US military joins fight against Gulf oil spill, which could be worst ever - Polidicks

[url]http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8651624.stm[/url] [release][img]http://www.reuters.com/resources/r/?m=02&d=20100429&t=2&i=99595142&w=600&r=2010-04-29T201318Z_01_BTRE63S0YDT00_RTROPTP_0_USA-RIG-LEAK[/img] [img]http://news.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/bsp/hi/image_sliders/10/oil_spill/img/oil_spill_slide_28_466.gif[/img] [B]The US military has joined efforts to stop an oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico as fears rise about its scale.[/B] Five times as much oil as previously thought could be leaking from the well beneath where a rig exploded and sank last week, the US Coast Guard says. Rear Admiral Mary Landry said 5,000 barrels a day were thought to be gushing into the sea off Louisiana. The Department of Homeland Security has designated the spill as one of "national significance". Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, who is to go to Louisiana to oversee operations, told reporters in Washington that this designation would allow resources to be ordered in from other areas of the US. At the same briefing, a coastguard official said the oil slick was expected to wash ashore on the Gulf Coast on Friday. And Deputy Secretary of the Department of the Interior David Hayes said the US government had ordered inspections of all deep-water oil wells in the Gulf of Mexico to see if anti-spill regulations were being followed. The oil slick caused by the leak is 45 miles by 105 miles and is heading towards the coast. If the coastguard estimate is correct, within two months the spill could match the 11 million gallons spilt from the Exxon Valdez tanker off Alaska in 1989. Oil giant BP operated the Deepwater Horizon rig. Its chief operating officer of exploration and production, Doug Suttles, welcomed the US military's offer of help. He said the company was using remote operative vehicles (ROVs) to try to find out how much oil was leaking into the sea. "This is very, very difficult to estimate," Mr Suttles told reporters. "Down below the surface we actually can't meter this oil so we can just observe it... what our ROV pictures show to us on the sea floor hasn't changed since we first saw the leak... but what we can say based on what we're picking up on the surface it looks like it is more." Mr Suttles estimated something between 1,000 and 5,000 barrels a day was leaking. Meanwhile, a firefighting expert said the disaster may become the biggest oil spill ever. Mike Miller, head of Canadian oil well firefighting company Safety Boss, told the BBC World Service: "Probably the only thing comparable to this is the Kuwait fires [following the Gulf War in 1991]. "The Exxon Valdez is going to pale in comparison to this as it goes on." Scientists say only a quarter of local marine wildlife survived the Exxon Valdez disaster. [b]Controlled burn[/b] The scale of the operation to contain the oil spill and protect both the US coastline and wildlife is unprecedented, with the military and other government agencies collaborating with BP - which had hired the sunken rig - and industry leaders. Efforts to stem the flow are being complicated by the depth of the leak at the underwater well, which is about 5,000ft (1,525m) beneath the surface. A coastguard crew has set fire to part of the oil slick in an attempt to save environmentally-fragile wetlands. A "controlled burn" of surface oil took place in an area about 30 miles (50km) east of the Mississippi River delta. But Mr Miller warned that burning off leaking oil was not a long-term solution. "The object of this game is to shut off the flow," he said. [B]Relief well[/B] Engineers are working on a dome-like device to cover oil rising to the surface and pump it to container vessels, but it may be weeks before this is in place. It is feared that work on sealing the leaking well using robotic submersibles might take months. BP is also working on a "relief well" to intersect the original well, but this is experimental and could take two to three months to stop the flow. Seventy vessels - oil skimmers, tugboats barges and special recovery boats that separate oil from water - as well as five aeroplanes, were working to spray dispersants and round up oil, BP said. Eleven workers are missing and presumed dead after the worst oil rig disaster in almost a decade. Louisiana's coast contains some 40% of the nation's wetlands and spawning grounds for countless fish and birds. AFP news agency reports that two Louisiana shrimpers have filed a lawsuit accusing the operators of the rig of negligence, and seeking at least $5m in damages plus undetermined punitive damages.[/release] Jesus.

Slick move, BP.

One of my community projects has been cancelled because of this.

[QUOTE=Mingebox;21635202]Slick move, BP.[/QUOTE] hahahahah.

I'm so happy I'm not in charge of that operation, I simply would not have the slightest idea what the fuck to do. I mean honestly, what the hell can you do about a leak at that depth?

:ohdear:

nice job U.S. and A. You are responsible for killing us all

This was englands plan all along! They fucking staged that oilrig to blow and when the military is either in iraq or cleaning up oil they will fucking attack.

[QUOTE=BloodYScar;21637008]nice job U.S. and A. You are responsible for killing us all[/QUOTE] no

[QUOTE=BloodYScar;21637008]nice job U.S. and A. You are responsible for killing us all[/QUOTE] Cause oil leaks in the ocean will directly come in contact with everyone in the world.

