Oil Leak at Gulf of Mexico Oil Well

[Luke_Wilbur]

'Zen: I think you meant "And BP states it's between 55,000 and 100,000 BARRELS a day."

 

LOL at your comment DC Danny!!!

Although, this issue is not funny at all.

 

At this point

 

I do not believe the most of our leaders about how much oil is leaking into the Gulf.

I do not believe the Federal or State governments had a good working plan.

I do not believe the Coast Guard and NOAA did not have enough fire boom in place when the incident occurred.

I do not believe the BP or the Obama Administration is giving full access to the media.

I do not believe the EPA about the toxicity of dispersants.

I do not believe that BP is paying all claims.

 

Through Public Pressure.

 

I do believe that BP is in charge of stopping the leak.

I do believe the mess is slowly getting better.

I do believe that volunteers are doing their best.

I do believe that people all over the world had brilliant ideas on how to stop the leak and remove the oil.

[Guest Matt Bruno]

I agree....I don't think that we are getting the full story...and I think that BP should be required to pay for its crimes.

 

...just my two cents, though...

 

Matt

[Guest Brad Woodhouse]

 

For weeks, Republicans have been tripping over each other as they rush to defend BP. They've apologized to the oil giant, accused the President of a shakedown, and called for deregulation of the oil and gas industry. It's as if they've forgotten that they have a responsibility to the people of the Gulf who've seen their lives and livelihoods upended by this tragedy.

 

Rep. Joe Barton apologized to BP and called the victim relief fund a "tragedy." Rep. Steve King agreed, and went on talk radio to say "I think Joe Barton was spot on." Rep. Michelle Bachman said that BP shouldn't agree to be "fleeced." Rand Paul -- the GOP nominee for Senate in Kentucky -- said that President Obama's efforts to hold BP accountable were "un-American." And Sharron Angle -- the Republican Senate nominee in Nevada -- even said her solution to the energy crisis was to "deregulate" big oil.

 

You might think that a company responsible for the worst environmental disaster in American history wouldn't have many friends in Washington. But for BP, that's just not the case.

 

We need to make sure that the American people know which side the GOP is on. Will you check out our new site and share it with five others?

 

http://www.bprepublicans.com/

[Guest American4Progress]

BUSINESS -- BP CONTRACTOR: 'WHAT THIS COMPANY IS DOING TO THIS COUNTRY RIGHT NOW IS JUST WRONG': A former contractor has come forward to denounce oil giant BP and the "cutthroat individuals" running the oil disaster response. On Friday, contractor-turned-whistleblower Adam Dillon told New Orleans television station WDSU that he was fired "after taking photos that he believes were related to the use of dispersants and to the cleanup of the oil." As a BP liaison, he had rebuffed reporters' attempts to observe cleanup operations in Grand Isle, LA, in June, before being promoted to the BP Command Center near Houma, LA. At the command center, BP manages the private contractors who are running practically every aspect of the spill response. Dillon, a former U.S. Army Special Operations soldier, "has lost faith in the company in charge," stating that BP's "bottom line is just about money." "There are some very cutthroat individuals," he said. "They're not worried about cleaning up that spill as it is." He decided to go public because "he placed his oath to his country over and above any loyalty to BP," adding that "what this company is doing to this country right now is just wrong." Before he was fired, Dillon was "confined and interrogated for almost an hour." WDSU's Scott Walker will air more of his interview with Dillon tonight. His troubling firsthand account joins other reports from the likes of wives of Gulf Coast fisherman and independent scientists who are breaking the media blackout on BP's private army of contractors.

[Guest Fedup]

Now the truth...

 

BP blocking blocks media access new Orleans oil spill Gulf of Mexico blackout. Great interview from New Orleans TV station WDSU.

 

http://www.youtube.c...h?v=dZHnStD690U

 

 

I remember that story I posted. Army Special Ops soldier, Adam Dillon, did not share the information at the time. He took pictures of dispersant equations and was fired by BP. He states that they are cut throat and only care about money. Further BP does not care about the people in Gulf.

 

Residents of the Gulf. Start taking water samples from your home, office, school, everywhere. It is the only way we are going to get a true picture of what is going on.

 

frak YOU BP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Here is the full video clip can be found at WDSU

 

http://www.wdsu.com/...5811/index.html

 

Here is a partial clip.

 

[Guest Bilderberg]

Maybe this will shed a little light on the subject.

 

http://beforeitsnews.com/story/81/647/Oil_Flows_in_the_Gulf_and_Money_Flows_into_Pockets_of_Illuminists.html

[Guest LAW]

Remarks by the First Lady during a Briefing by Officials and Local Leaders in Panama City Beach, Florida

 

Panama City Welcome Center, Panama City Beach, Florida

 

4:17 P.M. EDT

 

MRS. OBAMA: Well, first of all, thank you for taking the time out of what I know are busy schedules at a busy time in your lives here to spend a little time with me, and just give me and Carol, who’s been down here several times, a better sense of what’s happening here in Panama City Beach.

 

This is the worst environmental disaster that our nation has seen. I mean, it is devastating in so many ways -- from an environmental standpoint, you know, my husband has talked about how our kids are just looking at what is it going to mean to the wildlife and the animals, and kids see it from that perspective. And it’s -- it hurts them to know that this oil is affecting wildlife for years to come.

 

But the other side of the story is the life of businesses, tourists and vacationers, who’ve really made communities like this their lifeblood and their vacation blood, in so many ways.

 

And we’re doing our best, the administration, to make things right, to get that thing capped, to clean it up, and to look at the long-term ramifications and view this as an opportunity to really build and preserve and make the Gulf the prize of this country that it has been and should continue to be.

 

So that’s the first priority of the administration is dealing with that, making sure that BP makes everyone whole. And we’ve seen some historic outcomes with regard to that -- the $20 billion fund that has been set aside, which is not a ceiling or a floor, but it’s the beginning to make sure that BP makes communities whole and invests in the cleanup and the preservation.

