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Oil May Be Leaking at Rate of 25,000 Barrels a Day in Gulf

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Filed: K-1 Visa Country: Thailand
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VJ can be fun, but as a source of news and informed opinion, this is not a very good filter on what's really going on in the world, or even here in the USA.

To the casual reader of VJ OT over the past few days, one would think the only issue of note is the Arizona immigration law and surrounding controversy. There are probably 20 or more threads on that topic, at least 3 of which have gotten so heated they've been mod-nazi locked.

Meanwhile, an impending calamity is unfolding in the Gulf of Mexico on a scale of Exxon Valdez or larger. This is a mere 5 years after Katrina, and the Louisiana coast is looking at a disaster of similar proportions. Already there is potential national political fallout - will Obama's Administration prove more capable at handling the emergency than Bush's "heckofa job, Brownie" did post-Katrina. If nothing else, one would think this is something the VJ crowd would sink their teeth into.

So far, all I've seen on VJ are 2 threads:

One, that merited nothing but a few giggles about how ugly Nancy Pelosi is.

Anotherby Steve that has received ZERO responses.

VJ, IEA.

Experts: Oil May Be Leaking at Rate of 25,000 Barrels a Day in Gulf

By IAN TALLEY

WASHINGTON—The Gulf of Mexico oil spill could be leaking at a rate of 25,000 barrels a day, five times the government's current estimate, industry experts say.

Basing their calculations on government data and standard industry measurement tools, the experts said the Gulf spill may already rival the historic 1969 Santa Barbara, Calif., and 1989 Exxon Valdez disasters.

Ian MacDonald, professor of oceanography at Florida State University who specializes in tracking ocean oil seeps from satellite imagery, said there may already be more than 9 million gallons of oil floating in the Gulf now, based on his estimate of a 25,000 barrel-a-day leak rate. That's compared to 12 million gallons spilled in the Valdez accident.

Interior Department officials said it may take 90 days to cap the leaking well. If the 25,000 barrels a day is accurate and it leaks for 90 days, that's 2.25 million barrels or 94.5 million gallons.

Mr. MacDonald and his colleagues at the Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Science Department have worked jointly with National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in the past on oil spill tracking, and have shared their estimates with NOAA scientists. He said the NOAA scientists didn't dispute the calculations.

A NOAA spokeswoman said the government estimate of 5,000 barrels a day leaking from the BP PLC deep sea well was based on collaborative assessments produced by BP, NOAA and the U.S. Coast Guard. NOAA scientists weren't immediately available to comment.

The 5,000-barrel figure was first announced late Wednesday and marked a five-fold increase from the previous estimate. News of the higher estimate ratcheted up the pressure on officials to take more-aggressive steps to contain the spill and heightened concerns about potential environmental damage and disruption to the Gulf Coast economy.

NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco said in a White House press conference Thursday, "It's quite likely we will continue to pay close attention to what is on the surface ... and there may be estimates—revised estimates down the road."

John Amos, a geologist who has worked as a consultant with companies such as BP, ExxonMobil Corp. and Royal Dutch Shell PLC on tracking and measuring oil spills from satellite data, said NOAA raised its estimates to 5,000 barrels a day after he and his colleagues published calculations that showed the original figures were far too low based on the NOAA data. Amos has also previously participated in a joint industry-NASA study using satellite imagines to detect and track oil slicks.

Mr. Amos said the 5,000 barrels a day is the "extremely low end" of their estimates. He said, based on NOAA maps, a more realistic figure is 20,000 barrels a day.

John Curry, a spokesman for BP working from their Gulf coast central command operations, said the 5,000 barrel a day was a "guestimate." "There's a range of uncertainty, and it's very difficult to accurately gauge how much there is," he said

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It is an environmental catastrophe. I've been following the news on it and listened to reports on public radio early Friday morning that they were going to do control burns. The last thing I heard was that it may take as long as 4 weeks before they can cap it. Very tragic and sad.

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It is an environmental catastrophe. I've been following the news on it and listened to reports on public radio early Friday morning that they were going to do control burns. The last thing I heard was that it may take as long as 4 weeks before they can cap it. Very tragic and sad.

They're trying to do controlled burns - they did a limited one yesterday but conditions were poor and they're unable to do further ones.

They also have tried to use manual and automatic shutoffs on the primary pipe, but that has failed.

They are talking about capping it with large metal dome and then lifting the oil to the surface, but as you say that will take weeks.

They're talking about spreading detergent diffusers at the ocean floor to cause beading of the oil, so that it won't become a tarry mass as it spreads through the Gulf.

And they're talking about drilling a new parallel well to take the pressure off the one that is leaking - but that will take months.

None of the options look good. Meanwhile LA Governor Jindal has declared an emergency, birds are washing up oil-slicked, and the Gulf shrimping and fishing industries in 4 states (LA,MS, AL, FL) are imperiled.

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They're trying to do controlled burns - they did a limited one yesterday but conditions were poor and they're unable to do further ones.

They also have tried to use manual and automatic shutoffs on the primary pipe, but that has failed.

They are talking about capping it with large metal dome and then lifting the oil to the surface, but as you say that will take weeks.

They're talking about spreading detergent diffusers at the ocean floor to cause beading of the oil, so that it won't become a tarry mass as it spreads through the Gulf.

