A $500,000 Remote Trigger, Not Required On U.S. Wells, May Have Stopped The Deepwater Horizon Catastrophe From Spreading

Reuters is reporting the following:

WASHINGTON, May 3 (Reuters) - U.S. lawmakers are focusing on whether lax government regulation that did not require BP to use a remote control "trigger" to shut an underwater pipe exacerbated the spreading oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

A $500,000 acoustic trigger may have allowed workers escaping from the burning rig by boat to send a remote signal 5,000 feet below the water's surface to close the valve and stop the oil.

Instead, BP (BP.L) is using submersible robots, whose tiny metal arms so far have been unable to move the lever that would cut off the flow of crude.

BP's ruptured well is still spewing about 5,000 barrels a day, nearly two weeks after its rig exploded. The massive spill is bearing down on the rich fishing grounds and tourist beaches of the Gulf Coast.

The Interior Department, which oversees offshore energy exploration, does not require acoustic triggers in deepwater drilling.

Oil producing countries such as Norway and Brazil require the triggers and some oil companies find the device so vital that they voluntarily include it on equipment when exploring for oil in the U.S. Gulf.

For those of you who have not been reading about BP's past safety violations, Pro Publica released some must reading yesterday titled, "Oil Companies Pay a Pittance in Penalties to Offshore Drilling Regulator".

BP is a corporation similar to Massey Energy (the coal company which just suffered a fatal mining mishap)in that they put profits above safety. Hence, BP was not one of these oil companies who "find the device so vital that they voluntarily include it on equipment when exploring for oil in the U.S. Gulf."

But that may change soon for BP as an outspoken critic of offshore drilling, Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL), is asking for an investigation. As Reuters mentions:

Democratic Senator Bill Nelson of Florida on Monday asked the Interior Department's inspector general to investigate whether regulations covering back-up systems to cap underwater wells were adequate. He also wants to know if energy companies have lobbied to soften rules.

"I ask that you determine in your investigation the extent to which the oil and natural gas industry exercised influence in the agency's rule making process," Nelson said.

Meanwhile, the House Oversight and Investigations Reform Committee is also investigating and wants to know why the Interior Department has not mandated the shut-off switches.

Still, some in the industry say these automatic shut-off triggers may not have prevented the huge Deepwater Horizon accident:

Interior does not require the acoustic valves because they have not been "fully proven or they haven't been deemed reliable," a department spokesman said.

A report commissioned by the department Minerals Management Service in 2003 said that remote acoustic systems were useful when the primary shut-off pipe device has failed and are also useful in depths greater than 10,000 feet.

However, the report said the acoustic system may not work well if the underwater well has significant oil flow.

The report also said other problems can occur that would prevent the remote trigger from working such as loud noises or a mud cloud on the sea floor caused by an accident.

One petroleum geologist at a company operating in the Gulf said an acoustic trigger would not have worked in this case because the control box on the sea floor was probably broken.

"You could have had 20 of the acoustic activation devices on 20 boats, circulating that rig," said the geologist, who did not want to be identified. "It's probably because something is broken in the control box that would activate it or there is something in the way."

Several posters on Motley Fool yesterday were discussing the "prohibitive" cost of these safety triggers. Yes, they do cost a half-million dollars. But what is $500,000? One day's revenue from a well as big as the Deepwater Horizon.

Also there is this to consider: by law, oil spill liability payments were capped at just $75 million back in the 90s after the big spill off California's coast. But as the Reuter's article says:

Meanwhile the oil industry may soon find the cost of acoustic triggers more affordable, compared with the cost of fighting an oil spill. Legislation was proposed in the Senate to raise the limit on oil company liability for spill damages from $75 million to $10 billion.

"There is no such thing as a 'Too Big to Spill' oil well, which is why we need this economic protection in place," said Democratic Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey. It is unclear whether the legislation will be backed by Senate leadership.

Environmental lawyer Mike Papantonio, whose firm has filed a class action suit on behalf of Gulf Coast fishermen, said the triggers are a fail-safe protection against spills.

Will other class-action lawsuits soon follow from Gulf Coast watersports' businesses, recreational fishermen and environmentalists? A shake of my "Magic 8-Ball" sez "All Indications Point To "Yes!"

