For weeks now, I have been following the news on the big oil spill from the deep ocean floor well, kind of wondering "What is going on with these guys?" First they tried to put a caisson over the well pipe and planning on pumping the oil to the surface. Problrem solved, right? Not so, they forgot about the hydrates.The key issue was to recover the oil, not cap the well.
Next was to insert a tube into the well and try to pump the oil out. Problem solve, right? Not so!
There was a technique used in Kuwait, and elsewhere, where a tapered steel rod was inserted into the well pipe causing a complete stoppage. It seems that if they can put a 20 tonne concrete caisson over the well, then put a tube down the pipe ( at a depth of 5000 feet, then they should be able to combine the two and effectively cap the dude!
Now they are trying to pump cement and mud into the well, hoping to seal it off, or from the pictures, recover the oil.
Now it appears to this complete idiot, that the efforts are to maintain the well in production and recover the oil.
Now, BP, is the issue to stop the flow of oil into the environment, or to recover the oil? So far from the above, I see a priority on recover the oil, not stop the disaster.
What am I missing?
What are your thoughts?
Are we being hosed?
Is Obama simply doing lip service? Or is he actively getting world wide help?
Lip service is what we usually get from President Obama.
ReplyDeleteAlmost everything he does or doesn't do is to score political points! When we vote him out of office in 2012 maybe we can talk him into taking a long vacation to Iran or Venezuela.
Oh Ian you are so right here. I'm mad at the whole thing too...it seems so easy (well not that easy) but the mistakes they make are unforgettible.
ReplyDeleteD.
I'm terribly sad, I was born in New Orleans, and all that precious area......
ReplyDeleteI have been out of town, so I am coming to the party late. But after reading your post twice and the comments, I am going to simply say ditto to Ron.
ReplyDeleteHey, I just found the following quote on igoogle
ReplyDeleteThe major difference between a thing that might go wrong and a thing that cannot possibly go wrong is that when a thing that cannot possibly go wrong goes wrong it usually turns out to be impossible to get at or repair.
- Douglas Adams
Seems rather appropriate!
The responsibility for fixing this disaster lies entirely on the oil companies in my opinion. They are making the money hand over fist on the gasoline. Obama is not an oil capping expert. All he can do is communicate with the oil companies. Our government is no better (highly likely to be worse) equipped to deal with the situation out there. I just think the oil companies need to mobilize like they've never done before to fix this thing.
ReplyDeleteThe whole thing sickens me though.