What Exactly Caused The Oil Leak?

Does anyone know what the proper response for putting out a flaming oil rig is? As far as I know you dont put water on an oil fire, further you dont spray thousands or millions of gallons of water into a floating vessel and dont expect it to sink, and if it happens to be attached to an oil pipe, well oops again. Im not going to say that this is a conspiracy but that would do less to damage my faith in the utter stupidity of people. Has anyone done a study on the seeming exponential increase in the stupidity of an organization relative to its membership. We as a species just seem to get dumber the more of us are around. Honestly I genuinely feel that we will go down as the dumbest generation ever. Look at the solutions to this problem...put a box over it...fill it with mud... cut it off... who the heck comes up with this crap...?

I wonder about 041910- Who is responsible?

Quoted in entirety from: news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/us_and_canada/10362139.stm

:
BP told Deepwater rig safety gear 'broke weeks earlier'
Page last updated at 05:02 GMT, Monday, 21 June 2010 06:02 UK
E-mail this to a friendPrintable version By Hilary Andersson

BBC Panorama, Washington

The oil slick now covers an area of sea the size of Scotland A Deepwater Horizon rig worker has told the BBC that he identified a leak in the oil rig's safety equipment weeks before the explosion.

Tyrone Benton said the leak was not fixed at the time, but that instead the faulty device was shut down and a second one relied on.

BP said rig owners Transocean were responsible for the operation and maintenance of that piece of equipment.

Transocean said it tested the device successfully before the accident.

'Unacceptable'
Continue reading the main story
It should have just really slowed down and just took one job at a time, to make sure everything was done the way it should have been
Tyrone Benton

Deepwater Horizon rig worker
On 20 April, when the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded, the blowout preventer, as the device is known, failed.

The most critical piece of safety equipment on the rig, they are designed to avert disasters just like the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

The blowout preventer (BOP) has giant shears which are designed to cut and seal off the well's main pipe. The control pods are effectively the brains of the blowout preventer and contain both electronics and hydraulics. This is where Mr Benton said the problem was found.

"We saw a leak on the pod, so by seeing the leak we informed the company men," Mr Benton said of the earlier problem he had identified. "They have a control room where they could turn off that pod and turn on the other one, so that they don't have to stop production."

Professor Tad Patzek, petroleum expert at the University of Texas, was blunt in his assessment: "That is unacceptable. If you see any evidence of the blowout preventer not functioning properly, you should fix it by whatever means possible."

Mr Benton said his supervisor emailed both BP and Transocean about the leaks when they were discovered.

Daily costs

He said he does not know if the leaking pod was turned back on before the disaster or not.

He said to repair the control pod would have meant temporarily stopping drilling work on the rig at at time when it was costing BP $500,000 (£337,000) a day to operate the Deepwater Horizon.

US Representative Henry Waxman, who is overseeing congressional investigations into the rig disaster, has accused BP of taking safety shortcuts to save money.

"BP appears to have made multiple decisions for economic reasons that increased the danger of a catastrophic well failure," Waxman said.

Chief Executive Tony Hayward, giving evidence to Congress, said: "There is nothing I have seen in the evidence so far that suggests that anyone put cost ahead of safety, if there are then we will take action."

Congress has identified numerous other problems with the blowout preventer, including design problems, unexpected modifications and a flat battery.

Cement job

The other major problems on the rig, Congress has said, centred around the cement job. Cement in an oil well blocks explosive gases from escaping, and it appears the cement may not have set properly on the Deepwater Horizon.

Continue reading the main story
This week, the BBC is assessing the impact of the Louisiana oil spill. Correspondents in the US, the Gulf of Mexico, Brazil, Nigeria and London are reporting for the BBC World Service, World News TV and the BBC News website.

Full coverage of the oil disaster
BP said it had indications of a successful cementing operation and the company that was in charge of the cement job, Halliburton, has said that the cement job was consistent with that used in similar applications.

Several rig workers the BBC spoke to who were on the Deepwater Horizon said there was a pressure in April to work fast.

Work to prepare and then seal the well was behind schedule and had to be completed before a production rig could move in and start turning profits.

"Too many jobs were being done at one time. It should have just really slowed down and just took one job at a time, to make sure everything was done the way it should have been," said Mr Benton, who is now suing BP and Transocean for negligence.

BP has responded to Mr Benton's account saying Transocean was responsible for both the maintenance and operation of the blowout preventer.

Panorama: BP - In Deep Water, BBC One, Monday, 21 June at 2030BST and then available in the UK on the BBC iPlayer .

Re: www.deepwater.com//fw/main/View-Company-Video-499.html

a quest to become educated will always succeed

me(?)

Yeah, I read the nine pages of article they had yesterday, but I really got the feeling that at least THEIR story is ongoing. News in the pacific northwest is already sparse regarding the mountain of malfeasance being discovered, and getting less press every day.

I do not know what good any of this will do. I am glad that all the people posting here are like me and concerned about the leaking oil. I know that at one mile deep (5,280 Feet) The pressure is greater than 200,000 foot pounds per Square inch. This pressure is resisting the oil and being overpowered by the greater force of the oil.
An explosion would come as near to fracturing the top of the oil field resivoir (Ocean Floor) as it it would to being a 100 percent for sure leak sealer. I would think some sort of liquid nitrogen cryogenic freezer could be built and inserted into the shaft in an effort to freez the oil below the point that the shaft was drilled into it. Maybe this would buy enough time until the broken pipes could be replaced.
I feel a hole should never be drilled without a plan to cap it, even under these circumstances. While nothing can be done about the past, the future lesson this brings, should force all oil companies to have a plan before drilling in deep water oil fields.
Cleaning a mess that continues to spill does nothing to solve the problem. Eventually Hurricanes will mess with clean up efforts. At this point blame and pointing out what should have been does not slow the leak. I Think people with good Ideas are being ignored. It is our planet too, and that alone should at least grant us a voice. I am not here to be judged, show off, or make fun. I am hear to say that each of you have a stake in this. This is your planet. Your country that this event is destroying. You have a right to be mad as hell.