As of Monday afternoon, the oil spill within the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Louisiana spread to cover more than 1800 square miles. The oil spill is coming from a leak within the well that was drilled by the Transocean Deepwater Horizon, a giant offshore drilling rig that exploded and sank last week. The well is nearly a mile deep and is expected to be leaking 43,000 gallons a day. The leak is going to be put under control by the US coast guard using robots.
Bases off analysis of ocean currents and weather patterns, the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is expected to stay about 30 miles offshore. In a statement Monday, the Coast Guard warned states along the Gulf Coast to be on alert. The Louisiana shore is at the highest risk since the oil rig that burned and sank was drilling a well about 50 miles off the Louisiana coast.
Response to oil spill
In preparation for the oil spill which might reach landfall sometime Tuesday according to the Coast Guard, Louisiana began spending money now on oil spill response, installing containment booms around environmentally sensitive areas. The Associated Press reports that Alabama has also mobilized oil spill response to prevent damage when the oil slick makes landfall. The Coast Guard appears to be spending additional money on 15 specially designed skimming vessels which has collected 48,000 gallons of oil water mix by Sunday. Dispersant chemicals are dumped by aircraft to break down the oil.
Oil spill disaster comes true with fears
An oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico was one of the greatest fears When the Deepwater Horizon exploded and sank. The well is leaking its liquid money today from the “riser,” as reported by the New York Times. The riser was 5000 feet and was a pipe extending from the wellhead on the ocean bottom that was connected to the drilling platform. The riser now is apparently kinked like a garden hose. . Before sinking, a geyser of oil and gas shot from the riser to create a giant plume of flame and black smoke on the platform.
Cleanup of the oil spill
To contain the oil spill, the Coast Guard aims to have robotic subs activate a 450-ton valve at the wellhead 5,000 feet deep that could possible seal the well. However, it’s possible that this valve, which was designed to prevent sudden pressure releases that led to the explosion that sunk the platform, might not work. BP has, has a contingency, dispatched two rigs to the area that could drill relief wells. Officials estimated that this strategy, drilling down to the cavity of oil and gas and pumping it full of mud and concrete, could take two months.
At this rate, The New York times said, the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, at a rate of 42,000 gallons of oil a day, would have to continue for 262 days to match the 11-million-gallon spill in Alaska’s Prince William Sound from the Exxon Valdez in 1989, the worst oil spill in United States history.
