Operation 'Top Kill'

[northener]

It involves stuffing old tyres, golf balls and other sundry paraphenalia into the hole.

Why not 'Operation We've Really Run Out Of Ideas Now'?

Any suggestions from the collective on how this leak can be plugged?

[Phill]

Yet when the shove sundry paraphernalia down a shaft at Dounreay they get all twitchy about it.

'spose it actually finds a use for golf balls.

[fred]

It involves stuffing old tyres, golf balls and other sundry paraphenalia into the hole.

Why not 'Operation We've Really Run Out Of Ideas Now'?

Any suggestions from the collective on how this leak can be plugged?

I've seen other possibilities offered by people in the business. One was to put another pipe inside the leaking pipe then balloon it, pump liquid down at high pressure so it blows up like a balloon stopping the flow long enough for the pipe to be blocked. I have also seen the use of explosives at the well head suggested.

I have seen some speculation that there is more than one leak and that the leak they are trying to plug is the smaller of the two. I've seen it said that BP should be pumping the oil spill into tankers then using centrifuges to separate the sea water.

Whatever happens I hope they do something soon, some of the sea which flows around the shores of Caithness comes from the Gulf of Mexico, some of the water that oil is flowing into will reach us eventually.

[mrlennie]

Whats this to do with?

[mrlennie]

Ah I get it now

[georgegwf]

In the north sea at the moment after seeing this thread I went and asked the Rig manager why are they pumping this stuff down the well he has told me "The reason they pump down rubber based products is that the oil is supposed to bond to it and hopefully force its way into the cracks and or holes in the pipeline and reduce or stop the flow, After the flow has become decreased to a manageable flow (he is not sure what manageable flow is) heavy drill mud and drill cuttings are then pumped in to overcome the pressure of the oil and gas being pushed up, Once this has been done cement is then pumped down through the pipeline and the B.O.P. (blow out preventer )(which didn't work) ".

Hope this helps .............

[DeHaviLand]

http://www.bp.com/liveassets/bp_internet/globalbp/globalbp_uk_english/homepage/STAGING/local_assets/bp_homepage/html/rov_stream.html

According to BP, this is their "top kill" plan working as they expected. You mean, they didnt actually expect it to work?

With over 2 million gallons of oil flowing into the gulf on a daily basis, along with the dispersants BP are adding, I think what we're seeing is an environmental disaster on an unbelievable scale. This is going to have serious detrimental effects on all wildlife, and possibly human life, in and around the Gulf of Mexico for many years to come.

The Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska was over 10 million gallons, and is going to seem like a minor dribble from a neglected oil filter in comparison.

21 years on from Valdez, and the environmental effects are still being felt! Who will bet against the fall out of this monumental cock-up still being around in 100 years time?

[Margaret M.]

I vote for stuffing it with the government regulators who were too cozy with those they were supposed to be regulating (as usual).

[brandy]

well saying that.. obama is fit to be tied he is so angry.. and out right told BP that if they didnt do something and do it now.. that he would take over and something would be done.

[fred]

21 years on from Valdez, and the environmental effects are still being felt! Who will bet against the fall out of this monumental cock-up still being around in 100 years time?

I think we are looking at the shape of things to come. The oil in the world which is easy, safe and cheap to extract is running out. Oil companies are going to cut more and more corners and take more and more risks to try and maintain output levels.

[nightspirit]

Now being reported as a failure -a shame but not really a surprise

[Anfield]

One sure fire way of getting leak stopped would be if President Obana stopped BP, and any subsidiary companies, from selling oil products in USA, and at the same time stopped all their current oil extractions.
This would ensure that BP would then devote all of its efforts into stopping this leak instead of pussyfooting around trying the cheapest options e.g. Golf Balls, Car Tyres?

As a poster above mentioned, they are still arguing about who was to blame for the Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska 21 years ago.
It is now seems to be accepted commercial practice to point finger of blame at someone else, stall for time by going through courts and then pay out damages (if awarded) out of profits made in litigation period.

BP say that it will reimburse people affected by this disaster, but what about the non intrinsic damage this leak is doing to area. this cost can never be quantified and will cause irreparable harm to the environment. People who rely on the resources of the area will be paying a huge price for years to come, just like those in Alaska but on a far bigger scale

We can do our bit over here by refusing to buy BP petrol, and sign up to BP Boycott http://boycottbp.org/why

Alternatively we could ask Mrlennie if he could round up a couple of mates in the plumbing trade and go over there and show them how to stop a leak properly

[ducati]

One sure fire way of getting leak stopped would be if President Obana stopped BP, and any subsidiary companies, from selling oil products in USA, and at the same time stopped all their current oil extractions.
This would ensure that BP would then devote all of its efforts into stopping this leak instead of pussyfooting around trying the cheapest options e.g. Golf Balls, Car Tyres?

As a poster above mentioned, they are still arguing about who was to blame for the Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska 21 years ago.
It is now seems to be accepted commercial practice to point finger of blame at someone else, stall for time by going through courts and then pay out damages (if awarded) out of profits made in litigation period.

