Scientists Find Giant Plumes of Oil Forming Under the Gulf

[Treyfish]

Saturday, May 15, 2010

Jim Wilson/The New York Times
Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar visited a wildlife treatment center in Louisiana on Saturday.

<NYT_BYLINE>By JUSTIN GILLIS

</NYT_BYLINE>Published: May 15, 2010

</NYT_REPRINTS_FORM><!-- ADXINFO classification="button_120x60" campaign="foxsearch2010_emailtools_1225562c_nyt5"-->Scientists are finding enormous oil plumes in the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico, including one as large as 10 miles long, 3 miles wide and 300 feet thick. The discovery is fresh evidence that the leak from the broken undersea well could be substantially worse than estimates that the government and BP have given. “There’s a shocking amount of oil in the deep water, relative to what you see in the surface water,” said Samantha Joye, a researcher at the University of Georgia who is involved in one of the first scientific missions to gather details about what is happening in the gulf. “There’s a tremendous amount of oil in multiple layers, three or four or five layers deep in the water column.”



The plumes are depleting the oxygen dissolved in the gulf, worrying scientists, who fear that the oxygen level could eventually fall so low as to kill off much of the sea life near the plumes.
Dr. Joye said the oxygen had already dropped 30 percent near some of the plumes in the month that the broken oil well had been flowing. “If you keep those kinds of rates up, you could draw the oxygen down to very low levels that are dangerous to animals in a couple of months,” she said Saturday. “That is alarming.”

The plumes were discovered by scientists from several universities working aboard the research vessel Pelican, which sailed from Cocodrie, La., on May 3 and appears to be the first scientific expedition to gather extensive samples and information about the disaster in the gulf.
Scientists studying video of the gushing oil well have tentatively calculated that it could be flowing at a rate of 25,000 to 80,000 barrels of oil a day. But the government, working from satellite images of the ocean surface, has calculated a flow rate of only 5,000 barrels a day.
The undersea plumes may go a long way toward explaining the discrepancy, suggesting that much of the oil emerging from the well could be lingering far below the sea surface.

The scientists involved in the Pelican mission, which is backed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the federal agency that monitors the health of the oceans, are not certain why that would be. They say they suspect the heavy use of chemical dispersants, which BP has injected directly into the stream of oil emerging from the well, may have broken the oil up into droplets too small to rise rapidly.
BP said on Saturday at a briefing in Robert, La., that it had resumed undersea application of dispersants, after winning approval to do so the day before from the Environmental Protection Agency.
“It appears that the application of the subsea dispersant is actually working,” Doug Suttles, BP’s chief operating officer for exploration and production, said Saturday after flying over the area above the oil well. “The oil in the immediate vicinity of the well and the ships and rigs working in the area is diminished from previous observations.”

Many scientists had hoped the dispersants would cause oil droplets to spread so widely that they would be less of a problem in any one place. If it turns out that is not happening, the strategy of using the chemicals could come under greater scrutiny. Dispersants have never been used in an oil leak of this magnitude a mile under the ocean, and their effects at such depth are largely unknown.
Much about the situation below the water remains unclear, and the scientists stressed that their results were preliminary. After the April 20 explosion of the Deepwater Horizon, they altered a previously scheduled research mission to focus on the effects of the leak.

Interviewed on Saturday by satellite phone, one researcher aboard the Pelican, Vernon Asper of the University of Southern Mississippi, said the shallowest oil plume the group had detected was at about 2,300 feet, while the deepest was near the seafloor at about 4,200 feet.
“We’re trying to map them, but it’s a tedious process,” Dr. Asper said. “Right now it looks like the oil is moving southwest, not all that rapidly.”