Stay tuned

Today's Statement From BP: It May Take 3 Months To "Contain Spill" ?

We already know BP is erecting gigantic steel and cement boxes which they hope to place over the leaks on the seabed. The boxes will have long vacuum hoses attached to their tops (like childrens' sippy cup straws) to pump the out-of-control oil gushers to ships waiting on the surface.

That still does not address how to permanently stop the volcanic rush of oil (5,000 barrels estimated per day at this time) into the boxes which are hastily being built. And please keep in mind this type of fix has never been tested on a oil break this size.


If that's the good news, what's the bad news?

Now comes news today from BP that it might take "three months" to drill down to the broken well and inject cement to stop the flow permanently.

Question: What happens if the vacuum box containers do not work?

Answer: We can kiss watersports and beaches good-bye in the Gulf of Mexico and most likely the Eastern Seaboard of America this summer. You can also say good-bye to the Great Recession recovery and any hope for a bottom in home prices in the Sunshine State anytime soon.

Three more months? Jesus H. Christ.

From the Times today "BP says stemming oil flow will take three months":

The fight to cut off the flow of oil feeding the giant oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico could take three months, BP said today.

The oil giant launched a new front in its battle to contain the spill, as engineers began drilling a relief well designed to cut off the leaking oil permanently.

The new well, which is in 5,000 feet of water, is planned to intercept the existing well at 13,000 feet — about two miles — below the seabed. It will be used to inject cement to cap the one that is leaking.

Drilling began on Sunday at 3pm local time, after days of delays caused by poor weather conditions. However, BP confirmed that the operation would take “some three months” to complete.

The operation, which will cost an estimated $100 million, is being undertaken by a second rig called Development Driller III, which BP towed to the site last week.

“This is another key step in our work to permanently stop the loss of oil from the well,” said BP group chief executive Tony Hayward.

“At the same time we are continuing with our efforts to stop the leak and control the oil at the seabed, to tackle the oil offshore and to protect the shoreline.”

An estimated 1.6 million gallons of oil are thought to have leaked from the site of the BP-leased Deepwater Horizon rig, since an explosion on April 20 which killed 11 workers.

Sarah Palin just yesterday was urging viewers on Fox to continue to believe in "Drill, Baby, Drill!" And Bill Kristol is telling his readers that we need to build the oil rigs closer to shore. (See my post earlier today "Heckuva Case of Oral Diarrhea, Brownie + 7 Stupidest Statements About The Growing Oil Amoeba In The Gulf Coast".)

If this is what passes as intelluctualism from the Fringe Right, you can bet upcoming elections are not going to go well for the Tea Party crowd.

Heckuva Case of Oral Diarrhea, Brownie + 7 Stupidest Statements About The Growing Oil Amoeba In The Gulf Coast

Just when you think the tinfoil conspiracy theorists had run out of ideas on why the Deepwater Horizon accident took place, along comes former FEMA head under George W. Bush, Michael Brown, with the latest Fox News hyped hypothesis.

According to "Brownie", Obama wanted this oil spill so that the President could now "pander to Environmentalists". Never mind the fact President Obama recently agreed to open certain areas offshore to drilling to appease the rightwing nutjobs who want to "Drill, Baby, Drill" anywhere they damn well please.



Still, Brownie's stupid statement is not as crazy as some of the diarrhea coming out of Rush Limbaugh's mouth.

Please see alternet.org's "7 Stupidest Statements Made About The BP Gulf Oil Spill"

In this lineup of crazytalkers, Rush Limbaugh appears twice.

Rush took 7th place with:

Rush Limbaugh: Environmentalists probably blew up the oil rig.

Ah, yes. Where would any major event be if Rush Limbaugh wasn't around to say something idiotic about it? This time, Limbaugh predictably uses the fact that the explosion happened around Earth Day to, yes, blame environmentalists for it. Here's some of the quote:

But this bill, the cap-and-trade bill, was strongly criticized by hardcore environmentalist wackos because it supposedly allowed more offshore drilling and nuclear plants, nuclear plant investment. So, since they're sending SWAT teams down there, folks, since they're sending SWAT teams to inspect the other rigs, what better way to head off more oil drilling, nuclear plants, than by blowing up a rig? I'm just noting the timing here.