 

But the story today, since we’ve got the media here, is the piece that I think gets lost in the devastation, and it’s that there are still thousands of miles of beaches that have not been touched by the spill. And there are communities that thrive on tourism and on the economic power of beaches that have not been damaged.

 

And we need to get the word out to the rest of the country, particularly for those who want to find ways to help folks in the Gulf. This is one way, to recognize that there are still opportunities to experience those beautiful beaches. I mean, this is a time to remind America that some of the best beaches in the world are here. And this is probably the best time for people to bring their kids down, the best year, because you do a few things, you get to see a part of the country, you get to help an economic area, and it’s really nice and hot down here. (Laughter.) So you definitely want to swim.

 

And I understand, as Dan said, we flew into the new airport. It’s a beautiful facility, and Southwest now has a bunch of direct flights directly down here.

 

So we want to take this time just to encourage folks around the country not to miss this opportunity. It is vacation time. Folks are looking for things to do with their kids, and this would be a great opportunity to do a few things -- help this community, send a different message about the extent of the spill, and also think long term about how the rest of the country can help this economy and the folks down here.

 

It’s a wonderfully warm place -- that’s something that is clear just from the few little minutes I’ve been here.

 

PARTICIPANT: It’s hot. (Laughter.)

 

MRS. OBAMA: It’s not that hot. (Laughter.) It’s not hotter than D.C., let me tell you. (Laughter.) But, yes, it is hot, so if you like hot weather, this is the place to come.

 

But I want to hear more. Carol is here, and we can get into more of the specifics of some of the questions. There are some things I don’t know as much about as Carol. But she knows everything.

[Guest LAW]

Press Briefing by Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, 7/12/2010

James S. Brady Press Briefing Room

 

Q On the oil spill, obviously BP is working on this new cap today. What’s the view from the White House? How confident are you all that this is going to work?

 

MR. GIBBS: Well, let’s take this in a couple of different stages because the containment capacity prior to -- let’s go through Friday, right, which included the top hat going to the Discoverer Enterprise and the Q4000, which was connected to the choke line, represented about 25,000 barrels of containment capacity on any given day. Sometimes it fluctuates to a little bit more or a little bit less.

 

The containment capacity in the new structure, the sealing cap, will draw to two different boats and increase the containment capacity from roughly 15,000 to between 20,000 and 30,000. The Helix Producer, which was -- is not related to the sealing cap -- was coming online separately. We made the sealing cap and the Helix Producer movements happen together rather than separately, as was originally called for but changed because of weather.

 

The Helix Producer was installed over the weekend and began containment around noon today. Initially we expect to get maybe 8,000 barrels of oil a day as the Producer ramps up, pressurizes to a containment capability of 20,000 to 25,000 barrels a day. And because of the increased containment capacity out of the sealing cap, the choke line, which was feeding to the Q4000 at about 10,000 barrels a day, will have its containment capability increased to 20,000 to 25,000 barrels a day.

 

So in short, as we replace the sealing cap and as we add the Helix Producer, we’ll go from a containment capacity of around 25,000 barrels of oil a day to a containment capacity of 60,000 to 80,000 barrels of oil a day. In addition, the sealing cap will assist in the eventual killing of the oil. You could either do it separately if the integrity of the wellbore has been maintained through the explosion, and if not, it helps when the relief well intersects to the well in having a separate point of pressurization for mud and cement. So that is the process that is ongoing.

 

The progress report that we have all gotten here is, as I just mentioned, the Helix Producer is now online and they are making progress with the new cap. And we’re certainly hopeful that over the course of the next several days, they’ll get that on, they’ll get that tightened appropriately. And the containment capacity that I just described will increase in a way like we haven’t seen thus far.

 

Q You said several times in breaking that down, the idea that these things will happen, that capacity will increase, so is this a point at which the White House can say to the American people, this is a turning point?

 

MR. GIBBS: Well, I think obviously a turning point in the sense that our containment capacity is likely to be equal to what is coming out of the damaged blowout preventer. Obviously, I think -- well, twofold; obviously, we still, at some point, believe the permanent solution to that well is to cap it. And obviously that's going to -- I wouldn’t change the original time frame of intersecting the well and capping it by mid-August.

 

And then obviously you’ve got -- you’ve still got hundreds of thousands of gallons -- hundreds of thousands of barrels of oil in the water, and we will continue to deal with that oil as it makes its way around the Gulf, as it hits landfall in several of the Gulf states.

 

Over the weekend, obviously, there was an increase in skimming and in-situ burns that -- in order to try to gather the increased capacity that was coming in taking the top hat off, which did increase the flow by about 15,000 barrels of oil a day.

 

Q This new offshore drilling moratorium coming out later today at Interior, what is different about this that allows you to believe that you can escape another court turnover?

 

MR. GIBBS: I would say this -- I don't want to get ahead of their announcement later this afternoon, but I will say two things. First and foremost, the President has and continues to believe that we have to be careful with what we’re doing given the uncertainty around what happened 84 days ago. We know that that is not without some economic consequences to the region, but it’s imperative that we have a sense of what happened before we continue to do this again.

 

And secondly, again, not to get ahead of what the Department of Interior will say, but obviously they will take into account what the judge laid out in his initial ruling at the district court level.

 

Q So you really think you can craft it so that it is substantially different and will stand up in court?

 

MR. GIBBS: Yes, we do. We do.

 

Q Robert, I just wanted to follow up on --

 

MR. GIBBS: And I can say -- just one second. I do think there was some misreporting off of the appeals court case from the end of last week. The judge did not rule against our ability to prevent. The judge simply ruled that with no company seeking currently to actively drill in deepwater, that basically there -- without -- we did not -- in a sense, we lacked standing for a ruling because the type of activity that we were looking to ban was not happening. But again, I think that the new moratorium that's issued by D of I will take into account the original suit’s comments.