BP say that it will reimburse people affected by this disaster, but what about the non intrinsic damage this leak is doing to area. this cost can never be quantified and will cause irreparable harm to the environment. People who rely on the resources of the area will be paying a huge price for years to come, just like those in Alaska but on a far bigger scale

We can do our bit over here by refusing to buy BP petrol, and sign up to BP Boycott http://boycottbp.org/why

Alternatively we could ask Mrlennie if he could round up a couple of mates in the plumbing trade and go over there and show them how to stop a leak properly

I've been boycotting BP for years :eek:

[annthracks]

=DeHaviLand;714103 Who will bet against the fall out of this monumental cock-up still being around in 100 years time?

I'll bet you it'll be gone in 70 years

[annthracks]

I've been boycotting BP for years :eek:

Like that's really hard to do in Caithness!! LMFAO

[Tubthumper]

A lot of guys have been getting paid a lot of money to ensure BP continued to make money for its investors. Not much bottom agitation amongst the executive staff when things leaked, fell over or blew up, but now...

... BPs share price is dropping quite badly. Executives bottoms start to spontaneously squirm. It's sad that our world is so dominated by money that the only time any bigshot's job is on the line is when the share price drops, and never when someone gets vapourised.

A lot of my pension is invested in companies such as BP. Does that make me partly to blame for the spill??:eek:

[ducati]

Like that's really hard to do in Caithness!! LMFAO

OOPs, catched [lol]

[ducati]

A lot of guys have been getting paid a lot of money to ensure BP continued to make money for its investors. Not much bottom agitation amongst the executive staff when things leaked, fell over or blew up, but now...

... BPs share price is dropping quite badly. Executives bottoms start to spontaneously squirm. It's sad that our world is so dominated by money that the only time any bigshot's job is on the line is when the share price drops, and never when someone gets vapourised.

A lot of my pension is invested in companies such as BP. Does that make me partly to blame for the spill??:eek:

No Tubs, a lot of everyone's pension is invested in BP. It is one of the staples of any Pension Fund Managers portfolio. :eek:

[mrlennie]

Alternatively we could ask Mrlennie if he could round up a couple of mates in the plumbing trade and go over there and show them how to stop a leak properly

The idea is not to cause a leak in the first place!

Seriously though, a major disaster.

[Tubthumper]

Why not 'Operation We've Really Run Out Of Ideas Now'?
I think we're on to 'Operation Scraping the Bottom of the Barrel' now.

[bekisman]

What happened to all that oil that sat on the seabed after the Braer tanker in Shetland? is it still there?
8 Mar 1993:Almost two-thirds of the oil from the tanker Braer could have sunk to the bottom of the sea off Shetland, according to a computer profile of the massive spill. A prediction worked out by a computer tracking model at the Proudman Oceanographic Laboratory, Birkenhead, suggests that around 62% of the 85,000-tonne cargo could have been at the bottom of the sea by January 20, just over a third could have decayed, and a tiny proportion might have reached as far as the Norwegian coastline. :confused

[Tubthumper]

What about the Torrey canyon, in the English Channel way back? I seem to remember prophecies of doom for the Breton fishermen after that disaster, yet everything was back to normal just 5 years later.

[ducati]

What about the Torrey canyon, in the English Channel way back? I seem to remember prophecies of doom for the Breton fishermen after that disaster, yet everything was back to normal just 5 years later.

Thing is, there is oil and oil. Pure crude oil straight out of the ground is relatively biodegradable, but different depending where it comes from. Then you have tankers plodding around the oceans with all kinds of refined and partialy refined oil. Oil is transported in various stages of refinement all over the place depending on where it's cheap to process today.

Sorry lost my thread......oh yes, so as it is mucked about with more and more it becomes more and more damaging.:(

I may well be wrong, but I don't recall a leak like this straight out of the ground happening before?

[Neil Howie]

Well there's always:

Nuke the oil spill: Could nuclear bomb be answer for huge leaks as at US Gulf coast? (video) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ojCbqfRRr8)

why have one environmental disaster when you could have two?

I think the Russians ACTUALLY did this for 4 leaks that they had, will post better links when time allows.

[squidge]

Where is the wee boy with his thumb? Seems like he might have more luck than BP are doing

[Tubthumper]

Where is the wee boy with his thumb? Seems like he might have more luck than BP are doing
He'd have to be good at holding his breath!
Seriously though, because its so deep it's a real problem. I have to ask, bearing in mind the level of risk associated with drilling/ extraction like this, should they (ie all those involved) not have spent a lot more time making sure their safety equipment actually worked? We seem to be forgetting that 11 guys were killed in a horrible way at the start of this.

[golach]

Where is the wee boy with his thumb? Seems like he might have more luck than BP are doing

Hans Brinker is too busy these days Squidge, and he used his finger to save the Netherlands, your thinking of Little Jack Horner [lol]

[ducati]

He'd have to be good at holding his breath!
Seriously though, because its so deep it's a real problem. I have to ask, bearing in mind the level of risk associated with drilling/ extraction like this, should they (ie all those involved) not have spent a lot more time making sure their safety equipment actually worked? We seem to be forgetting that 11 guys were killed in a horrible way at the start of this.

The manufacturer of the anti blowout valve (probably Aberdeen based) is no doubt looking at it's contract re limits of liability. As we speak, BP has already spent close to $1 Billion on not fixing it.

So someone will be getting sued into oblivion :eek:

I gather the pipe isn't a pipe but what is left of some kind of subsea tree structure that has been smashed to pieces so there is no clean end to cap (and several broken pipe ends).