Deepwater Horizon - Transocean Oil Rig Fire

Offshore
5682

I’ve been following this disaster since it happened on April 20th and gcaptain is one of the places I’ve been reading since then.

I listened to the debate between CompanyMan1 and Alcor.

I also tried to find out what the hell was going on here by reading stuff from loads of other sources. I ended up listening to people like Tony Hayward of BP, Fatty Allen of the USCG, Matt Simmons, Bob Cavnar et al. And a whole load of other sources; both mainstream and not so mainstream.

Where has my thinking ended up?

  1. A huge oil disaster has occurred.

  2. BP, the USCG, and the US Govt have conspired to cover this up.

  3. Massive amounts of very toxic dispersant have been used to hide this huge oil spill. These dispersants (Corexit) are a banned substance in many countries because of their highly toxic nature.

  4. US Govt environmental agencies, such as the EPA, have forbidden their use in the quantities in which BP, the USCG and the US Govt have used them in this case.

  5. BP, the USCG and the US Govt have, nevertheless, ignored these directives and have sprayed these poisons into the GOM regardless.

  6. To make matters worse they have been used in a manner which is highly unorthodox, in that they have used these dispersants to hide the oil. They have done this by treating the oil with dispersant subsea; thus hiding the massive spill underwater by distributing it throughout the entire water column.

  7. Instead of allowing the oil to come to the surface, where it could be skimmed/collected they have chosen to hide it.

  8. According to BP, the USCG and the US Govt, most of the oil has disappeared!!!

  9. It looks as though we are being treated like idiots.

By the way, NOL, when we were told there was only one well by Alf he actually said:

“There is no factual evidence to support 2 wells (A & B) being drilled. A Proposal To Drill (2 wells) is just that, nothing more than a proposal. In reality it never happened.”

In reality there are the co-ordinates which delineate where each well is supposed to be. Provided by BP in their well exploration plan. We have video footage, from rov’s close to a bop, which tell a very different story.

This whole episode seems to be much more murky than we have been led to believe.

5683

Committee Releases Memo & Documents Concerning Issues Raised in Recent News Media Accounts Related to the Deepwater Horizon Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill

Publications - Media Advisories

Sunday, 30 May 2010 15:06

Today, the Committee on Energy & Commerce released a memo and documents concerning issues raised in recent news media accounts related to the Deepwater Horizon Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill.

[B]Documents[/B]

[ul]
[li]Memo from Chairmen Henry A. Waxman and Bart Stupak[/li][li]Evaluation of Casing Design Basis for Macondo Prospect, May 14, 2009[/li][li]GoM Exploration Wells, Appendix F, Jan 2010[/li][li]BP Email, March 12, 2010[/li][li]BP Emails, March 10, 2010[/li][li]BP Emails, February 8, 2010[/li][li]BP Emails, November 17, 2009[/li][li]http://energycommerce.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2024:committee-releases-documents-concerning-issues-raised-in-recent-news-media-accounts-related-to-the-deepwater-horizon-gulf-of-mexico-oil-spill&catid=122:media-advisories&Ite[/li][/ul]

You may be particularly interested in the March 10, 2010 email.

To read it in the order they were sent read from the bottom of the page to the top.

5684

God, I’m getting sick of this… re: MikeDB’s Post #5444 . I’m a Directional Driller. I’m one of those guys who steer oilwells for a living - same thing as John Wright. When the drillstring gets stuck - which happens more often than you would think - it causes delays. If the string cannot be freed, tools are run in hole to part the pipe - this is called a Freepoint & Back-Off operation. It is done to recover as much of the drillstring as possible above the stuck point. After this, the remainder of the string left in the hole - known as the ‘Fish’ (which is why stuck-pipe specialists are known as Fishermen) is cemented in place by creating a cement plug on top of it. A ‘new’ well is drilled from the top of the cement plug - NOT from surface. This is known as drilling a Sidetrack. Again, a VERY common occurance when drilling oilwells. Obviously, the objective is NOT to get stuck and have to do Fishing, Free-Point & Back-Off, Cementing and Sidetracking operations due to the time and cost involved. But -drilling a borehole being what it is - it happens… sometimes multiple times on the same well. As a matter of fact, we are currently stuck in hole on the well I am on. This crap quoted in post 5444 is trying to make what is a normal - albeit infrequent and costly - operation, into some sort of scandlous cover-up. Again, Give Me An F’ing Break - and let people who now NOTHING about drilling oilwells shut the hell up!