 

Q But there’s still a wide perception down there that you’re choking off economic activity and jobs for people who won’t even be drilling in deepwater but just in shallow water?

 

MR. GIBBS: Well, that's simply a misperception as to what we’ve ruled on, because nobody has suggested that shallow water drilling presents any different challenge than it did 85 days ago. Our moratorium has nothing to do with shallow water.

 

Obviously, if you’re drilling in shallow water -- and one of the things that makes our response to the Deepwater Horizon so difficult is the blowout preventer sits 5,000 feet below the surface of the ocean. In shallow water drilling, the blowout preventer sits on top of the water, so if there’s a problem with the blowout preventer, access is unencumbered. Five thousand feet below the surface of the ocean, we were at the mercy of remotely operated vehicles in order to change that situation.

So deepwater and shallow water are -- have not been and will not be treated differently -- will be treated differently, will not be treated the same.

 

Q Quick follow-up on the drilling moratorium, are you redefining what deepwater is? Is it still going to be anything over 500, or --

 

MR. GIBBS: Again, D of I is going to have an announcement on this later today, and I will defer to them.

 

Q Does this mean you’re not going to pursue an appeal -- is it still six months starting today now?

 

MR. GIBBS: Well, again --

 

Q Is it going to be back --

 

MR. GIBBS: Again, I’m not going to -- I’m going to let D of I do this. If you have questions after that, we’ll certainly --

 

Q Follow-up on the moratorium. There was a report over the weekend, the 33 or 34 rigs stationed down there, that one of them was pulling up stakes just because of the uncertainty and the legal challenges in a revised moratorium coming out. What concern is there at the White House about other rigs possibly doing this?

 

MR. GIBBS: Well, I will say, Roger, this was -- this came up in our original discussions about the moratorium. We understand that this is not without -- the economic consequences of this were talked about. But what was also talked about at the same time was, what is our containment capability -- what’s a company’s containment capability and what is the government’s containment capability in the event that something that -- something unique -- a series of unique circumstances -- whether the Deepwater Horizon was something unique or something that is much larger relating to blowout preventers, relating to the conditions in deepwater drilling? That is a chance the President weighed and decided not to take.

 

Again, there are certain risks that are taken when drilling at that dept. The Deepwater Horizon explosion happened at a point in which the drilling had reached the oil reservoir, as we now see. There are obviously risks as one gets to that reservoir. But the President believed in weighing all those circumstances that pausing deepwater drilling during an investigation made sense based on many factors, including containment capability.

 

Q So you’re not overly worried about rigs pulling up --

 

MR. GIBBS: Well, I would say that it was a concern, but on the scale of concern, having something like this happen again before we know what happened at the Deepwater Horizon site the President believed did not make a lot of sense.

 

Q Is it the administration’s goal or desire that deepwater drilling resume after the safety review?

 

MR. GIBBS: Once it’s safe, yes.

[Guest LAW]

Statement from National Incident Commander Admiral Thad Allen on Well Integrity Test

 

"Significant progress has been made on the capping stack installation. As a result of that progress, BP will perform a "Well Integrity Test" tomorrow morning. This test involves closing one or more of the valves on the new cap for a period of time to allow BP to measure pressures in the well.

 

It also requires that the Helix Producer and Q4000 collection systems be ramped down and placed in standby mode during the test. The measurements that will be taken during this test will provide valuable information about the condition of the well below the sea level and help determine whether or not it is possible to shut the well for a period of time, such as during a hurricane or bad weather, between now and when the relief wells are complete.

I have reviewed the protocols for this test, in consultation with the government science team. The test will likely last anywhere from 6-48 hours or more depending on the measurements that are observed. BP will be in regular contact with the government during the test, and the government will halt the test if the risks of doing further damage to the surrounding formation are significant.

 

Once the test has concluded, collection of the oil will resume."

[Guest LAW]

PAST 24 HOURS

 

BP Makes Progress on “Capping Stack” Procedure; ‘Well Integrity Test’ to Begin

 

After approval by National Incident Commander Admiral Thad Allen, BP made significant progress on its “capping stack” procedure—designed to capture even greater quantities of oil than the current “top hat” system. As a result of that progress, BP will perform a ‘Well Integrity Test’ tomorrow morning. This test involves closing one or more of the valves on the new cap for a period of time to allow BP to measure pressures in the well.

 

It also requires that the Helix Producer—which has been connected—and Q4000 collection systems be ramped down and placed in standby mode during the test. The measurements that will be taken during this test will provide valuable information about the condition of the well below the sea level and help determine whether or not it is possible to shut the well for a period of time, such as during a hurricane or bad weather, between now and when the relief wells are complete.

 

Admiral Allen has reviewed the protocols for this test, in consultation with the government science team. It will likely last anywhere from six to 48 hours or more depending on the measurements that are observed. BP will be in regular contact with the government during the test, and the government will halt the test if the risks of doing further damage to the surrounding formation are significant. Once the test has concluded, collection of the oil will resume.

 

Skimming Surge Continues Around the Wellsite to Combat Expected Flow Increase

 

In anticipation of increased oil flow during the capping stack procedure, skimmers were surged to the well site. Currently, 46 skimmers are operating in the vicinity of the well, in addition to more than 570 skimmers deployed to protect coastlines as part of the largest oil spill response in U.S. history. Throughout this response, the federal government has directed BP to develop more detailed plans, create redundancy measures in case those plans fail, and apply additional resources to the largest response to an oil spill in our nation’s history.

 

Secretary Salazar Issues New Suspensions to Guide Safe Pause on Deepwater Drilling

 

In order to protect communities, coasts, and wildlife from the risks that deepwater drilling currently pose, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar today issued new suspensions of deepwater drilling on the Outer Continental Shelf, saying a pause is needed to ensure that oil and gas companies first implement adequate safety measures to reduce the risks associated with deepwater drilling operations and are prepared for blowouts and oil spills.