And they're talking about drilling a new parallel well to take the pressure off the one that is leaking - but that will take months.

None of the options look good. Meanwhile LA Governor Jindal has declared an emergency, birds are washing up oil-slicked, and the Gulf shrimping and fishing industries in 4 states (LA,MS, AL, FL) are imperiled.

:( so sad.

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It is an environmental catastrophe. I've been following the news on it and listened to reports on public radio early Friday morning that they were going to do control burns. The last thing I heard was that it may take as long as 4 weeks before they can cap it. Very tragic and sad.

So when you gonna call yo mamma to change your diaper?

"I swear by my life and my love of it that I will never live for the sake of another man, nor ask another man to live for mine."- Ayn Rand

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Filed: Country: Belarus
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They're trying to do controlled burns - they did a limited one yesterday but conditions were poor and they're unable to do further ones.

They also have tried to use manual and automatic shutoffs on the primary pipe, but that has failed.

They are talking about capping it with large metal dome and then lifting the oil to the surface, but as you say that will take weeks.

They're talking about spreading detergent diffusers at the ocean floor to cause beading of the oil, so that it won't become a tarry mass as it spreads through the Gulf.

And they're talking about drilling a new parallel well to take the pressure off the one that is leaking - but that will take months.

None of the options look good. Meanwhile LA Governor Jindal has declared an emergency, birds are washing up oil-slicked, and the Gulf shrimping and fishing industries in 4 states (LA,MS, AL, FL) are imperiled.

I've been living and working on the Gulf of Mexico in the oil industry for 27 years. I work on production platforms on the outer continental shelf, but have lived and worked on jackup drilling rigs occasionally when our facilities are involved in simultaneous production and drilling operations. This blowout occured off the shelf in the deep water region of the Gulf. I've never worked on "floaters" and the technology is quite different than on the shelf where I work.

It doesn't surprise me that the leak could be 25,000 bpd. Yes, it could take months to drill a relief well into the formation feeding the blowout and kill it so it no longer leaks. That is the final solution to this problem. All the other remedies mentioned are just containment actions to attempt to minimize the damage until the relief well is drilled.

This is an environmental catastrophe. Until all the facts are in and the root cause of this accident is determined it is impossible to speculate how and why this happened. The US oil industry is tightly regulated by the government and incidents such as this are rare.

"Credibility in immigration policy can be summed up in one sentence: Those who should get in, get in; those who should be kept out, are kept out; and those who should not be here will be required to leave."

"...for the system to be credible, people actually have to be deported at the end of the process."

US Congresswoman Barbara Jordan (D-TX)

Testimony to the House Immigration Subcommittee, February 24, 1995

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glad to see you posting, peejay. i was worried about you when i read this story.

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USE THE REPORT BUTTON INSTEAD OF MESSAGING A MODERATOR!

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If, or perhaps more likely when it hits the Gulf Stream, this could make the Valdez look like a minor spill. The slick has more than doubled in size the past few days and they have no way of knowing how much oil is leaking. Check this out. It doesn't sound good.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36870222/ns/us_news-environment/

R.I.P Spooky 2004-2015

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If, or perhaps more likely when it hits the Gulf Stream, this could make the Valdez look like a minor spill. The slick has more than doubled in size the past few days and they have no way of knowing how much oil is leaking. Check this out. It doesn't sound good.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36870222/ns/us_news-environment/

You ain't kidding. And hurricane season is just a month away. Could you even imagine?

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This one has the potential to be more devastating than anything we have seen. How much can the oceans take?

The faster we get off this product the better for society.

According to the Internal Revenue Service, the 400 richest American households earned a total of $US138 billion, up from $US105 billion a year earlier. That's an average of $US345 million each, on which they paid a tax rate of just 16.6 per cent.

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The faster we get off this product the better for society.

:thumbs: There will be more and more ocean drilling as the easy supplies run out. Imagine the potential for disaster with deep sea drilling. And what happens if one of these wells can't be capped and continue to spew millions of barrels into the sea? At what point does the damage to the oceans become irreparable? The seas aren't an endless garbage dump.

R.I.P Spooky 2004-2015

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That oil that is being pumped into the ocean will inevitably end up on our dinner table - through the food chain. We might as well ask for our engine oil during a next service, to pour it over our meal and get used to it from now.

What a bloody disaster for the environment and ecological chain... People are going to look back at our era in 200 years and think what a bunch of dumb c---s they were. They'll clone us just so they can beat the #### out of is.

Edited by Booyah!

According to the Internal Revenue Service, the 400 richest American households earned a total of $US138 billion, up from $US105 billion a year earlier. That's an average of $US345 million each, on which they paid a tax rate of just 16.6 per cent.

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That oil that is being pumped into the ocean will inevitably end up on our dinner table - through the food chain. We might as well ask for our engine oil during a next service, to pour it over our meal and get used to it from now.

What a bloody disaster for the environment and ecological chain... People are going to look back at our era in 200 years and think what a bunch of dumb c---s they were. They'll clone us just so they can beat the #### out of is.

The food chain has been affected by the pollution and poisoning for a long time and it looks like it is getting worse. The mercury in the swordfish will eventually pale in comparison to the damage done by oil spills if we don't get a handle on it. We have truly sh!t on our environment for a long time. Sooner or later, we will pay the price if we don't smarten up.

R.I.P Spooky 2004-2015

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