He said the group had managed to take water samples from areas that had not yet been reached by oil, and would be able to compare those to later samples to judge the impact on the chemistry and biology of the ocean.
While they have detected the plumes and their effects with several types of instruments, the researchers are still not sure about the exact consistency of the plumes. They are almost certainly not solid bubbles of oil, Dr. Joye said, but are likely to be a mix of oil and water that could resemble salad dressing.
Dr. Joye is serving as a coordinator of the mission from her laboratory in Athens, Ga. Researchers from the University of Mississippi and the University of Southern Mississippi are aboard the boat taking samples and running instruments.
Dr. Joye said the findings about declining oxygen levels were especially worrisome, since oxygen is so slow to move from the surface of the ocean to the bottom. She suspects that oil-eating bacteria are consuming the oxygen at a feverish clip as they work to break down the undersea plumes.
While the oxygen depletion so far is not enough to kill off sea life, the possibility looms that oxygen levels could fall so low as to create large dead zones, especially at the seafloor. “That’s the big worry,” said Ray Highsmith, head of the Mississippi center that sponsored the mission, known as the National Institute for Undersea Science and Technology.
The Pelican mission is due to end Sunday, but the scientists are seeking federal support to resume it soon.
“This is a new type of event, and it’s critically important that we really understand it, because of the incredible number of oil platforms not only in the Gulf of Mexico but all over the world now,” Dr. Highsmith said. “We need to know what these events are like, and what their outcomes can be, and what can be done to deal with the next one.”
<NYT_AUTHOR_ID>
Shaila Dewan contributed reporting from Robert, La.
:tiphat:http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/16/us/16oil.html

 

[Pathfinder]

Re: Scientists Find Giant Plumes of Oil Forming Under the Gulf

DATE: May 17, 2010 13:03:15 CST

Statement from NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco on Ongoing Efforts to Monitor Subsea Impacts of the BP Oil Spill


"Media reports related to the research work conducted aboard the R/V Pelican included information that was misleading, premature and, in some cases, inaccurate. Yesterday the independent scientists clarified three important points:

1. No definitive conclusions have been reached by this research team about the composition of the undersea layers they discovered.

Characterization of these layers will require analysis of samples and calibration of key instruments. The hypothesis that the layers consist of oil remains to be verified.

2. While oxygen levels detected in the layers were somewhat below normal, they are not low enough to be a source of concern at this time.

3. Although their initial interest in searching for subsurface oil was motivated by consideration of subsurface use of dispersants, there is no information to connect use of dispersants to the subsurface layers they discovered.

NOAA thanks the Pelican scientists and crew for repurposing their previously scheduled mission to gather information about possible impacts of the BP oil spill. We eagerly await results from their analyses and share with them the goal of disseminating accurate information.

NOAA continues to work closely with EPA and the federal response team to monitor the presence of oil and the use of surface and sub-surface dispersants. As we have emphasized, dispersants are not a silver bullet.

They are used to move us towards the lesser of two environmental outcomes. Until the flow of oil is stemmed, we must take every responsible action to reduce the impact of the oil.?

For information about the response effort, visit www.deepwaterhorizonresponse.com.


http://www.deepwaterhorizonresponse.com/go/doc/2931/552671/

 

[Pathfinder]

Re: Scientists Find Giant Plumes of Oil Forming Under the Gulf

Scientists Fault Lack of Studies in Response to Gulf Oil Spill</NYT_HEADLINE>

<NYT_BYLINE>By JUSTIN GILLIS

</NYT_BYLINE>Published: May 19, 2010


Tensions between the Obama administration and the scientific community over the gulf oil spill are escalating, with prominent oceanographers accusing the government of failing to conduct an adequate scientific analysis of the damage and of allowing BP to obscure the spill?s true scope.

The scientists assert that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and other agencies have been slow to investigate the magnitude of the spill and the damage it is causing in the deep ocean.

They are especially concerned about getting a better handle on problems that may be occurring from large plumes of oil droplets that appear to be spreading beneath the ocean surface.

The scientists point out that in the month since the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded, the government has failed to make public a single test result on water from the deep ocean. And the scientists say the administration has been too reluctant to demand an accurate analysis of how many gallons of oil are flowing into the sea from the gushing oil well.