[QUOTE=BloodYScar;21637008]nice job U.S. and A. You are responsible for killing us all[/QUOTE] B.P.

Holy fuck, poor animals

I hate it when this crap happens.

[QUOTE=BloodYScar;21637008]nice job U.S. and A. You are responsible for killing us all[/QUOTE] HAHA AND YOU CAN'T DO NUTHIN ABOUT IT :downs:

Man, all that wasted oil must worth billions...

Great job guys we are so good to the Earth aren't we. [editline]05:27PM[/editline] [QUOTE=BloodYScar;21637008]nice job U.S. and A. You are responsible for killing us all[/QUOTE] Yeah except BP is a British company dumbass.

[QUOTE=jesseluver93;21638864]Great job guys we are so good to the Earth aren't we. [editline]05:27PM[/editline] Yeah except BP is a British company dumbass.[/QUOTE] The oil rig was actually owned by a Swiss company and was leased by BP.

[QUOTE=Mr. Someguy;21637832]Man, all that wasted oil must worth billions...[/QUOTE] Most likely. Too bad there is no viable way to reclaim the oil.

[QUOTE=BloodYScar;21637008]nice job U.S. and A. You are responsible for killing us all[/QUOTE] Before you get the story utterly wrong, at least call the country properly. U.S. of A.

So the oil rig was directly on top of a wildlife reserve, that is fairly close to a fuckton of other wildlife reserves? wtf man

[QUOTE=Triumph Forks;21640321]So the oil rig was directly on top of a wildlife reserve, that is fairly close to a fuckton of other wildlife reserves? wtf man[/QUOTE] Fuckin animals living on our oil

[QUOTE=Triumph Forks;21640321]So the oil rig was directly on top of a wildlife reserve, that is fairly close to a fuckton of other wildlife reserves? wtf man[/QUOTE] This is why offshore drilling is bad.

the day we don't need oil anymore i will be a happy person....and probably dead

I'm just glad this didn't happen somewhere more fragile. I mean pretty much the only thing of value over there is the Everglades, and shrimping operations. I hope they can fix this as soon as possible, before the Gulf becomes the Black Sea. Dammit BP, stop blowing up. This is like the 3rd time something of yours has blown up, I think they should be fined heavily. [editline]10:00PM[/editline] [quote=bloodyscar;21637008]nice job u.s. And a. You are responsible for killing us all[/quote] united states and amerika is killing us because british petroleum blew up.

[QUOTE=Source;21641168]the day we don't need oil anymore i will be a happy person....and probably dead[/QUOTE] Probably not going to happen, seeing as how oil is a huge part of the economy across the world.

[QUOTE=Triumph Forks;21640321]So the oil rig was directly on top of a wildlife reserve, that is fairly close to a fuckton of other wildlife reserves? wtf man[/QUOTE] It wasn't in a reserve, It was near a reserve. [img]http://img30.imageshack.us/img30/3466/oilriga.jpg[/img] Out of the some 4000 rigs in the gulf, This happens pretty rarely. Even when hurricanes plow through and blow down everything they manage not to spill much, if any oil. I personally blame BP for this inncident because this is not the first time something operated by BP has exploded resulting in the death of multiple people. "On 23 March 2005, an explosion occurred at BP's Texas City Refinery. It is the third largest refinery in the US and one of the largest in the world, processing 433,000 barrels (68,800 m3) of crude oil per day and accounting for 3% of that nation's gasoline supply. Over 100 were injured, and 15 were dead, including employees of the Fluor Corporation as well as BP. BP agreed that its mismanagement contributed to the accident. Level indicators failed, leading to overfilling of a heater, and light hydrocarbons spread throughout the area. An unidentified ignition source set off the explosion." "In March 2006, a leak in one of BP's pipelines on the North Slope in Alaska caused a spill of oil onto the tundra, leading BP to commit to replace over 16 miles (26 km) of federally regulated Oil Transit Lines (OTLs). As of the end of 2007, one half of the pipeline had been replaced and all 16 miles (26 km) of pipeline are now tested regularly." Fuck you BP, fucking the US Oil production because you can't keep your shit in line.

[QUOTE=Jund;21641540]Probably not going to happen, seeing as how oil is a huge part of the economy across the world.[/QUOTE] Eh, give it a couple of hundred years when its all dried up from our constant abuse of the planet, then i'd like to see what happens.

I'm actually glad this is happening right in our own backyard along multimillion dollar beachfront property, instead of some Alaskan wilderness nobody gives a shit about. This country needs a truly firsthand look about what our oil addiction does to the world.

Just burn it all

Sucks if spark goes off in that area. Or someone discards a ciggy.