Sunday, June 20, 2010

Shall we visit grandpa one more time before he goes?


Like a relative in the hospital we ask ourselves that question should I go to the hospital and see grandpa or would I like to remember him the way he was in better times? So it is with the Gulf coast. You know the scenario. Relatives running around screaming at the doctors to do something and they not really wanting to give it to you straight saying that they are keeping him comfortable and stable but they know the outcome and we should too. "We're doing everything we can for him". We know the story. There's the IV drips and the tests and the nurses who hover around while we're there. We just can't bring ourselves to face the facts. They gave it their best shots and it all failed.

I sat there last night considering all of the options. Every conceivable thought or plan no matter how crazy was not out of the question. Surely some egghead from NASA would come to step in to save the day but alas there is no super hero or brainiac waiting in the wings. What was once a rescue mission is now nothing more than a recovery. So like grandpa in the hospital you may just want to see the coast one last time before you won't be able to again.

How can I be so pessimistic you might ask? Well in reading information from people who are in the business who have analyzed this situation and come to very obvious conclusions. When they did the top kill and it didn't work that meant that the casing was damaged below the sea floor. There is no way to repair that damage. What will happen next will be the collapse of the BOP and the structure that supports it but not before the engineers try to brace it. And they are doing the beginnings of that as I write this. Once the BOP collapses then there is nothing else that can be done other than try and collect as much oil from the gushing hole in the earth as they can. As the engineer put it think of it as a leaking garden hose with a nozzle. When the flow is slowed at the end the leaks grow bigger. When they cut the end off the riser pipe it took pressure off the leaks. But as he put it sand that's coming out with the oil will cause the pipes to fail. It's already causing the BOP to lean.

So if you're thinking of heading that way for one last look remember to take a respirator with carbon filters with you because grandpa is coughing up some pretty nasty stuff.
Sorry not a great father's day gift but it is what it is.

info from someone who knows

7 comments:

BBC said...

Been there, seen it a number of times, not that impressed, no need to return for a last viewing.

Either they'll get it stopped somehow or it'll flow until the pressure drops far enough that it isn't flowing anymore.

I'm no expert on such things but being as some of those oil fields are under great pressure I'm wondering what happens to the earth after all that pressure, and volume, is removed.

Will the planet just start caving in? And without oil down there I'm kind of thinking that without some lubricant that when the plates shift there may be more violent earthquakes so their greed for oil may have a big effect on us here in the N.W.

I don't use near the gas a lot of monkeys do but I'm still guilty of being part of the problem.

BBC said...

Oh, the picture you posted reminded me of The Old Man and the Sea. Great movie.

Hardly like the fishing post I did this morning though.

BBC said...

So did you go to the Fremont parade? Judging by the pictures in the PI they have a lot of fun.

Demeur said...

First this oil is in shale rock so it shouldn't collapse. I couldn't use much less oil myself. Only drive about once a week now with no work.
Too cold and wet to do the Fremont parade this year. But yeah they did there "thing" anyway.

jmsjoin said...

You know one of my sons lives near Pensacola. He took the wife and kids to see the beach one last time a week after it happened and will himself only keep going back to clean up. Me I have to wonder how long it will be before they have to say the truth about the cracked sea floor?

Tim said...

Demeur
As I mentioned before, I'd love to go down there and try to help. If they would secure some living arrangements I could. I just can't afford to maintain both places.
Even if it's to help train workers on Proper PPE. Seems I should do something, for no other reason than to say goodbye to an old friend..

Cranemlrr said...

You know one of my sons lives near Pensacola. He took the wife and kids to see the beach one last time a week after it happened and will himself only keep going back to clean up. Me I have to wonder how long it will be before they have to say the truth about the cracked sea floor?