 

Shallow water drilling activities, which do not present the same type or level of risks as deepwater drilling operations, can continue to move forward if operators are in compliance with all safety and environmental requirements, including new safety and environmental requirements implemented through recent Notices to Lessees. Production activities in federal waters of the Gulf are not affected by the deepwater drilling suspensions.

 

FWS Releases 33 Birds and 22 Turtle Hatchlings Back to the Wild

 

As part of continued efforts to protect wildlife and wildlife habitats in the Gulf of Mexico from the impacts of the BP oil spill, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today released 22 brown pelicans and 11 Northern Gannets back to the wild at a city park adjacent to the J.N. Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge in Sanibel Island, Fla. The birds were transferred from the Bird Rehabilitation Centers in Fort Jackson, La., and Theodore, Ala.

 

At midnight last night, 22 hatchlings from the first Ridley sea turtle nest translocation project were released into the Atlantic Ocean at the Kennedy Space Center/Canaveral National Seashore in Florida. Dozens of nest relocations are expected to take place over the next several weeks.

 

Progress Continues in Drilling Relief Wells

 

The drilling of relief wells continues. The Development Driller III has drilled the first relief well to a depth of 17,840 feet below the Gulf surface. The Development Driller II has drilled the second relief well—a redundancy measure taken at the direction of the administration—to a depth of approximately 15,960 feet below the surface. BP continues the “ranging” process—which involves periodically withdrawing the drill pipe and sending an electrical signal down to determine how close they are getting to the wellbore.

 

Successful Controlled Burn

 

Favorable weather conditions allowed responders to conduct a successful controlled burn operation for the fourth consecutive day. As part of a coordinated response that combines tactics deployed above water, below water, offshore, and close to coastal areas, controlled burns efficiently remove oil from the open water in an effort to protect shoreline and wildlife. To date, more than 330 controlled burns have removed more than 10.3 million gallons of oil from the water.

 

Approved SBA Economic Injury Assistance Loans Surpass $12 Million

 

SBA has approved 158 economic injury assistance loans to date, totaling more than $12.3 million for small businesses in the Gulf Coast impacted by the BP oil spill. Additionally, the agency has granted deferments on 616 existing SBA disaster loans in the region, totaling more than $3.5 million per month in payments. For information on assistance loans for affected businesses, visit the SBA’s Web site at www.sba.gov/services/disasterassistance, call (800) 659-2955 (800-877-8339 for the hearing impaired), or email disastercustomerservice@sba.gov.

 

Administration Continues to Oversee BP’s Claims Process

 

The administration will continue to hold the responsible parties accountable for repairing the damage, and repaying Americans who’ve suffered a financial loss as a result of the BP oil spill. To date, 106,294 claims have been opened, from which more than $164.9 million have been disbursed. No claims have been denied to date. There are 1,050 claims adjusters on the ground. To file a claim, visit www.bp.com/claims or call BP’s helpline at 1-800-440-0858. Those who have already pursued the BP claims process and are not satisfied with BP’s resolution can call the Coast Guard at (800) 280-7118. Additional information about the BP claims process and all available avenues of assistance can be found at www.disasterassistance.gov.

[Guest LAW]

By the Numbers to Date:

 

* The administration has authorized the deployment of 17,500 National Guard troops from Gulf Coast states to respond to this crisis; currently, 1,525 are active.

 

* More than 45,000 personnel are currently responding to protect the shoreline and wildlife and cleanup vital coastlines.

 

* More than 6,700 vessels are currently responding on site, including skimmers, tugs, barges, and recovery vessels to assist in containment and cleanup efforts—in addition to dozens of aircraft, remotely operated vehicles, and multiple mobile offshore drilling units.

 

* More than 3.12 million feet of containment boom and 6.16 million feet of sorbent boom have been deployed to contain the spill—and approximately 816,000 feet of containment boom and 2.32 million feet of sorbent boom are available.

 

* More than 31 million gallons of an oil-water mix have been recovered.

 

* Approximately 1.79 million gallons of total dispersant have been applied—1.07 million on the surface and 721,000 sub-sea. Approximately 454,000 gallons are available.

 

* 330 controlled burns have been conducted, efficiently removing a total of more than 10.3 million gallons of oil from the open water in an effort to protect shoreline and wildlife. Because calculations on the volume of oil burned can take more than 48 hours, the reported total volume may not reflect the most recent controlled burns.

 

* 17 staging areas are in place to protect sensitive shorelines.

 

* Approximately 553 miles of Gulf Coast shoreline is currently oiled—approximately 313 miles in Louisiana, 99 miles in Mississippi, 66 miles in Alabama, and 75 miles in Florida. These numbers reflect a daily snapshot of shoreline currently experiencing impacts from oil so that planning and field operations can more quickly respond to new impacts; they do not include cumulative impacts to date, or shoreline that has already been cleared.

 

* Approximately 81,181 square miles of Gulf of Mexico federal waters remain closed to fishing in order to balance economic and public health concerns. More than 66 percent remains open. Details can be found at http://sero.nmfs.noaa.gov/.

 

* To date, the administration has leveraged assets and skills from numerous foreign countries and international organizations as part of this historic, all-hands-on-deck response, including Belgium, Canada, China, France, Germany, Ireland, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Qatar, Russia, Spain, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, the United Nations’ International Maritime Organization, the European Union's Monitoring and Information Centre, and the European Maritime Safety Agency.

[Guest BP]

The three ram capping stack was installed on the Deep Water Horizon LMRP at 7 p.m. CDT. The stack completes the installation of the new sealing cap.

 

Following installation of the capping stack and in line with the procedure approved by the National Incident Commander and Unified Area Command, the well integrity test will begin July 13 on the MC252 well.

 

For the duration of the test, which will be a minimum of 6 hours and could extend up to 48 hours, the three ram capping stack will be closed and all sub-sea containment systems (namely, the Q4000 and Helix Producer) will be temporarily suspended, effectively shutting in the well. It is expected, although cannot be assured, that no oil will be released to the ocean for the duration of the test. This will not however be an indication that flow from the wellbore has been permanently stopped.