Such a sleuth, that Limbaugh. And that's just a snippet of his inane rant.

Wait until you read the next one which earned Rush his 1st place award:

Rush Limbaugh: Oil Spill is as "Natural as the Ocean Water is."

It's only fitting that our list begins and ends with Limbaugh. The first statement he made, while undeniably stupid, is the sort of thing that he can be counted on to spout while blathering about the 'left' and those 'wacko environmentalists'. But this statement is 100% objectively stupid: ""The ocean will take care of this on its own if it was left alone and left out there," Limbaugh said. "It's natural. It's as natural as the ocean water is."

The alternet piece continues on with the following comments about that blivet which popped out of Rush's mouth with this:

Woops. Here's TreeHugger's Michael Graham Richards taking down:

This shows a total lack of understanding, a big 'science fail'... "Natural" doesn't always mean good, despite what the marketing people would like you to believe. Arsenic, lead and mercury are as natural as can be, but you wouldn't want them in your food or your living room. Well, crude oil is also natural, but it's toxic to most living organisms (exceptions are rare, mostly bacteria), and the waters of the Gulf of Mexico are the living room and fridge of countless species.

And once again, Rush Limbaugh has been proven to be, wholly and unequivocally, an idiot.

To which a reader, nigelwhalmsley, on Motley Fool's Political Asylum board commented,

"So, Rush thinks that drilling platforms occur spontaneously in nature. Hmmm. Al Franken was right. Rush is a big fat idiot."

Nuff said.

Democracy Now: BP Oil Spill Worsens With No Solution in Sight, 210,000 Gallons a Day Spew into Gulf of Mexico

Drill, Baby, Drill Cartoons From Around The Nation

Business/Economic News for 4 May 10

Florida's Blasting Cap For A Double Dip Recession? Oil Slick from Ongoing Deepwater Horizon Catastrophe On The Way To The Florida Keys

(Images scooped from the Big Picture Blog's: "Oil spill approaches Louisiana coast")


Headlines from around the world on the unfolding Deepwater Horizon Catastrophe:


Oil Spill To Hit Florida Keys: Will Hit Loop Current Within 24 Hours

GULFPORT, Miss. — Scientists say the Gulf oil spill could get into the what's called the Loop Current within a day, eventually carrying oil south along the Florida coast and into the Florida Keys.

Nick Shay, a physical oceanographer at the University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, said Monday once the oil enters the Loop Current, it likely will end up in the Keys and continue east into the Gulf Stream.

Shay says the oil could affect Florida's beaches, coral reefs, fisheries and ecosystem within a week.

Note to long time readers of this blog: this environmental disaster is the talk of the town (Key West). Can you imagine what will happen to our economy when fishing, jet-skiing, scuba diving, kite surfing, paddle boarding, sunbathing and swimming, etc., are all adversely affected by large sheens and globs of oil washing up on our beaches?



For North Florida fishermen, passion and livelihood at stake

PERDIDO KEY -- Paul Redman Sr. has made a living off the water since he was a teenager, first as a crabber then as a commercial fisherman.

The captain had just returned from a six-day trip where he brought back 2,100 pounds of reef fish, when the rig in the Gulf of Mexico collapsed, causing a massive oil spill that has come to haunt this part of Florida.

With a 10-day federal ban on recreational and commercial fishing, Redman is out of business for now, just as the season begins. From Pensacola Beach to Panama City, the sting of a massive oil spill almost 100 miles away made landfall, restricting fishing in federal waters from the mouth of the Mississippi River to the Florida Panhandle.

``Zero. Zero. Zero. I am sitting here stuck with a three-man crew who have families and house notes,'' said Redman, 59, who operates the Jim-n-i, a 40-foot snapper vessel. ``I have been trying to figure out a way for us to go fishing to make a living but I haven't come up with anything yet. I invested 30 years of my life in the Gulf and now it's covered in oil.''

