Exploded Offshore Rig In Gulf Of Mexico Now Leaking 42,000 Gallons Per Day

[democracy1st]

NEW ORLEANS — The Coast Guard discovered Saturday that oil is leaking from the damaged well that fed a massive rig that exploded this week off Louisiana's coast, while bad weather halted efforts to clean up the mess that threatens the area's fragile marine ecosystem.

For days, the Coast Guard has said no oil appeared to be escaping from the well head on the ocean floor. Rear Adm. Mary Landry said the leak was a new discovery but could have begun when the rig sank on Thursday, two days after the initial explosion.

"We thought what we were dealing with as of yesterday was a surface residual (oil) from the mobile offshore drilling unit," Landry said. "In addition to that is oil emanating from the well. It is a big change from yesterday ... This is a very serious spill, absolutely."

Coast Guard and company officials estimate that as much as 1,000 barrels – or 42,000 gallons – of oil is leaking each day after studying information from remotely operated vehicles and the size of the oil slick surrounding the blast site. The rainbow-colored sheen of oil stretched 20 miles by 20 miles on Saturday – about 25 times larger than it appeared to be a day earlier, Landry said.

By comparison, Exxon Valdez spilled 11 million gallons in Alaska's Prince William Sound in 1989 – the worst oil spill in U.S. history.

BP PLC, which leased the rig and is taking the lead in the cleanup, and the government have been using the remotely operated vehicles to try to stop the leak by closing valves on the well deep underwater. If that doesn't work, the company could drill what's called an intervention well to control the oil flow. But the intervention drilling could take months.

"Over the next several days, we should determine which method is the best one to follow," said Doug Suttles, chief operating officer for BP Exploration and Production. "A huge number of engineers from ourselves, working with (the government) and across the industry are putting together the best technology and know-how to solve this problem."

Complicating efforts to stop the leak is well head's depth at 5,000 feet underwater, said Lars Herbst, the regional director for the Minerals Management Service. Leaks have been fixed at similar depths before, but the process is difficult, he said.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/04/24/oil-rig-deepwater-horizon_0_n_550849.html

[JBoy]

1. This does not sound good at all.

[Incitatus]

2. Drill, Baby, Drill!

:eyes:

[IndianaGreen]

16. That's what the Obama Administration has now embraced!

And these are the consequences of such folly!

[obxhead]

3. Drill baby drill, it's completely safe and we need it!

:grr: :cry:

[HughMoran]

4. It's ironic actually, because until this episode happened, they had the statistics on their side

Sometimes fate works in your favor :D

[obxhead]

5. well, as we know from various tanker spills etc

it only takes a little oil to do massive long term damage when water is involved. Increase drilling and there will be an increase in damaged water ecosystems from spills and various mishaps.

[RC]

14. That's OK, the oceans are about fished out anyway.

:sarcasm:

And for the same damn reason we are drilling out there in the first place. There are too many people for this planet to support!

[grahamhgreen]

9. BS

[taterguy]

10. Some people don't like walking

This is just one of the costs associated with basing our society on automotive transportation.

I think it's a stupid way to organize a society but the overwhelming majority of the American public seems to think it's a good idea.

[obxhead]

17. That's over simplifying it a bit don't you think?

It's either a car or walking. There are so many other options available that we could pursue if we could find elected officials with enough backbone to stand against the corporations that make people think these are our only 2 options.

[taterguy]

19. Other than walking, biking is the option that doesn't rely on oil

And biking would be my preferred option, but my observations during my ride to work convince me that the roar of the masses feels otherwise.

(But kudos to the Outer Banks for being one of the most bike friendly places around, except for the Bonner Bridge. I saw some folks biking across that and said to myself: What crazy MFers.)

[ShortnFiery]

6. At times, I hate it when I'm correct . :(

It was just Friday when I was figuratively SHOUTED down. I corrected a thread that said of a Coast Guard declaration: No oil leaking from sunken rig.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x4354496

Specifically, I posted a QUOTE which the whores in the M$M over-generalized - well, they LIED - DISTORTED THIS QUOTE, as they didn't even FULLY ("appeared") lift it out of context.

"The article via USA today gives the following as The QUOTE from which to extrapolate the bogus conclusion that "Everything's Fine!" by the whores in the corporate media.


Coast Guard: No oil leaking from sunken rig

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2010-04-23-deepwater-horizon_N.htm

'Coast Guard Rear Adm. Mary Landry said Friday morning that no oil *appeared* to be leaking from the well head at the ocean floor 5,000 feet deep, nor was any oil leaking at the water's surface.'

I don't take that analysis as SCIENTIFIC."

[ShortnFiery]

7. Kick

:dem:

[grahamhgreen]

8. DRILL BABY DRILL IS WRONG!

[postulater]

11. Spill Baby Spill!

:mad:

[spanone]

12. the other day there was nothing spilling, yesterday it was 1,000 gals. a day...now

lying fuckers

[RC]

15. It just took that long to get to the surface.

[spanone]

20. shirley, you jest

[gulliver]

13. The mind reels

1. Another Bush/Cheney/GOP de-regulation or non-enforcement result?
2. A big boost for the alternative energy push of the Dems
3. A test for BP to prove their offshore oil business model isn't ignoring risks for which they have no contingency
4.

[Xenotime]

18. Now we can use this a reason to stop drilling.