 

Information gathered during the test will be reviewed with the relevant government agencies including the federal science team to determine the way forward. Options include reinstatement of containment as well as extending the test duration beyond 48 hours.

 

The sealing cap system never before has been deployed at these depths or under these conditions, and its efficiency and ability to contain the oil and gas cannot be assured.

 

The Helix Producer containment system started operations on July 12. The Q4000 containment system continues to capture oil and gas from the MC252 well and flare the hydrocarbons safely at the surface.

 

Relief well operations continue throughout this period and remain the sole means to permanently seal and isolate the well.

 

[Guest BP]

Subsea Source Control and Containment

 

Following approval from the National Incident Commander, BP this past weekend began replacing the existing lower marine riser package (LMRP) containment cap over the Deepwater Horizon's failed blow-out preventer with a new sealing cap assembly.

 

Installation of the sealing cap is proceeding as planned. The Discoverer Enterprise removed the LMRP cap at approximately 12:40 PM CDT on Saturday, July 10. Initial steps included the removal of six bolts along with the LMRP's flange. A transition spool was subsequently installed on the existing flange. The next step is to install a capping stack that has three closing rams.

 

The Q4000 containment system continues to capture oil and gas from the MC252 well and flare the hydrocarbons safely at the surface.

 

The Helix Producer containment system is being commissioned to begin the collection of additional oil and gas, prior to ramping up containment operations.

 

On July 10, a total of approximately 15,200 barrels of oil were collected or flared and 35.2 million cubic feet of gas were flared. Specifically, the LMRP containment system connected to the Discoverer Enterprise collected 7,096 barrels of oil, and the Q4000 flared an additional 8,100 barrels of oil. With the removal of the LMRP cap, oil recovered from the Discoverer Enterprise was lower on July 10 and recovery from the Discoverer Enterprise has since been discontinued.

 

As of July 10, the total volume of oil collected or flared by the containment systems is approximately 749,100 barrels. Information on the volumes of oil and gas that are collected or flared is updated twice daily on BP's website, www.bp.com.

 

Plans also are being developed for additional containment capacity and flexibility that will ultimately increase capacity to 60,000-80,000 barrels per day. These projects are currently anticipated to begin operations towards the end of July.

The sealing cap system, the Q4000 system, the flexible riser system, and the planned additional containment systems never before have been deployed at these depths or under these conditions, and their efficiency and ability to contain or flare the oil and gas cannot be assured.

 

Work on the first relief well, which started May 2, continues. The well reached a measured depth of 17,810 feet on July 11 and a tenth 'ranging' run was completed. Following the running and cementing of the 9 7/8-inch casing and further ranging runs, the relief well is intended to intercept the original well at approximately 18,000 feet. Operations will then begin to kill the flow of oil and gas from the reservoir by pumping specialised heavy fluids down the relief well. The second relief well, which started May 16, is just below 16,000 feet and preparing to cement casing. Although uncertainty still exists, the first half of August remains the current estimate of the most likely date by which the first relief well will be completed and kill operations performed.

 

Surface Spill Response and Containment Through July 10 Work continues to collect and disperse oil that has reached the surface of the sea, to protect the shoreline of the Gulf of Mexico, and to collect and clean up any oil that has reached shore.

Approximately 46,000 personnel, more than 6,400 vessels and dozens of aircraft are engaged in the response effort.

 

Operations to skim oil from the surface of the water collected more than 25,000 barrels of oily water on July 10. To date, these operations have recovered, in total, approximately 720,238 barrels (30.25 million gallons) of oily liquid. In addition, a total of 286 controlled burns have been carried out to date, removing an estimated 238,095 barrels of oil from the sea's surface.

 

The total length of containment boom deployed as part of efforts to prevent oil from reaching the coast is now more than 3.1 million feet (587.12 miles).

[Guest Unified Area Command]

Ask a Responder: Q & A with a NOAA Fisheries Service Shark Expert

 

NPA Grace Baldwin is serving as a public affairs specialist in the Deepwater Horizon Response. She is a U.S. Coast Guard Reservist from the public affairs detachment at Sector Baltimore, Md.

 

Dr. John Carlson is a Research Fisheries Biologist for NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service and specializes in research related to the biology and population ecology of sharks, skates, rays and sawfishes. SNPA Baldwin spent some time with John discussing his current involvement with whale sharks in the Gulf of Mexico.

 

 

Q: How did you become interested in your field of work?

 

 

A: Sharks have always been an interest to me since I was a kid growing up near Long Island Sound.

 

 

Q: Can you describe the background of whale sharks?

 

 

A: Whale sharks are found globally in warmer waters including the Gulf of Mexico. They commonly feed on small fish, fish larvae and fish eggs. Whale sharks are primarily surface swimmers which raises some concerns for those currently inhabiting the Gulf of Mexico.

 

 

Q: What agencies are involved in the effort to help whale sharks in the Gulf of Mexico?

 

 

A: There are multiple groups involved: NOAA-National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA-Office of National Marine Sanctuaries, Wildlife Conservation Society, and Gulf Coast Research Laboratory. People are doing different studies. Gulf Coast Research Laboratory is working on getting satellite tags on the sharks to report data such as location, depth and water temperature. The National Marine Fisheries Service is conducting aerial surveys to record the location of sharks and number of sharks in a certain location.

 

 

Q: What behaviors of the whale sharks are being noticed or observed?

 

 

A: The sharks do not appear to be trying to avoid the oil, which is why we want to do further research. There has been very little research conducted on whale sharks in the Gulf of Mexico.

 

 

Q: What are the concerns for whale sharks in relation to the oil spill?