?It seems baffling that we don?t know how much oil is being spilled,? Sylvia Earle, a famed oceanographer, said Wednesday on Capitol Hill. ?It seems baffling that we don?t know where the oil is in the water column.?

The administration acknowledges that its scientific resources are stretched by the disaster, but contends that it is moving to get better information, including a more complete picture of the underwater plumes.

?We?re in the early stages of doing that, and we do not have a comprehensive understanding as of yet of where that oil is,? Jane Lubchenco, the NOAA administrator, told Congress on Wednesday. ?But we are devoting all possible resources to understanding where the oil is and what its impact might be.?

The administration has mounted a huge response to the spill, deploying 1,105 vessels to try to skim oil, burn it and block it from shorelines. As part of the effort, the federal government and the Gulf Coast states have begun an extensive effort to catalog any environmental damage to the coast. The Environmental Protection Agency is releasing results from water sampling near shore. In most places, save for parts of Louisiana, the contamination appears modest so far.

The big scientific question now is what is happening in deeper water. While it is clear that water samples have been taken, the results have not been made public.

Lisa P. Jackson, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, told Congress on Wednesday that she was pressing for the release of additional test results, including some samples taken by boats under contract to BP.

While the total number of boats involved in the response is high, relatively few are involved in scientific assessment of the deep ocean.

Of the 19 research vessels owned by NOAA, 5 are in the Gulf of Mexico and available for work on the spill, Dr. Lubchenco said, counting a newly commissioned boat. The flagship of the NOAA fleet, the research vessel Ronald H. Brown, was off the coast of Africa when the spill occurred on April 20, and according to NOAA tracking logs, it was not redirected until about May 11, three weeks after the disaster began. It is sailing toward the gulf.

At least one vessel under contract to BP has collected samples from deep water, and so have a handful of university ships. NOAA is dropping instruments into the sea that should help give a better picture of conditions.

On May 6, NOAA called attention to its role in financing the work of a small research ship called the Pelican, owned by a university consortium in Louisiana. But when scientists aboard that vessel reported over the weekend that they had discovered large plumes undersea that appeared to be made of oil droplets, NOAA criticized the results as premature and requiring further analysis.

Rick Steiner, a marine biologist and a veteran of the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster, assailed NOAA in an interview, declaring that it had been derelict in analyzing conditions beneath the sea.

Mr. Steiner said the likelihood of extensive undersea plumes of oil droplets should have been anticipated from the moment the spill began, given that such an effect from deepwater blowouts had been predicted in the scientific literature for more than a decade, and confirmed in a test off the coast of Norway. An extensive sampling program to map and characterize those plumes should have been put in place from the first days of the spill, he said.

?A vast ecosystem is being exposed to contaminants right now, and nobody?s watching it,? Mr. Steiner said. ?That seems to me like a catastrophic failure on the part of NOAA.?

Mr. Steiner, long critical of offshore drilling, has fought past battles involving NOAA, including one in which he was stripped of a small university grant financed by the agency. He later resigned from the University of Alaska at Anchorage and now consults worldwide on oil-spill prevention and response.

Oceanographers have also criticized the Obama administration over its reluctance to force BP, the oil company responsible for the spill, to permit an accurate calculation of the flow rate from the undersea well. The company has refused to permit scientists to send equipment to the ocean floor that would establish the rate with high accuracy.

Ian MacDonald of Florida State University, an oceanographer who was among the first to question the official estimate of 210,000 gallons a day, said he had come to the conclusion that the oil company was bent on obstructing any accurate calculation. ?They want to hide the body,? he said.

Andrew Gowers, a spokesman for BP, said this was not correct. Given the complex operations going on at the sea floor to try to stop the flow, ?introducing more equipment into the immediate vicinity would represent an unacceptable risk,? he said. Thad W. Allen, the Coast Guard admiral in charge of the response to the spill, said Wednesday evening that the government had decided to try to put equipment on the ocean floor to take accurate measurements. A technical team is at work devising a method, he said. ?We are shoving pizzas under the door, and they are not coming out until they give us the answer,? he said.

