Sensors to calculate oil flow rate deployed

[IDemo]

Source: CNN

(CNN) -- Sensors to measure the pressure of oil gushing from the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico were being deployed Sunday to give the government a better idea of how much oil is flowing, according to the Obama administration's point man on the environmental disaster.

Researchers recently doubled estimates of how much oil has been flowing from the ruptured well, saying last week that up to 40,000 barrels -- or 1.7 million gallons -- a day may have leaked for weeks.

Sensors, Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen said, will be placed at the pipe and will help in estimating the flow rate.

"We actually are going to be deploying sensors down there today that will start taking pressure readings," Allen said Sunday on CBS's "Face the Nation."

Read more: http://edition.cnn.com/2010/US/06/13/gulf.oil.disaster/

[madrchsod]

1. well duh...better late than never....

[MannyGoldstein]

2. Should Have Been Done Day One

If you don't know what you're fighting, you can't plan and prepare.

More evidence that BP should not be in charge of fixing this.

[LisaL]

16. It does not make sense as to why it wasn't done from day one.

BP was giving out ridiculously low numbers and our government seem only too happy to agree with BP.

[sasquuatch55]

17. It's fucking bad; is knowing the flow going to change anything?

Just work on stopping the vent from hell!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[LisaL]

19. One would think that to stop the flow it might be kinda important

to know what the flow is. Laws of physics and all. One would also think that it's kind of important to know what the flow is to figure out how big the cleaning effort is going to be.
:eyes:

[dipsydoodle]

3. Must've read my post here yesterday

see reply #11 http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=389&topic_id=8546023#8546036

What I didn't know was how they could fit one.

[paparush]

4. That's some mighty fine government work there, Lou.

:sarcasm:

[highplainsdem]

5. Finally...

[Subdivisions]

6. What took 'em so fucking long? They could have done that in the twelve

hours after we all watched the riser pipe being cut off.

We have (so far) 26 ROV watching threads around here and not one post describes flow testing being installed by any one of those ROVs.

Now that the cap is on there with presumably (don't automatically believe BP's numbers) some of the oil being captured, they're finally going to test the flow. Pah!

[wordpix]

7. I like your BP icon, there---& I agree with your post but better late than never

[mike_c]

8. LOL-- I read the headline as "Senators to calculate oil flow rate deployed."

:rofl:

"Circle the GPS coordinates, and toss a Senator over the side every 500 meters!"

[IDemo]

10. Or, Big Oil campaign money flow rate

In which case they had better be some heavy duty meters..

[FailureToCommunicate]

12. "mark twain!"

[Stuart G]

9. More than 50 days in...what took so long????..well, maybe it was not

in BP's interest to use sensors so they didn't use them...

I am truly shocked... :sarcasm:

[meow mix]

11. couple months later, thanks for gettin around to it

coast guard my ass... bp guard.

[FailureToCommunicate]

13. This seems like a speed check on the horses running from the barn. Who cares?

The damage is catastrophic. This specific info will come back to haunt the government. BP will claim in later lawsuits "Well, by the gov.t's own estimates, it was only ..."

[LisaL]

15. Only what? I think it's a safe bet the flow rate is going to be much

larger then the numbers thrown around now, which should only help in case of lawsuits.

[LisaL]

14. Oh my goodness. And to think it only toook fifty some days.

[obxhead]

18. gee, really.

for fucks sake. How can they even expect to engineer a proper capture device if they are unsure of the pressure of the blow out.

I call BS. They know down to a very small number how much and at what pressure this well is spewing. BP has and will continue to lie and the Obama administration is facilitating it.

[LisaL]

20. Since none of their efforts worked well so far, I wouldn't be

so sure BP has an actual clue as to what the flow really is.
Obviously their capping devise isn't catching all of the oil, and I bet even most of the oil, despite them making claims they are able to catch the majority of the oil.

[obxhead]

21. They may not have an exact measure, but I'm sure they have a

better idea than their claims of ignorance on it. They had to know pressures down there as they were drilling and surely they had to know as they were plugging that well before it all went up in a ball of fire.

[hayu_lol]

22. I've read someplace that the fine, per barrel, is around...

$1000 each. It was to BP's benefit to reduce those barrels to a minimum.

[obxhead]

23. I'm not sure what it is. Numbers range from 300 to 4600

a barrel. I've also heard only oil that makes it to shore is actually fined. To be perfectly honest I've not spent 1 second looking into the facts on the issue as I know they will never be fined close to the proper amount.

Thing is, Obama can rant and rave about all he will do to make BP pay, when in truth it will be held up in court until long after Obama has retired and is living the good life.