Timor Sea Oil Spill At 1,200 Metric Tons And Rising - Damaged Well Flow May Increase - Bloomberg

[hatrack]

Sept. 18 (Bloomberg) -- An oil spill from a leaking well off Western Australia that has polluted the Timor Sea with 1,200 metric tons of oil may worsen and is a “major ecological disaster in the making,” a conservation group says.

“This is a disaster that risks blowing out further in terms of its scale and impact on the ocean,” Darren Kindleysides, director of the Australian Marine Conservation Society, said in an e-mailed statement today. The spill has covered 15,000 square kilometers (5,800 square miles), with 400 barrels a day leaking from the Montara field, the group said.

Oil, gas and condensate started seeping into the Timor Sea Aug. 21 from a leak 3,500 meters below the ocean floor during drilling by the local unit of Bangkok-based PTT Exploration & Production Pcl. The Thai company said today halting the flow by drilling a relief well to plug the leak with mud is expected to take a further three-and-a-half weeks to complete.

Australian Maritime Safety Authority observations indicate the size of the spill is reducing, Lauren Tindale, Perth-based spokeswoman for PTTEP Australasia, said by phone. The authority is coordinating the clean up effort and PTTEP has said it will cover the cost.

EDIT

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601072&sid=azE0FqoCgGco

[ensho]

1. good grief! I posted this spill on DU right after it happened never realizing

that it is still going on!

what a horrible disaster.

[kristopher]

2. This should be seen by everyone in florida...

Those clowns down there are intent on destroying a beautiful place and they need a serious wake-up call. If this doesn't do it, nothing would.

[kristopher]

3. Photos

This blog has links to satellite photos, but they are 3 weeks old. Still worth viewing.

http://blog.skytruth.org/2009/09/timor-sea-drilling-spill-worse-than.html

Direct NASA link: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/event.php?id=40030