Scientists have long theorized that a shallow spill and a spill in the deep ocean ? this one is a mile down ? would behave quite differently. A 2003 report by the National Research Council predicted that the oil could break into fine droplets, forming plumes of oil mixed with water that would not quickly rise to the surface.

That prediction appeared to be confirmed Saturday when the researchers aboard the Pelican reported that they had detected immense plumes that they believed were made of oil particles. The results were not final, and came as a surprise to the government. They raise a major concern, that sea life in concentrated areas could be exposed to a heavy load of toxic materials as the plumes drift through the sea.

Under scrutiny from NOAA, the researchers have retreated to their laboratories to finish their analysis.

In an interview, Dr. Lubchenco said she was mobilizing every possible NOAA asset to get a more accurate picture of the environmental damage, and was even in the process of hiring fishing vessels to do some scientific work.

?Our intention is to deploy every single thing we?ve got,? Dr. Lubchenco said. ?If it?s not in the region, we?re bringing it there.?
<NYT_AUTHOR_ID>

Robert Gebeloff, Andrew W. Lehren, Campbell Robertson and Matthew L. Wald contributed reporting.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/20/science/earth/20noaa.html

 

[tropical]

Re: Scientists Find Giant Plumes of Oil Forming Under the Gulf

#3:
"They raise a major concern, that sea life in concentrated areas could be exposed to a heavy load of toxic materials as the plumes drift through the sea.
...
In an interview, Dr. Lubchenco said she was mobilizing every possible NOAA asset to get a more accurate picture of the environmental damage, and was even in the process of hiring fishing vessels to do some scientific work.

?Our intention is to deploy every single thing we?ve got,? Dr. Lubchenco said. ? If it?s not in the region, we?re bringing it there.?"


And, after this galacto-oil-spreading,
the catched heavy intoxicated fish from such enormous area,
will be solded and eaten worldwide

there must be a bunch of submarines which can take free samples exactly from the underwater Gulf stream ocean waters ...

 

[Pathfinder]

Re: Scientists Find Giant Plumes of Oil Forming Under the Gulf

22-mile oil plume under Gulf nears rich waters

by Matthew Brown and Jason Dearen / Associated Press
wwltv.com
Posted on May 28, 2010 at 9:50 AM
Updated today at 9:57 AM

NEW ORLEANS -- A thick, 22-mile plume of oil discovered by researchers off the BP spill site was nearing an underwater canyon, where it could poison the foodchain for sealife in the waters off Florida.

The discovery by researchers on the University of South Florida College of Marine Science's Weatherbird II vessel is the second significant undersea plume reported since the Deepwater Horizon exploded on April 20. The plume is more than 6 miles wide and its presence was reported Thursday.

The cloud was nearing a large underwater canyon whose currents fuel the foodchain in Gulf waters off Florida and could potentially wash the tiny plants and animals that feed larger organisms in a stew of toxic chemicals, another researcher said Friday.

Larry McKinney, executive director of the Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, said the DeSoto Canyon off the Florida Panhandle sends nutrient-rich water from the deep sea up to shallower waters.

snip

http://www.wwltv.com/news/local/22-mile-oil-plume-under-Gulf-nears-rich-waters-95109564.html

 

[tropical]

Re: Scientists Find Giant Plumes of Oil Forming Under the Gulf

#5: 22-mile oil plume under Gulf nears rich waters
"The cloud was nearing a large underwater canyon whose currents fuel the foodchain in Gulf waters off Florida and could potentially wash the tiny plants and animals that feed larger organisms in a stew of toxic chemicals, another researcher said Friday.
...
But if the plume remains relatively intact, it could sweep down the west coast of Florida as a toxic soup as far as the Keys, through what he called some of the most productive parts of the Gulf.

