative energy sources as quickly as possible and gradually reduce the use of fossil fuels until they are no longer needed. Fossil fuel production and use is deadly to those who mine or refine the fuels as well as those who use the fuels and those who are near those who make or use the fuels.

[Dumak]

3. They have had more than enough time to stop the oil.

They're trying to stop it without damaging it - at the expensive of the environment. The military should step in and blow it all up.

[flamingdem]

4. Has there been talk of a way to stop it that would close it permanantly? nt

[Webster Green]

5. Unfortunately, blowing shit up isn't always the best solution.

I now that's contrary to everything we've been told, but in this case, (like many others), "blowing it all up" may make things much worse. :think:

[SpaceEagle]

7. Capping the hole

You have to cap the hole or the oil will keep pouring out. Blowing it up won't help. Violence isn't the answer in this case as it isn't in most.

[Chulanowa]

10. ...Wait, what?

Blow it all up?

Christ. The internet reveals its true nature once again.

[Uncle Joe]

19. I believe you give that poster too much credit as being representative of the entire Internet,

you, me and every other poster form that "true nature" as well.

[14thColony]

13. When you blow up a hole

It tends to make a bigger hole.

[Javaman]

15. Um,,,yeah. about that...

So what do you suppose you use at that kind of depth?

As one of the surviving oil rig ops stated, "the pressure down there is about 30,000 pounds per square inch".

a stick of dynamite would look like a firecracker if were were lucky.

[Dumak]

16. The technique has been used before

By Russia:
http://trueslant.com/juliaioffe/2010/05/04/nuke-that-slick/

But rather than nuke it, perhaps conventional explosives are powerful enough - using a very heavy, fast bomb that can penetrate the ground at a distance from the well. Strong enough to collapse the channel, but not obliterate it entirely.

[SpaceEagle]

6. Drill Baby Drill!

Drill Baby Drill!

If you like it, please add me on YouTube and rate the video.

Drill Baby Drill
by Cal Jennings

Drill baby drill!
Oh what a thrill!
Look at everything we can kill!

Oil price will shoot
Through the roof
Invest in fish
And you can't goof

Get rich!
Republicans we'll get rich!
Who cares about food?
We're all gonna get rich

Poor people passing
Out on the floor
They can't afford to eat no more
We'll take their houses
And their land
Oh my fellas won't it be grand!

Get rich!
Republicans we'll get rich!
Who cares about food?
We're all gonna get rich

Copyright © 2010 Cal Jennings

[flyarm]

12. On our West Coast Fla news tonight...there is a Federal cap on Liability but ..

there is no state cap on liability..and the Gov and state of Fla are keeping all options open to Sue Those responsible..they said if the oil gets in the Loop Current the oil will speed up very fast in moving through the gulf...and get to the Gulf Stream..that will be devistating.

[DCBob]

14. I suspect they are concerned the wellhead is about to blow..

Just the fact they are throwing those "worst case" numbers out there now probably means they think its very likely to happen.

[Prometheus Bound]

17. No need to worry. Everything's going to be fine.

I predict the oil well leak will be 100% shut off in the next two weeks!
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x8275267#8275687

Re: Oil Spill. I think everything is going to be OK
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x8274275

[Blandocyte]

18. Paging Dr. Benton C. Quest and Race Bannon!

Help!