Government officials say the ruptured well is spewing five times more crude than originally was estimates when the oil spill within the Gulf of Mexico continues to expand. The coast guard had a news conference late Wednesday night as strategies to stop the leak failed. It was told to reporters by Rear Adm. Mary E. Landry that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration changed the estimate of the leak from 1,000 to 5,000 barrels a day. Cleanup crews working on the oil spill are experimenting with burning the oil slick. By Friday night, weather reports show that the oil spill could be hitting the gulf of Louisiana. Landry said the US military could be called for assistance as the crisis escalates, which would cost a lot of cash today.
Accelerating oil spill of the Gulf coast
The oil spill within the Gulf of Mexico has been spreading given that April 20 when a drilling rig leased by BP exploded and sank about 50 miles off the Louisiana coast, leaving 11 workers missing and presumed dead. At first it was believed by experts that the oil came from two leaks within the riser, which happens to be a 5,000 foot long pipe that lead from the rig to the wellhead on the ocean floor. Doug Suttles, chief operating officer for exploration for BP, said a new lead was found according to The New York Times. A leading edge of the oil spill within the Gulf of Mexico stretching about 100 miles across had advanced to 16 miles offshore Wednesday, closing in on the Mississippi River Delta.
The oil spill on the Gulf coast estimates
To estimate what is spilling out of the leaks within the riser, scientists are eyeballing video feeds from remote submersibles. “That takes a practiced eye,” said Doug Helton in an e-mail message to the New York Times that he sent on Wednesday night. “Like being able to look at a garden hose and judge how many gallons a minute are being discharged. The surface approach is to measure the area of the slick, the percent cover, and then estimate the thickness based on some rough color codes.” . Heavy, pudding like crude oil is only about 3 percent of it.
Fire oil slick
An oil slick fire is being tested to diminish damage to the shoreline from the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The Associated Press reports that BP and Coast Guard crew late Wednesday afternoon began an oil slick fire test about 30 miles east of the Mississippi delta of the Mississippi River. A 500 foot fireproof boom was used on several thousands of gallons of the thickest oil on the surface. Ignited with hand held flares was the oil that was taken away from the main body of the spill. 50 to 90 percent of oil in the boom was expected to evaporate by the Coast Guard. Prevailing winds were expected to blow the toxic black cloud of smoke and soot out to sea.
Military assistance with oil slick cleanup
CNN reports that as the oil slick within the Gulf of Mexico continues to spread, cleanup planners briefed Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on Thursday morning. Plans are being works on by the military including putting a ship in the Gulf to support and resupply cleanup vessels or possibly provide aircraft to help map the spill. This might be a long term operation considering the plan to establish a base on the coast for equipment and supplies for the cleanup of the oil.
Gulf coast oil slick might spread for months
To stop the oil spill from spreading, NOAA said a rig will start drilling the first relief well a half mile from the disaster area on Friday reports CNN. But the well, intended to stop up the gushing leak with concrete, mud or other heavy liquid, will take several months to complete. A solution that is shorter should take two to four weeks nevertheless and is a dome lowered over the leak at the sea floor which routs leaking oil to a surface collection point. Whether the Dome technique is effective is uncertain. It has never been tried at such depths.
Cleanup price tag for the oil spill
The oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico is costing a heavy toll. Those who are officials in the oil industry suggest replacing the oil rig would cost up to e $ 700 million. Containing the oil spill will cost $ 6 million according to BP. The disaster is expected to rise in costs and to exceed $ 1 billion.
Article Resources
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/29/us/29spill.html?pagewanted=2&ref=us