The plume was detected just beneath the surface down to about 3,300 feet, said David Hollander, associate professor of chemical oceanography at USF."



how to probably poison the most natural, uncontaminated earth marine areas - made submarine floor oil drillings ...

imagin how will be illnessed those marine creatures by daily ingestion/breed of contaminate marine water ...

a look on human drinking water:


UNDERSTANDING EXTRACTABLE PETROLEUM HYDROCARBONS and

VOLATILE PETROLEUM HYDROCARBONS WATER TEST RESULTS

http://www.maine.gov/dep/rwm/petroleum/vphephexplanationforhomeowners.doc

excerpt:

"GUIDELINES FOR TARGET COMPOUNDS AND FRACTIONS
Test Target Compound Guideline [ug/L or PPB]

VPH
TEST

Benzene 4
Ethylbenzene 30
Methyl-tert-butyl ether (MTBE) 35
Naphthalene 10
Toluene 600
Total xylenes 1,000
Fractions:
C5-C8 Aliphatic Hydrocarbons 300
C9-C12 Aliphatic Hydrocarbons 700
C9-C10 Aromatic Hydrocarbons 200


EPH
TEST

2-Methylnaphthalene 30
Acenaphthene 400
Acenaphthylene 400
Anthracene 2,000
Benzo(a)anthracene 0.5
Benzo(a)pyrene 0.05
Benzo(b)fluoranthene 0.5
Benzo(g,h,i)perylene 200
Benzo(k)fluoranthene 5
Chrysene 50
Dibenz(a,h)anthracene 0.05
Fluoranthene 300
Fluorene 300
Indeno(1,2,3-cd)pyrene 0.5
Naphthalene 10
Phenanthrene 200
Pyrene 200
Fractions:
C9-C18 Aliphatic Hydrocarbons 700
C19-C36 Aliphatic Hydrocarbons 14,000
C11-C22 Aromatic Hydrocarbons 200

...

For Further Assistance: If you have questions or need assistance understanding your petroleum test results and what they mean, please call the DEP chemist at 207-287-7878."

 

[Pathfinder]

Re: Scientists Find Giant Plumes of Oil Forming Under the Gulf

Researchers begin 8-day mission to test for subsurface oil plumes in Gulf

By Gwen Filosa, The Times-Picayune

May 28, 2010, 7:23PM

The 224-foot Gordon Gunter ship set sail into the Gulf on Friday with a crew of university researchers on an eight-day mission to study the depths of the northern Gulf amid reports of an underwater plume of oil.

A crew of university researchers Friday began an eight-day mission designed to study the depths of the northern Gulf of Mexico amid reports of a possible underwater plume of crude oil from the Deepwater Horizon disaster.

While the 224-foot Gordon Gunter ship lurked about 20 nautical miles from the site of the April 20 oil rig explosion, the unmistakable sight of oil -- a shiny, brownish ribbon of goo -- floated atop the still, cloudy Gulf waters.

Federal officials and scientists alike said it's too early to determine whether any large quantities of oil have plumed beneath the Gulf's surface.

"That's what we're out here to look for," said Russell Brown, chief scientist of the mission launched by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, a federal agency under the U.S. Department of Commerce.

"We're not going to jump to any conclusions. We're going to sample in an unbiased way."

Aboard the Gordon Gunter ship, Brown and his team sent various testing sensors beneath the Gulf surface while circling the explosion site at a healthy distance, while BP continued to perform its topkill procedure to try to control the well.

The Gunter crew met with reporters invited by NOAA to observe the testing, which included an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle: a yellow torpedo-shaped device nicknamed "The Gulper."

The Gulper can collect several water samples at extreme depths while the crew monitors it from aboard the Gunter, which also was conducting acoustical and optical tests below the water with other remote-controlled devices.

"What you're trying to build is a body of evidence to demonstrate that what you're looking at is submerged crude oil," Brown said.

The Gunter's scientific crew includes researchers from the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute and the University of New Hampshire; a water chemist from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute; and a toxicologist from the Environmental Protection Agency.

On Friday afternoon, several crew members were bent over computer monitors that tracked the testing vessels inside a room filled with high-tech gear.