5685

Perhaps you could look up the word [I]horizontal. [/I]Then try to read my posts again sans rage.

Oh, and it is a scandalous cover up.

Edited to add:

A criminal, scandalous cover up.

Just because someone doesn’t understand drilling doesn’t mean they cannot see lies and liars playing CYA.

No plumes, Tony Hayward said it was ridiculous, “oil floats” as they pour poison into the Gulf that will kill for years to come and hide the enormity of this catastrophe.

Good luck with getting out of your hole.

5686

[QUOTE=DDdon;41265]God, I’m getting sick of this… re: MikeDB’s Post #5444 . I’m a Directional Driller. I’m one of those guys who steer oilwells for a living - same thing as John Wright. When the drillstring gets stuck - which happens more often than you would think - it causes delays. If the string cannot be freed, tools are run in hole to part the pipe - this is called a Freepoint & Back-Off operation. It is done to recover as much of the drillstring as possible above the stuck point. After this, the remainder of the string left in the hole - known as the ‘Fish’ (which is why stuck-pipe specialists are known as Fishermen) is cemented in place by creating a cement plug on top of it. A ‘new’ well is drilled from the top of the cement plug - NOT from surface. This is known as drilling a Sidetrack. Again, a VERY common occurance when drilling oilwells. Obviously, the objective is NOT to get stuck and have to do Fishing, Free-Point & Back-Off, Cementing and Sidetracking operations due to the time and cost involved. But -drilling a borehole being what it is - it happens… sometimes multiple times on the same well. As a matter of fact, we are currently stuck in hole on the well I am on. This crap quoted in post 5444 is trying to make what is a normal - albeit infrequent and costly - operation, into some sort of scandlous cover-up. Again, Give Me An F’ing Break - and let people who now NOTHING about drilling oilwells shut the hell up![/QUOTE]

I 100% echo your comments. It’s simply incredible the farcical conclusions many people arrive at. I am not defending nor convicting BP, but I can assure all that I will if they are found to be guilty, and that’s when I see the data that convicts them. And , it won’t take misinformation, as many of the gullible fools on this site cosy up to.
Up to this point, I accuse all and defend all involved depending on the evidence we know.
One thing is for sure, Mike DB has to be an example of someone who’s been shit on from a height to arrive at the conclusions he offers. He wants it to be so, I’d imagine for alterior motives!

5687

[QUOTE=MikeDB;41266]Perhaps you could look up the word [I]horizontal. [/I]Then try to read my posts again sans rage.

Oh, and it is a scandalous cover up.

Edited to add:

A criminal, scandalous cover up.

Just because someone doesn’t understand drilling doesn’t mean they cannot see lies and liars playing CYA.

No plumes, Tony Hayward said it was ridiculous, “oil floats” as they pour poison into the Gulf that will kill for years to come and hide the enormity of this catastrophe.

Good luck with getting out of your hole.[/QUOTE]

Hole in one! You know nothing about drilling! And yet, you consider yourself to be qualified to unleash abuse and help to coordinate the demise of BP. Why? Because you heard it on the news. Remember the news coverage has been flawed from the start, because they don’t understand the industry either. Basically, your commentary is a flaw.

5688

[QUOTE=barney;41262]I’ve been following this disaster since it happened on April 20th and gcaptain is one of the places I’ve been reading since then.

I listened to the debate between CompanyMan1 and Alcor.

I also tried to find out what the hell was going on here by reading stuff from loads of other sources. I ended up listening to people like Tony Hayward of BP, Fatty Allen of the USCG, Matt Simmons, Bob Cavnar et al. And a whole load of other sources; both mainstream and not so mainstream.

Where has my thinking ended up?

  1. A huge oil disaster has occurred.

  2. BP, the USCG, and the US Govt have conspired to cover this up.

  3. Massive amounts of very toxic dispersant have been used to hide this huge oil spill. These dispersants (Corexit) are a banned substance in many countries because of their highly toxic nature.

  4. US Govt environmental agencies, such as the EPA, have forbidden their use in the quantities in which BP, the USCG and the US Govt have used them in this case.

  5. BP, the USCG and the US Govt have, nevertheless, ignored these directives and have sprayed these poisons into the GOM regardless.

  6. To make matters worse they have been used in a manner which is highly unorthodox, in that they have used these dispersants to hide the oil. They have done this by treating the oil with dispersant subsea; thus hiding the massive spill underwater by distributing it throughout the entire water column.