 

 

A: Whale sharks are primarily surface swimmers and feed on small pelagic fish and plankton and as a consequence they may be ingesting oil. Additionally, the oil may collect in the gills and cause them to clog, which would result in the shark not being able to extract oxygen from the water. We don't know how the oil will affect the sharks either long term or short term but in a previous study on sharks from the Persian Gulf there was evidence of the transfer of hydrocarbons from the mother to the embryos.

 

 

Q: What steps are being taken to address the concerns?

 

 

A: We plan to monitor the sharks through aerial surveys and record areas where sharks are congregating. As part of the Wildlife Branch, we will provide this information to the Unified Area Command to urge that skimming operations focus on these areas to reduce the potential for sharks to come in contact with oil.

 

 

Q: What challenges are you facing or anticipate facing in the effort to monitor and assist the whale sharks?

 

 

A: The main challenge for monitoring is the weather. When there is inclement weather it makes it difficult to run surveys to locate the whale sharks. Additionally, the rain is breaking up the oil into a sheen and we don't know yet how that sheen will affect the whale sharks long term or even short term.

 

 

Q: If you could speak directly to the public, what would you want them to know concerning whale sharks in the Gulf?

 

 

A: The different agencies involved held a meeting recently to make recommendations to help keep sharks from ingesting oil. Through satellite tracking and aerial surveys we are moving forward and taking action on how to prevent whale sharks from coming in contact with surface oil.

[Guest Unified Area Command]

The Obama Administration today sent a fourth bill for $99.7 million to BP and other responsible parties for response and recovery operations relating to the BP/Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill.

 

As a responsible party, BP is financially responsible for all costs associated with the response to the spill, including efforts to stop the leak at its source, reduce the spread of oil, protect the shoreline and mitigate damages, as well as long term recovery efforts to ensure that all individuals and communities impacted by the spill are made whole.

 

To provide full transparency of the ongoing efforts and to ensure that the American public is not held accountable for the costs of response and recovery activities, the Federal Government bills BP and the other responsible parties regularly for costs incurred by the Federal On-Scene Coordinator to support Federal, State, and local response efforts and ensure the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund is reimbursed on an ongoing basis.

 

This is the fourth bill the Administration has sent to date. BP and other responsible parties have paid the first three bills, totaling $122.3 million, in full.

 

This invoice is based on specific Federal Government expenses that are subject to billing at this time, including expenses associated with the response of over two dozen Federal entities and agencies from three States, in accordance with the Federal On-Scene Coordinator request for assistance process. Federal response activities not subject to billing at this time, including future activities, will be billed to the responsible parties through subsequent invoices. In addition, these bills do not include any other costs for which BP and the other responsible parties are liable to any other party.

 

The United States Coast Guard is responsible for administering the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund to ensure rapid response to oil spills, to compensate individuals and communities harmed by oil spills, and to ensure that the costs of response and cleanup are borne by the responsible parties.

 

 

For information about the response effort, visit http://www.restorethegulf.gov.

[Guest Unified Area Command]

Admiral Thad Allen, National Incident Commander:

 

"Today I met with Secretary Chu, Marcia McNutt and other scientists and geologists as well as officials from BP and other industry representatives as we continue to prepare and review protocols for the well integrity test - including the seismic mapping run that was made around the well site this morning. As a result of these discussions, we decided that the process may benefit from additional analysis that will be performed tonight and tomorrow.

 

Both the Helix Producer and the Q4000 collection systems are currently on line with the potential to exceed the containment capability that existed before the sealing cap was installed, and skimmers continue to be surged to the well site in anticipation of any increased oil flow as part of the transition. The drilling of relief wells also continues- the first relief has been drilled to a depth of 17,840 feet below the Gulf surface, and the second to a depth of approximately 15,963 feet below the surface."

[Guest LAW]

Press Briefing by Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, 7/13/2010

 

James S. Brady Press Briefing Room

 

Q On the Gulf, quickly, does he have plans for going?

 

MR. GIBBS: The President -- I don’t have a date to announce. The President will -- obviously the First Lady was in Panama City yesterday. The Vice President will go, I believe -- I think it’s next week -- I will double-check on this. The First Lady also will return I think a second time. And I expect the President will go in the not-too-distant future.

 

Obviously -- I don’t know if you all watched or heard Thad Allen’s briefing -- obviously the sealing cap is on. The Helix Producer is being ramped up, pressurized as part of the greater containment. Obviously Thad Allen discussed the pressure test for the well and getting a sense and judging the intensity of the wellbore through pressurization, right? And by that we will know the integrity of what’s underneath the surface, and that will give us the next -- the protocols for the next steps in terms of killing the well.

 

When I -- right before I came out here, we had not begun the pressurization tests, but we expect that that will probably happen sometime today. I think Admiral Allen said that that would take about a six-hour time period. And what that will tell us is a lot, again, about the integrity of the well and the steps that can be taken next in terms of using the blowout preventer that we have to kill the well, what the next steps are in terms of its assistance -- the sealing cap’s assistance on the relief well’s containment.

 

And as we ramp up all of this containment, it’s our belief that we have a containment system now that would approach, on the high end, 80,000 barrels of oil a day that can be contained. There are -- there’s a lot of boats that are moving into the area and will be moved into the area. The cap itself is a stronger cap that can withstand what we know -- was predicted and we certainly know has come to fruition, and that is a much more active tropical storm and hurricane season in the Gulf.

 

Q Finally, you mentioned the First Lady in Panama City yesterday. And she said come on down, basically, encouraged people to vacation there. Does that mean the First Family is considering vacationing there, perhaps, instead of some of the other plans that have been talked about?

 

MR. GIBBS: I don’t think their vacation plans have changed, no.

 

Q Why not? Why not vacation down there if they’re encouraging other people to do so?

 

MR. GIBBS: Look, the key is, for the First Lady and for everybody that travels there -- I have friends that emailed me also from Panama City that they had been down just this past week and not seen oil -- not dealt with oil on the beach. And I think sometimes the pictures have led people to believe that oil may be where they were planning on vacationing. And I think the First Lady’s message and the message of a lot of people has been that the Gulf is -- having vacationed there myself, is a beautiful place and it’s open for business.