NOAA Lt. Commander Damien Bailey said the facts aren't yet in, let alone analyzed. "There's not a big ball of oil underneath," Bailey told reporters during a three-hour workboat ride from Venice to the Gulf. "People have this idea that the subsurface is filled with a big black ball of death. We haven't seen anything like that."

Bailey said he is not trying to minimize the impact of oil spill, the largest in U.S. history.

But "some things haven't been made very clear," he said, downplaying questions about whether an oil plume may exist deep in the Gulf.

"We don't have any evidence so far that that's happened," Bailey said.

"The oil is very light. This whole event is very different from the Exxon Valdez. This is very light crude, close to a diesel fuel. You're not seeing gallons of oil on the surface or below. There is a lot happening to the oil that is in our favor. We're expecting to see a lot if evaporate."

http://www.nola.com/news/gulf-oil-spill/index.ssf/2010/05/researchers_begin_8-day_missio.html

 

[tropical]

Re: Scientists Find Giant Plumes of Oil Forming Under the Gulf

#7: " NOAA Lt. Commander Damien Bailey said the facts aren't yet in, let alone analyzed. "There's not a big ball of oil underneath," Bailey told reporters during a three-hour workboat ride from Venice to the Gulf. "People have this idea that the subsurface is filled with a big black ball of death.
We haven't seen anything like that.""

quite not

it is filled with a big black/orange-yellow blob toxic fluid of death ...
:yinyang:

 

[Pathfinder]

Re: Scientists Find Giant Plumes of Oil Forming Under the Gulf

BP chief executive disputes scientists' claims of large underwater oil plumes from Gulf spill

MATTHEW BROWN Associated Press Writer
5:45 p.m. CDT, May 30, 2010

VENICE, La. (AP) ? BP PLC CEO Tony Hayward on Sunday disputed claims by scientists that large undersea plumes have been set adrift by the Gulf oil spill and said the cleanup fight has narrowed to surface slicks rolling into Louisiana's coastal marshes.

During a tour of a company staging area for cleanup workers, Hayward said BP's sampling showed "no evidence" that oil was suspended in large masses beneath the surface. He didn't elaborate on how the testing was done.

"The oil is on the surface," Hayward said. "Oil has a specific gravity that's about half that of water. It wants to get to the surface because of the difference in specific gravity."

Scientists from several universities have reported plumes of what appears to be oil suspended in clouds stretching for miles and reaching hundreds of feet beneath the Gulf's surface.

Those findings ? from the University of South Florida, the University of Georgia, Southern Mississippi University and other institutions ? were based on initial observations of water samples taken in the Gulf over the last several weeks. They continue to be analyzed.

One researcher said Sunday that their findings are bolstered by the fact that scientists from different institutions have come to similar conclusions after doing separate testing.

.../

Full text at:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/sns-ap-us-gulf-oil-spill-plumes,0,6183893.story

 

[tropical]

Re: Scientists Find Giant Plumes of Oil Forming Under the Gulf

#9: "During a tour of a company staging area for cleanup workers, Hayward said BP's sampling showed "no evidence""


could any company which operations lead to a mega-world size pollution,
unable to seal it in time, stil pumping additional toxicals endangering all the future, etc.,
have a right to "sampling", interpreting results alone, and negate eminent scientists?

hopefully not ...
:bat:

 

[tropical]

Re: Scientists Find Giant Plumes of Oil Forming Under the Gulf

http://edition.cnn.com/2010/US/05/31/oil.spill.probe/index.html?hpt=T2

'Well control' problems reported in March, BP e-mails show

By the CNN Wire Staff<script type="text/javascript">cnnAuthor = "By the CNN Wire Staff";</script>
<script type="text/javascript">if(location.hostname.indexOf( 'edition.' ) > -1) {document.write('May 31, 2010 -- Updated 1105 GMT (1905 HKT)');} else {document.write('May 31, 2010 7:05 a.m. EDT');}</script>May 31, 2010 7:05 a.m. EDTMay 31, 2010 7:05 a.m. EDTMay 31, 2010 7:05 a.m. EDTMay 31, 2010 7:05 a.m. EDTMay 31, 2010 7:05 a.m. EDTMay 31, 2010 7:05 a.m. EDTMay 31, 2010 -- Updated 1105 GMT