More than 6,800 square miles of federal fishing areas in the Gulf of Mexico were closed Sunday, robbing an industry of its livelihood. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration issued the ban as a public safety measure to prevent possibly tainted seafood from reaching the market.

Readers of this blog know commercial and recreational fishing in the Florida Keys has never returned to what it once was since the double whammy of the Great Recession and Hurricane Wilma. Now with the threat of an uncontrolled oil volcano still spreading a giant toxic amoeba across the Gulf of Mexico to the Loop Current, Florida fishermen south of the Panhandle are glum.

There are not enough oil booms in existence to stop this spreading into the Keys. And no matter how many days we might see fishing banned, nobody is going to want to eat fish or shellfish taken from the waters surrounding the Keys anytime soon after the oil hits our waters.

Can you imagine what this will do to fishing fleets everywhere down here? Here's how it is affecting Panhandle commercial fishermen already:

Although the ban is only for 10 days right now, if you talk to the fishermen, this is only the first step of what is likely to kill the season, roughly from May to September.

``That ban is the precursor of what is to come,'' said Paul Redman Jr., president of the Pensacola Charter Boat Association and the son of a commercial fishermen. ``This could economically collapse our area. We don't have big plants around here or other huge industries. Fishing is our Disney World. It's all we have.''

The ban sent a ripple of panic throughout the Panhandle fishing industry, grounding some fishermen to their docks and driving others to look for gold in the waters outside the restricted areas.

For three decades, Redman has fished across the Gulf of Mexico, up to 110 miles west of the Florida coast, mostly for Vermillion snapper, pink snapper and amberjack. On a good run, he and the crew crew would bring back a bounty of 3,500 pounds -- the first 1,000 pounds needed just to break even -- that would eventually make it to restaurants and seafood markets as far north as New York.

But in a business this specialized, there isn't always a Plan B.

``I spent Monday going through my Rolodex trying to find other fisheries that me and the crew could work with,'' said Redman, whose boat is docked at Perdido Bay Seafood. ``I didn't have much luck.''

Mike Carden, captain of the 80-foot Daytona, was in a race against time Monday. Docked at Panama City Marina in St. Andrew Bay, Carden's deckhands hurried to stock up while Carden used his onboard computer to check the Gulf's currents.

``My whole thing is to get out in front of the oil,'' said Carden, who watched the Deep Water Horizon rig burn from about 30 miles away. ``If I get locked in here, I'm done. All the little boats that can't go nowhere else, they're not going to be able to fish.''

Carden, a seasoned captain of 40 years, expects St. Andrew Bay to be shut down within the next two days.

``The damage has already been done,'' Carden said. ``If they cap it off now, it doesn't matter. We're refugees from the oil spill now. For this industry, this is pretty grim. It looks to shut down the whole industry, domestic anyway.''

And it's not just the commercial fishermen. Think about all the charter boats at Charter Boat Row which don't go out on beautiful days. I saw this firsthand last week when I and two co-workers went out fishing on the Gulfstream IV on Tuesday. First of all, "tourist season" is coming to an end. Secondly, hurricane season is about to begin. Lastly, the threat of oil simply kills what few people may have wanted to go out for a four hour excursion. Add these three components together and we could very well enter a Double Dip Great Recession in Florida.

The Herald article tells what is happening North of here:

As a band of storms passed through Pensacola Beach, Captain Mike Newell looked out at the emptiness of the 31-slip marine where his 46-foot boat named Miss Marisa, is docked. He would like to blame it on the rain, but knows better.

``My phone has been ringing and they all are saying the same thing. They are canceling because of this oil mess,'' said Newell, a Vietnam vet who owns a sportfishing charter business. ``I don't know how we are going to through this season.''

Had the rig not blew a leak two weeks ago, Newell would have been running his six-passenger boat out 20 or 30 miles off the coast.

Out the 15 excursions he had booked -- priced at $900 to $1,500 each -- eight have already canceled.

``I would much rather have a hurricane come through here,'' he said. ``The way this is going, we will go out of business, but slowly.''

I'll suggest this again:

End of Tourist Season + Hurricane Season + Oil Amoeba Hitting The Keys = Double-Dip Great Recession?

Stay tuned.