From day of the explosion of the BP transocean rig, when the “news” was reporting President Obama should have been out there at that moment, to one of the latest ideas of using a nuke to blow it all up, there have been hundreds of very stupid statements made. Some innocently due to simply not knowing any different, to some very rude and hateful comments made that has done no one any good at all.
First of all it took at a minimum of 3 days to handle the initial explosion with fire and emergency rescue efforts. When a disaster happens on a drilling rig, ONLY experienced professional industry personnel are allowed near it, and that is totally for safety sake. There is no way anyone NOT associated with BP or the rescue folks could be allowed on site. The main concern was to get a count on those killed and those still alive… this included transporting 126 off of the rig and out of the water as fast as possible, including those injured, not easily done when forced to use boats and helicopters in getting all of them back to land. The next large concern was getting the fire out and assessing the damage…. Time had to be taken to find out what they were dealing with, and preventing further danger to the people involved who had to go a mile under to assess the situation after the remnants of the rig sank. With the ensuing pressure coming from the free flowing gusher, this was not as easy as it sounds. It would be similar to placing a cap on a volcano. Then came the task of many practical matters such as allowing structures to settle, and lowering lights so they could even see what to do first. It is black and dark one mile under the surface of the water. Oil and natural gas is spewing outward and upward at alarming pressures.
If you don’t know by now, the same day the accident happened, our government was on the job in Washington DC, gathering information and getting a plan in place to help with what and where it could.
Why couldn’t it just be turned off or capped immediately? To put this in as simple of terms as possible, you cannot imagine the pressure they are dealing with, not to mention currents, twisted equipment and pipes laying on top of each other and the areas they needed access to. It has taken weeks to even get to the point where they could begin to actually think about what “could” be done to stop the flow.
Why did it happen? There are a few various theory’s and the final answer probably will not be found for years….. There is no doubt it was a combination of human error, and equipment failure. I will not question it for now……
In our “instant satisfaction, all for me society” it is understandable that we want answers and we want them now and we want this fixed immediately! Well, I really am sorry but it’s not going to happen that way.
There have been suggestions of sinking a sub or battleship on top of the mess to stop it, there have been suggestions of shooting fishing weights or bb’s down the hole to compress it, and one of the most ridiculous was to blow it up with a nuclear bomb…. Also to use a giant screw, and the best one yet, filling it full of oil eating worms…. Oh yes, and calling out the entire Navy that first week. Can’t you see it now with thousands of ships out there running into each other, every one of 10,000 people not knowing what each other is doing? It would have been only another disaster in the making……
Ignoring the suggestions they know will NOT work, there are hundreds trying to come up with ideas that WILL work. Trust is hard to come by but oilfield people have the best chance with even a slight possibility of getting the answers, and they are working day and night to come up with a way. That is not to say there is not other intelligent people working on it, great minds from all corners of the world are trying to figure it out.
They know for sure the probably only and for sure the best way to stop this is by drilling a relief well…. That IS going to take time, (approximately two months). In the meantime, attempt after attempt using various, practical ideas are being tried, none of them with any guarantee. Each of us set by helplessly wishing it would just stop. They know that with every passing moment millions of gallons more of oil is escaping to ruin our lands and no one wants it stopped worse than those who are directly involved and have to accept the blame. With each failure the public is becoming more and more restless, spewing more and more hatred, and only further damaging the efforts thru wasting time criticizing while not having any better ideas of there own, and those who do not understand the complexities of it or respecting the ones who are trying to solve the problem.
One rumor that needs to stop being repeated, No BP is not going to produce this well just to make money from it. This well is gone, done and over with, end of story. In years to come the area, zones and the central location may produce a controllable well, but it won’t be this one, so if you think they’re only trying to capture the spewing oil or gas you are totally misinformed. If they CAN capture enough oil to realize a profit from, they will have enough debt for clean up operations there won’t be any going into any executive’s pocket.