excerpt:
"When Patton told BP he could not delay a test any longer than it took to bring the well under control, the company won a postponement from David Trocquet, the MMS district manager in New Orleans, Louisiana, the documents show. Trocquet ordered BP to make sure its cement plug was set up and to verify its placement, according to his reply. The messages do not indicate how long the test was postponed.
...
Halliburton performed the cementing work on the well, and Halliburton worker Christopher Haire told the New Orleans hearings Friday that BP kept changing the dimensions of the well's casing. Meanwhile, BP's investigation "raised concerns about the maintenance history, modification, inspection, and testing" of the blowout preventer, committee chairman Henry Waxman, D-California, reported earlier this month.


The New York Times reported Sunday that BP documents indicated the company had "serious problems and safety concerns" with the rig's well casing and blowout preventer for months.
Rep. Ed Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat who leads an Energy and Commerce subcommittee, said he has seen documents that confirm the Times report.
Other witnesses at congressional hearings into the spill have raised concerns as well. Stephen Stone, a laborer on the doomed rig, told the House Judiciary Committee last week that the Transocean crew had to stop drilling four times in the space of 20 days because of the loss of drilling "mud" -- "either because the underground formation was unstable, or because drilling too quickly caused the formation to crack," he said."

 

[tropical]

Re: Scientists Find Giant Plumes of Oil Forming Under the Gulf

Costly, time-consuming test of cement linings in Deepwater Horizon rig was omitted, spokesman says

By David Hammer, The Times-Picayune

May 19, 2010, 10:30PM

http://www.nola.com/news/gulf-oil-spill/index.ssf/2010/05/costly_time-consuming_test_of.html

excerpt:
"BP hired a top oilfield service company to test the strength of cement linings on the Deepwater Horizon's well, but sent the firm's workers home 11 hours before the rig exploded April 20 without performing a final check that a top cementing company executive called "the only test that can really determine the actual effectiveness" of the well's seal.

A spokesman for the testing firm, Schlumberger, said BP had a Schlumberger team and equipment for sending acoustic testing lines down the well "on standby" from April 18 to April 20. But BP never asked the Schlumberger crew to perform the acoustic test and sent its members back to Louisiana on a regularly scheduled helicopter flight at 11 a.m., Schlumberger spokesman Stephen T. Harris said.
At a few minutes before 10 p.m., a belch of natural gas shot out of the well, up a riser pipe to the rig above, igniting massive explosions, killing 11 crewmembers and sending millions of gallons of crude oil into the Gulf. The rig's owner, Transocean, blames failed cement seals, installed by Halliburton, for the disastrous blowout.
...
McFarland said the diagram indicates the space was completely open to the reservoir of oil the Deepwater Horizon had just tapped, and he is convinced that is why the well blew. ...
McCormack ... "There's a free path all the way to the top of the well bore. Normally you wouldn't do that," he said. "If the well was completed as designed, I think that would be an issue the way it's shown there.""

 

[tropical]

Re: Scientists Find Giant Plumes of Oil Forming Under the Gulf

Experts testify on grim ecological fallout from Gulf oil spill

By Paul Courson, CNN<script type="text/javascript">cnnAuthor = "By Paul Courson, CNN";</script>
<script type="text/javascript">if(location.hostname.indexOf( 'edition.' ) > -1) {document.write('May 21, 2010 -- Updated 2203 GMT (0603 HKT)');} else {document.write('May 21, 2010 6:03 p.m. EDT');}</script>May 21, 2010 6:03 p.m. EDTMay 21, 2010

http://edition.cnn.com/2010/US/05/21/gulf.oil.spill.environment/index.html

excerpt:
"Washington (CNN) -- The damaging effects of the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico will be felt all the way to Europe and the Arctic, a top scientist told a congressional panel Friday. ...