  7. Instead of allowing the oil to come to the surface, where it could be skimmed/collected they have chosen to hide it.

  8. According to BP, the USCG and the US Govt, most of the oil has disappeared!!!

  9. It looks as though we are being treated like idiots.

By the way, NOL, when we were told there was only one well by Alf he actually said:

“There is no factual evidence to support 2 wells (A & B) being drilled. A Proposal To Drill (2 wells) is just that, nothing more than a proposal. In reality it never happened.”

In reality there are the co-ordinates which delineate where each well is supposed to be. Provided by BP in their well exploration plan. We have video footage, from rov’s close to a bop, which tell a very different story.

This whole episode seems to be much more murky than we have been led to believe.[/QUOTE]

You want to know what happened? They took their eye off the ball!
Like I’ve said before, any component of a well can fail at any time…all over the world. The oil industry isn’t a place where you can decide someone else is to blame for your cock-ups. Everyone on the rigs has clearly defined responsibilities. Operations change on a daily basis. No two wells are the same…at least, not from mobile vessels. No two exploation wells are the same. That is why we must never take our eye off the ball.
A driller is trained to take charge of the well, to observe its behaviour, to monitor the volumes. If volumes change, the driller must immediately take action.
It doesn’t matter what well is considered successful by others…the driller must always expect the unexpected.
Volume control, and pressure control are everything in this business. Lose these and you lose the well, and possibly lives with it!
Macondo spoke, and we’re all waiting to hear what it said. We have to wait for the data. It’s coming. BP, are releasing their findings at the end of the month.

5689

[QUOTE=alcor;41269]Hole in one! You know nothing about drilling! And yet, you consider yourself to be qualified to unleash abuse and help to coordinate the demise of BP. Why? Because you heard it on the news. Remember the news coverage has been flawed from the start, because they don’t understand the industry either. Basically, your commentary is a flaw.[/QUOTE]

You could check my posts and find that I have been upfront about being here to understand what happened and ask questions. Then I suggest you look for the “unleash abuse” you claim I have exhibited. I’ve been very civil with my questions and replies unlike a lot of others, including you, who those here that are in the industry seem to have little, if any, respect for.

You defend BP like a Rottweiler. Why is that? Are your reasons for being here to play damage control for BP, or are you interested in discovering the truth of what happened and continues to happen?

Yes, BP has seen to it that lies have been told as truth from the start so the news coverage is to blame for that?

Why not attack the testimony of Mike Williams who was actually on DWH the night it exploded? Or why not explain how the “mystery second pipe” was found in the riser. After Mr. Williams’ testimony, isn’t it obvious even to a shill like you?

Tell us why BP continues to spray the lethal Corexit after the well has been “capped”.

Why don’t you check the manufacturers of Corexit, Nalco, and see who profits from the death they continue to pour into the Gulf. You may be surprised.

How is it BP denied the existence of submarine oil plumes that are miles long and wide and hundreds of feet thick in multiple levels of water even after being told by research vessels of them? There’s that flawed news coverage again.

Tell me why BP received permission from MMS to use a different casing on the well, one their own engineers said would not be safe.

Explain why Tony Hayward and Goldman Sachs sold millions of dollars in BP stock mere weeks before the Horizon exploded. They knew that well was in dire straits but only saw to profit from it and have as of the testimony in the hearings a few weeks ago failed to contact the loved ones of the 11 men killed to give their sympathies to the grieving families. There’s that caring company again.

And there are two wells, A and B. Well A was capped then they drilled horizontally and then down to the oil. That was Well B. There are documents verifying this or do you as a rule cap one well then after your slant drill continue to call that well the same as the one you capped? The latitude/longitude on the maps show both wells.

It seems that when people like you have their comfort zone invaded with truth they attack the invader rather than the truth.

That speaks volumes whether you or anyone else realizes it or not.

Edited to add:

And the man many of you think insane, Matt Simmons, before he was killed, set up a college fund for the children of the 11 men that died.

Tell me what BP has done for the families of those men.

I’ll tell you.

Nothing, not even a call or a card to say they were so sorry for their loss.

5690

[QUOTE=MikeDB;41271]You could check my posts and find that I have been upfront about being here to understand what happened and ask questions. Then I suggest you look for the “unleash abuse” you claim I have exhibited. I’ve been very civil with my questions and replies unlike a lot of others, including you, who those here that are in the industry seem to have little, if any, respect for.