 

Q Robert, is the President allowing himself increased hope that we may be very close to the end of the oil spill if the pressure tests work out all right?

 

MR. GIBBS: Well, look, this is -- I think we’re in day 85 of this disaster. Obviously I think the sealing cap and the containment capacity that is soon to come online likely represents the best news that we’ve had in those -- in the preceding 85 days.

 

The pressurization tests will allow us to determine what the best next steps are. Secretary Chu and a host of other scientists that have been involved in this from the very beginning are in Houston now, going through a series of tests before anything is conducted at the well. Obviously seismic tests were done this morning in preparation for these pressurization tests.

 

So I would say we’re hopeful, but understanding that this has been a process, as I said, that has taken 85 days. And we are soon to be at a containment capacity that I think will allow people to feel that there isn’t oil actively leaking into the Gulf, and that will be a big moment.

 

The next step will be -- and, again, these tests will be important in determining those next steps -- is the decisions to attempt a kill using this blowout preventer or using this blowout preventer simply to assist the relief well drilling, containment and capping procedures.

 

And then, Mark, we’ve got a long, long way to go in cleaning up what’s in the water and restoring the health and the beauty of the Gulf to what it was not just 85 or 86 days ago, but the way it should be. And that’s going to take months to develop that plan and years to fix.

 

So I think we are approaching what we hope is the next phase in the Gulf, understanding that that phase -- that next phase is likely to take many years.

 

Q You’ve indicated the polls that suggest an erosion in public confidence in the President’s decision-making are mainly the result of the economy. But I wonder if there’s an element of partisanship in that as well? I’ll point to Darrell Issa’s using his position on the Oversight Committee to generate a report that accuses the administration of misrepresenting efforts in the Gulf, of him launching an audit basically of some of the TARP spending. Is this having more than an irritating effect on the President’s ability to govern? Is it getting in the way?

 

MR. GIBBS: Not that I’m aware of, no. You can ask Jake or Chip if that showed up in their polling. I don’t -- I’m not aware of it.

[Luke_Wilbur]

Mr. President and Members of Congress,

Please listen to the words of Drew Landry. He is the voice of Cajun America. They are worried about jobs and their lives.

 

 

Pass this song on.

[Guest DSCC]

Rush Limbaugh said, “The ocean will take care of this on its own… It’s as natural as the ocean water is.”

 

Cyanide is natural too, but that doesn’t mean we should let it into our water supply.

 

Rush Limbaugh should see for himself that there’s nothing “natural” about birds, fish, beaches and marshland coated with oil. Demand that Rush pull on some rubber gloves and go help with cleanup effort. It’s the least he can do after a career of spewing his own crude over the American airwaves.

[Luke_Wilbur]

I hope that residents down in the Gulf are feeling some relief now that the oil leak is mostly stemmed. Amen

 

Thanks go out to the men and women who worked hard under duress to fix this.

[Guest Sierra Club]

It is an enormous relief to learn that the flow of oil that lead to America’s worst environmental disaster has finally been stemmed. We applaud all the men and women who have worked so hard over these difficult three months to cap the well. We hope we can now turn more resources and attention to responding to the devastation that this oil disaster has already caused, and to making sure this sort of preventable tragedy never occurs again.

 

We need to do everything possible to help the wildlife and communities of the Gulf Coast that have been hit so hard by this disaster. President Obama's moratorium on deepwater drilling is an important first step in protecting the Gulf Coast from further damage. The fishing and tourist industries need a chance to bounce back without facing the threat of another disaster. And wherever there is offshore drilling, we risk disaster.

 

The oil industry argues that this was an isolated event. We agree--research confirms that oil catastrophes are strictly isolated to oil industry operations. We have not yet found oil spills at wind farms, nor have we found evidence of gushers erupting in solar plants or marshlands devastated by business owners retrofitting their buildings. The best way to prevent another oil disaster is to shift away from oil and onto clean energy.

 

If this capping of the oil gusher holds, it is a moment for celebration. We must not, however, ever forget the three months during which BP egregiously mishandled its disaster. It is even more important that we remind ourselves that this problem is much bigger than BP. The entire oil industry has been skirting safety regulations and lobbying against clean energy for years. Over and over again we’ve paid the price.

 

Now that the leaking oil appears to be controlled, we need to address the problem that led to it. We need President Obama to stand up to the oil industry. We need a plan to move America off of oil and onto clean energy.

[Guest BP]

Following installation of the capping stack and in line with the procedure approved by the National Incident Commander and Unified Area Command, the well integrity test on the MC252 well commenced today.

 

The well integrity test will last at least 6 hours and could last up to 48 hours. During the test, the three ram capping stack is closed, effectively shutting in the well and all sub-sea containment systems (namely, the Q4000 and Helix Producer systems) have been temporarily stopped. Although it cannot be assured, it is expected that no oil will be released to the ocean during the test. Even if no oil is released during the test, this will not be an indication that oil and gas flow from the wellbore has been permanently stopped.

 

Information gathered during the test will be reviewed with the relevant government agencies, including the federal science team, to determine next steps.

 

The sealing cap system never before has been deployed at these depths or under these conditions, and its efficiency and ability to contain the oil and gas cannot be assured.

During the well integrity test, operations on the first relief well have been temporarily stopped while the well was at 17,840 ft as a precaution. Operations on the second relief well have been temporarily suspended at 15,874 feet to ensure that there is no interference with the first relief well. The relief wells remain the sole means to permanently seal and isolate the well.

[Guest HUMAN]

It sealed, let’s hope it stays that way.

 

Still worried about the oil we can't see, using that dispersant I don't think was such a hot idea.

 

It's like cancer, you don't see it but we all know that it can do us damage. In all honesty I would have preferred that the government did not order BP to use that dispersant.