Being the forever optimist, (even on bad days) I am choosing to find some good things about this whole episode.
Finally, the American public will learn some things about what allows their lifestyle. It has always been a contention of mine that very few people have ever taken time to learn about the oil industry from the time the first Drake well was drilled to how it’s grown in technology over the past 141 years. The very industry that provides the life style we’ve become accustomed to…..warmth, shelter, water, transportation, and the hundreds of items associated with those necessities. From plastics to lubricants, and from clothes to tires, we have what we need and want due to the efforts of the oil industry. This cannot come to an end until we find a different method of providing those things from a different source.
This may be what will at last bring us an answer to that. We have already developed some methods thru solar, wind, biofuels, etc…. but that is not enough and they are not the whole answer. Hopefully the great minds of the world will find something sooner rather than later….
This could be the answer to “peak oil”… Since it’s been stated by many more apt than I, we are running out. Is there a possibility that they have tapped into a source that will provide enough of it so we won’t have to worry about running out in the next few critical years until we find a better solution? Probably not but it's a nice thought.
I read a statistic the other day that said the amount of oil gushing from this well is only 3% of what the United States uses in one day.
New technology could be discovered as a result of this accident. Some processes that have never been tried before are being completed. Already they are working with applications that are new at these depths…..
Tighter regulations are already being put into place. If you’re unsure of some of the regulations an oil field company or related company must fail, just ask….. It’s nearly impossible to get a permit or contract now, after this it will take more than any of us and only a select few in the industry has the resources to provide.
An appreciation of our amazing earth must be taken into account and give us hope we all need right now. I can take you to places where in the early days and of times not that long ago where oil was spilled and the land was blemished and you would not know unless I told you that an oil well or rig was ever there. Our earth has an ability to heal itself that is beyond our understanding.
I hope this series of posts will give a little hope to some of you who are terribly upset right now and full of fear over how this is being handled. It is very sad and it’s a horrible disaster and black mark against the oil industry….but should not be taken as a whole. There are many good companies and good people who do everything the way they’re supposed to in order to give us what we as a nation have asked for. Try not to blame all of us for the results of one. I ask only that the on going efforts to correct this disaster are recognized and that no further lives will be ruined because of it.
I will continue to write about my association with and admiration of the oil industry as thoughts fill my mind or as new information becomes available…. Both from history and the current situation.
4 comments:
I've been thinking of you guys throughout this, wondering how it hit home with you, knowing you have the inside, personal view of something we take for granted: our modern lifestyle.
It's all very overwhelming - especially for the young ones. I hear about it from the grade school kids to the twenty-somethings, many of whom already feel pretty bleak about their future/the earth's future.
This is a powerful, powerful wake-up moment. Will we do it - yet?
Our modern advances don't include thorough long-term management for potential disasters whether it's oil rigs, nuclear power stations on fault lines or management of nuclear waste. We can only hope this level of disaster will cause some reflection and action, 'cuz this is bad, but there is potentially so much worse - just ticking out there.
Thanks for educating us some on the inner workings of it all - along with reminding us that we ALL are a part of the inner workings - with every plastic thing we own, with every bit of food we eat [unless it grew in our own garden], with every mile of transportation other than our feet.
Somehow we have to move forward and help the kids know it's possible. Those young ones who are aware are pretty discouraged - You know, to them it's all about the animals and the planet. Harder to grasp about the people, the jobs etc. when you're 9. Hopelessness is too easy. We've got to lead them forward. Thanks for your part.
Thanks for replying to this ep... one thing for sure we cannot stray away from uncomfortable topics. There are awesome live feeds from the operations this morning, every school class room should be watching this..... Here is a direct web address in case anyone is having problems finding it.
http://www.bp.com/liveassets/bp_internet/globalbp/globalbp_uk_english/incident_response/STAGING/local_assets/html/OceanInterventionROV2.html
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