You defend BP like a Rottweiler. Why is that? Are your reasons for being here to play damage control for BP, or are you interested in discovering the truth of what happened and continues to happen?

Yes, BP has seen to it that lies have been told as truth from the start so the news coverage is to blame for that?

Why not attack the testimony of Mike Williams who was actually on DWH the night it exploded? Or why not explain how the “mystery second pipe” was found in the riser. After Mr. Williams’ testimony, isn’t it obvious even to a shill like you?

Tell us why BP continues to spray the lethal Corexit after the well has been “capped”.

Why don’t you check the manufacturers of Corexit, Nalco, and see who profits from the death they continue to pour into the Gulf. You may be surprised.

How is it BP denied the existence of submarine oil plumes that are miles long and wide and hundreds of feet thick in multiple levels of water even after being told by research vessels of them? There’s that flawed news coverage again.

Tell me why BP received permission from MMS to use a different casing on the well, one their own engineers said would not be safe.

Explain why Tony Hayward and Goldman Sachs sold millions of dollars in BP stock mere weeks before the Horizon exploded. They knew that well was in dire straits but only saw to profit from it and have as of the testimony in the hearings a few weeks ago failed to contact the loved ones of the 11 men killed to give their sympathies to the grieving families. There’s that caring company again.

And there are two wells, A and B. Well A was capped then they drilled horizontally and then down to the oil. That was Well B. There are documents verifying this or do you as a rule cap one well then after your slant drill continue to call that well the same as the one you capped? The latitude/longitude on the maps show both wells.

It seems that when people like you have their comfort zone invaded with truth they attack the invader rather than the truth.

That speaks volumes whether you or anyone else realizes it or not.

Edited to add:

And the man many of you think insane, Matt Simmons, before he was killed, set up a college fund for the children of the 11 men that died.

Tell me what BP has done for the families of those men.

I’ll tell you.

Nothing, not even a call or a card to say they were so sorry for their loss.[/QUOTE]

MikeDB …

I have relooked at all the data again (as per your earlier post), and still I only see 1x well that was started with the Marianas rig and finished off with the DWH.
(The DWH continued that same well, did a sidetrack, and then later on had the blowout).

As for a cover up on this data ?? I just dont know if that is correct or not.

So only ONE WELL!

5691

[QUOTE=MikeDB;41266]Perhaps you could look up the word [I]horizontal. [/I][/QUOTE]

Oh, Mike, trust me, I know horizontal. I drill horizontal wells all the time. I’ve been in this game long enough - over 30 years - to remember when Horizontal Drilling was a new concept. Mike, as my mother used to say to me “Don’t try to teach your grandmother how to suck eggs”. Hope you understand the metaphor.

5692

https://www.energytrainingresources.com/data/default/content/Macondo.pdf
If you go to the above link and look on page 15, figure 26, it shows exactly what was done on the Macondo 252.

5693

[ATTACH]1119[/ATTACH]

[B]PLUME TEST CHALLENGE[/B]: Two other ERS team members and I designed and tested (despite great interference from a certain company’s “gentleman” blockers) the ERS Deep Water Sampler June 14-19, 2010 in the area of the Macondo well. Our Sampler, unlike Niskin and GO-FLO samplers, used by BP’s contractors and NOAA, maintains sample composition and does not lose oil or dissolved gases from either the process of gas stripping as a deep water sample is retrieved to the lower pressure and higher temperatures in surfacing or from adhesion of oil to the PVC or Teflon interior of the mentioned sample bottles.

NOAA and BP are well aware of those problems in the Niskins and GO-FLOs they use. I can only surmise they want low results. Our Sampler, which NOAA supported and was quite thrilled with till PLUME became a four letter word, provides valid sampling for subsurface plume sampling and testing. The plumes exist, I personally pulled up samples clearly showing high concentrations of tiny oil droplets dispersed in the seawater from a 1,000 feet depth southwest of the Macondo well on June 15, 2010. Our original float plan allowed us to test and sample where we needed, but hours before boarding, we were told we would not be allowed to sample anything but coordinates that we knew corresponded to clean water, we were also told to watch our backs (major understatement- we had to hand haul up 41 lbs of gear from 5,200 ft due to the games being played- but being determined to do our job- we didn’t give up- we overcame every obstacle thrown at us). We didn’t go all that way to sample and test our device in clean water, I’ll leave it at that.