 

 

But of course this type of thinking is contrary to popular political beliefs "Which is whom ever is in power to minimize the impact on the optics".

[Guest BP]

BP continues to work cooperatively with the guidance and approval of the National Incident Commander and the leadership and direction of federal government including the Department of Energy, Department of the Interior, Federal Science Team, Bureau of Ocean Energy, Management, Regulation and Enforcement, U.S. Coast Guard and secretaries Ken Salazar and Steven Chu. At this time, the well integrity test on the MC252 exploratory well continues.

 

During the test, the three ram capping stack has been closed, shutting in the well. All sub-sea containment systems (namely, the Q4000 and Helix Producer systems) have been temporarily suspended.

 

The pressure inside the well recently has been measured at approximately 6,792 pounds per square inch and continues to rise slowly. As directed by the National Incident Commander, extensive monitoring activities are being carried out around the well site. Information gathered during the test is being reviewed with the government agencies, including the Federal Science Team, to determine next steps. Depending upon the results of the test and monitoring activities, these steps may include extending the well integrity test or returning to containment options.

Should the test conclude, the Q4000 is expected to resume capturing and flaring oil and gas through the existing system. It has been capturing and flaring an average of 8,000 barrels a day (b/d) of oil in recent weeks. The Helix Producer also is expected to be available to resume capturing oil and flaring gas through the recently installed floating riser system. It has the capacity to capture approximately 20,000 – 25,000 b/d of oil.

 

Plans continue for additional containment capacity and flexibility that are expected to ultimately increase recoverable oil volumes to 60,000-80,000 b/d.

 

The sealing cap system and many of the other containment systems have never before been deployed at these depths or under these conditions, and their efficiency and ability to contain or flare the oil and gas cannot be assured.

 

To date, the total volume of oil collected or flared by the containment systems is approximately 826,800 barrels. Information on the subsea operational status is updated daily on BP’s website, www.bp.com.

Work on the first relief well, which started May 2, continues. The well reached a depth of 17,864 feet as of July 18th and the next scheduled operation is to carry out a ranging run. The first relief well has approached its last casing end point and, following the casing set, additional ranging runs will be used to guide the drill bit to a MC252 well intercept point. After interception, operations are expected to begin to kill the flow of oil and gas from the reservoir by pumping specialized heavy fluids down the relief well.

 

The second relief well, which started May 16, is at a measured depth of 15,874 feet and has been temporarily halted so as not to interfere with the ranging runs being performed in the first relief well.

 

Although uncertainty remains, the first half of August remains the current estimate of the most likely date by which the first relief well will be completed and kill operations performed.

Surface Spill Response as of July 17

Work continues to collect and disperse oil that has reached the surface of the sea, to protect the shoreline of the Gulf of Mexico, and to collect and clean up any oil that has reached shore.

 

Approximately 43,100 personnel, more than 6,470 vessels and dozens of aircraft are engaged in the response effort.

 

Operations to skim oil continued over the weekend. These operations have recovered, in total, approximately 807,143 barrels (33.9 million gallons) of oily liquid. In addition, a total of 408 controlled burns have been carried out to date, removing an estimated 261,904 barrels of oil (11 million gallons) from the sea’s surface.

 

The total length of containment boom deployed as part of efforts to prevent oil from reaching the coast is now almost 3.36 million feet (681.8 miles).

[Guest Unified Command]

Coast Guard Rear Adm. Paul Zukunft, the Federal On-Scene Coordinator for the largest oil spill response in U.S. history, today outlined recent efforts relating to the Deepwater Horizon Response. The overall response effort consists of 40,122 people; 5,640 vessels; and 116 aircraft on the job.

 

While work continues underwater to permanently seal this well, massive cleanup efforts continue to expand and significant progress continues to be made.

 

"The current operational plan is based on the worst case scenario for cleanup at sea and that includes keeping assets in the air and on the water, but we will be here until all of the oil is cleaned up at sea and on shore," said Adm. Zukunft. "This is a dynamic situation where weather really does play the upper hand. The biggest enemy is complacency so we maintain a sense of urgency because there is an awful lot of oil in the Gulf of Mexico. There will be no reduction of effort, commitment or urgency."

 

Innovative efforts using advanced technology continue to be used to help with this unprecedented cleanup. Some of these technologies include:

 

Navy Airship:

 

A blimp airship recently arrived in Gulf Shores, Ala. from New Orleans, July 10, 2010. the air ship completed its first full operational mission and is now scheduled to fly twice daily, weather permitting. The blimp airship has been successful in providing useful data that has aided in directing skimmers to oil, detecting broken/damaged boom, and is capable of detecting oil-distressed wildlife.

 

Bombardier Dash 8:

 

The Icelandic Coast Guard contributed a Bombardier Dash 8 fixed-wing aircraft, which will serve as command and control platform and oil spotting resource. The Bombardier is modified for maritime surveillance/reconnaissance and carries a suite of surveillance sensors to help direct cleanup assets.

 

Tyndall Air Force Base

 

All of the 116 air assets used throughout the affected areas in the Deepwater Horizon Response are coordinated in a system out of Tyndall AFB, Ala. where the three Incident Command Posts with aviation assets -- Houma, La., Mobile, Ala., and Miami, Fl. (with airfields in St. Petersburg, Fl. also) -- provide consistent information about the location of oil in order for the spill to be combated and wildlife to be rescued.

 

 

Edison:

 

The Louisiana company Edison Chouest is building multiple 6,000-barrel capacity vessels that will be outfitted with a 278-ft skimmer, a macerator, and a centrifuge. The skimmer will extract and filter oil, which will then be sent to the macerator where the oily debris will be chopped and transferred to the centrifuge. The centrifuge, made popular by actor Kevin Costner, will spin the mixture separating oil and water and then store it in the vessel’s tanks. One of the vessels is currently operating in the Gulf of Mexico.