I[B] challenge Alcor or invite anyone who wants to see for themselves if oil is still coming up or is dispersed, to provide a vessel with a suitable winch AND WE WILL GO OUT- FOR FREE- AND SAMPLE THE AREA IN QUESTION AND DO THE ANALYSIS NEEDED. No reason to guess or wonder, when you can know for sure.[/B]

My hat is off to FSU on their recent cruise, they had been told to “redirect” their work after they got a sizable grant from BP- but their researchers did what was right- and I’m sure they will catch hell for it- but I am really proud of them for not caving in.

A good hearing to watch tomorrow is below, someone else may have already posted this, but just in case not:

[B]Hearing on “The BP Oil Spill: Accounting for the Spilled Oil and Ensuring the Safety of Seafood from the Gulf"
Hearings - Subcommittee on Energy and Environment[/B]

[B]The Subcommittee on Energy and Environment will hold a hearing entitled “The BP Oil Spill: Accounting for the Spilled Oil and Ensuring the Safety of Seafood from the Gulf” at 11:30 a.m. on Thursday, August 19, 2010, in 2123 Rayburn House Office Building.
[/B]
[U]Invited Witnesses:[/U]

Bill Lehr, Ph.D., Senior Scientist, Office of Response and Restoration, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Paul Anastas, Ph.D., Assistant Administrator, Office of Research and Development, Environmental Protection Agency

Donald Kraemer, Acting Deputy Director, Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, Food and Drug Administration

Ian MacDonald, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Oceanography, Florida State University

Mike Voisin, Chief Executive Officer, Motivatit Seafoods, LLC

Acy Cooper, Jr., Vice President, Louisiana Shrimp Association

Dean Blanchard, President, Dean Blanchard Seafoods, Inc.

Lisa Suatoni, Ph.D., Senior Scientist, Oceans Program, Natural Resources Defense Council

[B]FOR Documents and Briefing Memo[/B] go to: http://http://energycommerce.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2106:heairng-on-the-bp-oil-spill-accounting-for-the-spilled-oil-and-ensuring-the-safety-of-seafood-from-the-gulfq&catid=130:subcommittee-on-energy-and-the-environment&Itemid=71

TO WATCH LIVE GO TO C-SPAN TV OR WEB COVERAGE 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

The past hearings from this Committee are available on Energy Committee website. The past Joint Investigation Hearing videos are on both C Span’s archive page of their website and on the Joint Investigation Hearings website. Next weeks Joint Hearings in Houston should be live on one of the C Span channels or websites.

5694

[QUOTE=DDdon;41273]Oh, Mike, trust me, I know horizontal. I drill horizontal wells all the time. I’ve been in this game long enough - over 30 years - to remember when Horizontal Drilling was a new concept. Mike, as my mother used to say to me “Don’t try to teach your grandmother how to suck eggs”. Hope you understand the metaphor.[/QUOTE]

Your comment (#5447) was thus -" A ‘new’ well is drilled from the top of the cement plug - NOT from surface" replying to my post (#5444) where I said, “They got stuck, capped that well and MMS gave BP permission to drill [B]horizontally[/B] and then down to the oil” which is why I (#5448) suggested you look up “horizontal”.

Nice to know your family aren’t egg suckers.

Edited to add post numbers.

5695

WASHINGTON, Aug. 18, 2010 [B]

USF Scientists: Gulf Oil in Deep Undersea Canyon[/B]

[B]University of South Florida Team’s Early Findings Warn Crude Maybe in Canyon Soil; Latest Report to Contradict Gov’t[/B]

Researchers are warning that the Gulf of Mexico oil spill is a bigger mess than the government claims and that a lot of crude is lurking deep below the surface, some of it settling perhaps in a critical undersea canyon off the Florida Panhandle.

You can’t spray Corexit on the truth and expect it to stay hidden.

Lies are always brought to the light of truth where they are destroyed.

5696

Macondo was speaking…let us learn from this lesson…exercise caution…move ahead and do not repeat the past. Let the dead rest in peace, but do not forget them and their sacrifice…Enough said… Let the politicians do what they do best, which is essentially nothing …LETS GET BACK TO DRILLING!

5697

[QUOTE=New Orleans Lady;41218] Offering [Alcor] a big fish wrapped in newspaper,rofl[/QUOTE]

:smiley: Pass me that fish, NOLA, please. I know just what to do with it. (fish make great slappers- esp the big ones & he’ll play hell getting that smell off after all this time)

5698

New Witness lists are out for next week.

http://www.deepwaterinvestigation.com/go/doctype/3043/54031/
Looks like Vildrine is still down and out but should be an interesting week if all those listed do show up.

Folks, let’s please keep this forum to technical discussions. Environmental issues are big but please find another forum to highlight, address and fight about them.
Let’s go back to drilling but we still do not yet know 100% what lesson to learn from this well. Initially it looked like the casing hanger’s seal assembly failed and that the kick was sudden but based on the flow of the cement the failure happed at the shoe or casing Xover; if so, then there should have been enough time to detect the inflow. The issue with the 2 pipes in the BOP will also only be resolved once the BOP is lifted (hopefully soon!).

Time for Kent Wells to give another update!

5699

[B]
22-mile-long oily plume mapped near BP well site[/B]

                 [B]                         Study is first peer-reviewed look at ecosystem  concern — and questions U.S. optimism[/B]

                                               Video

[ul]
[li] [/li]

 [B]         [Mile-wide oil plume spotted near BP spill](http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38770508/#slice-2)

[/B]
[/ul]
updated 8/19/2010 2:20:00 PM ET

Scientists on Thursday reported results from the first detailed study of a giant plume of oily water near the blown-out BP well — stating that it measured at least 22 miles long, more than a mile wide and 650 feet tall.

While other scientists earlier found evidence of plumes in the area, the new data is the first peer-reviewed study about oil lurking in the water, in this case at some 3,000 feet below the surface. It’s also the first to offer some details about the size and characteristics of a plume not only vast in size but which remained stable and intact during a 10-day survey last June.

5700

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    close Yahoo! BuzzMySpacedel.icio.usRedditFacebookLinkedInFarkViadeoOrkut Text By GUY CHAZAN
    It might be mid-September before BP PLC puts the final plug in its blown-out well in the Gulf of Mexico, a federal official said, or roughly a month later than initially expected.

Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, who is overseeing the government response to the oil spill, said Thursday BP will first attempt to replace the blowout preventer, a key piece of equipment that sits on the seabed, to prevent oil leaks during the plugging operation. He said the last step would be pushed back to “the week after Labor Day,” which falls on Sept. 6 this year.

More on BP
Oil Plume From Spill Persists, Data Show
.The postponement, caused partly by weather delays, is frustrating for both BP and the government, which are eager to bring a close to the Gulf disaster. No oil has been leaking into the sea since July 15, when BP installed a new, tight-fitting cap on the well. But federal officials have made it clear that the well won’t be declared dead until a “bottom kill” has been carried out to seal it from below.

BP’s well blew out April 20, killing 11 people, destroying the Deepwater Horizon rig and triggering the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history. The government has estimated that some 4.9 million barrels of oil were released into the Gulf during the spill. BP has been drilling a relief well since May, which was expected to intercept the ruptured well by mid-August. Once it hits its target, mud and cement will be pumped in to cap the well from the bottom.

The operation has been delayed over concerns about the 1,000 barrels of oil that have been trapped in the well ever since the cap was installed at the top last month. Engineers fear that flooding the well with mud could increase pressure in the annulus, the area between the well casing and the surrounding rock formation, forcing off the seal at the top of the well and discharging the trapped oil into the Gulf. The oil, if released, also could damage the blowout preventer and compromise the capping equipment on the well. A new blowout preventer would be better able to withstand the pressure and prevent the oil from leaking, Adm. Allen said.

For that to happen, BP must first finish a pressure test, which involves flushing the blowout preventer with seawater to ascertain there are no leaks of oil or gas. The test started Thursday morning and will take 48 hours, Adm. Allen said. BP will then try to remove the drill pipe contained in the well.

Adm. Allen said care would be taken not to damage the old blowout preventer as it is retrieved from the seabed, since it is “material evidence” in the investigations being conducted into the causes of the Deepwater Horizon disaster by the U.S

5701

Hey BP, we found some of your oil.

Here are 5, 1 minute videos shot by a man that took his family to the beach.

[B]August 17, 2010

Bald Point in the Panhandle of Florida 08-17-2010 5 p.m.
[/B]

  1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4jFDyNEMlM

  2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CK58_smwlFk

  3. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FTXNpy77vs < watch what comes up as he drags his foot across the beach by the water. Oil

  4. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HbgOJYGDea8

  5. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amr2M2E63_k < look what comes up when he digs his foot into the formerly sugar white sand further up the beach. Oil.

Years ago on TV, I saw David Copperfield make the Statue of Liberty disappear - even from radar.

But guess what? It was all an illusion.