"This is not just a regional issue for the wildlife," said Carl Safina, the president of the Blue Ocean Institute. Noting common migratory patterns, he warned that multiple forms of marine life from across the Atlantic Ocean "come into the Gulf to breed." ...
"I think asking BP for answers is the wrong place to look," he said. "They seem to have cut corners on some critical junctures. We keep asking their permission to go down and measure the oil that's coming out. ... This mystifies me, because they are on our property now."
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The National Geographic Society's Sylvia Earle said that asking for BP to play a leading role in containment efforts was akin to "relying on the foxes to look after the chicken coop."
"The lack of knowing [the extent of the spill and the damage] is something that we should fear," she said. There is a "lack of understanding what the consequences of this action really will be to the ocean and then back to ourselves." ...

"Adding the dispersants ... is causing other problems" because the quantity used is likely to be toxic to marine life, she warned.
Researcher Carys Mitchelmore of the University of Maryland agreed that there is a risk of doing more harm than good with the chemicals."

 

[Pathfinder]

Re: Scientists Find Giant Plumes of Oil Forming Under the Gulf

USF to release oil spill test results

Updated: Monday, 07 Jun 2010, 7:01 AM EDT
Published : Monday, 07 Jun 2010, 6:50 AM EDTST. PETERSBURG -

Scientists from the University of South Florida have been examining the oil spill for several weeks. Later Monday morning, they are expected to release the results of their extensive testing.

USF vessel Weatherbird II spent about a week near the spill in the Gulf of Mexico in late May. Researchers aboard the ship initially said they discovered signs of a large oil plume beneath the water's surface, possibly spreading towards the continental shelf.

After returning from their voyage, scientists said that there were at least two plumes deep under the surface. Researchers estimated that at least one of those plumes was six miles wide, floating about 2 miles below the surface.

Water samples that USF took 21 miles away from the spill detected high levels of contaminates that are not visible to the human eye.
Scientists will discuss their findings in depth around 10 a.m. Monday at the College of Marine Science.

http://www.myfoxtampabay.com/dpp/news/oil_spill/usf-oil-spill-test-results-060710

 

[Pathfinder]

Re: Scientists Find Giant Plumes of Oil Forming Under the Gulf

New oil plume evidence uncovered

By John Couwels, CNN<SCRIPT type=text/javascript>cnnAuthor = "By John Couwels, CNN";</SCRIPT>
<SCRIPT type=text/javascript>if(location.hostname.indexOf( 'edition.' ) > -1) {document.write('June 7, 2010 -- Updated 1151 GMT (1951 HKT)');} else {document.write('June 7, 2010 7:51 a.m. EDT');}</SCRIPT>June 7, 2010 7:51 a.m. EDTJune 7, 2010 -- Updated 1151 GMT (1951 HKT)


St. Petersburg, Florida (CNN) -- As if the pictures of birds, fish and animals killed by floating oil in the Gulf of Mexico are not disturbing enough, scientists now say they have found evidence of another danger lurking underwater.

The University of South Florida recently discovered a second oil plume in the northeastern Gulf. The first plume was found by Mississippi universities in early May.

USF has concluded microscopic oil droplets are forming deep water oil plumes. After a weeklong analysis of water samples, USF scientists found more oil in deeper water.

"These hydrocarbons are from depth and not associated with sinking degraded oil but associated with the source of the Deep Horizon well head," said USF Chemical Oceanographer David Hollander.

Through isotopic or microscopic fingerprinting, Hollander and his USF crew were able to show the oil in the plume came from BP's blown-out oil well.

The surface oil's so-called fingerprint matched the tiny underwater droplet's fingerprint.

"We've taken molecular isotopic approaches which is like a fingerprint on a smoking gun," Hollander said.

BP has not commented on the latest development but in the past denied underwater oil plumes exist.

"The oil is on the surface," said BP's Chief Executive Officer Tony Hayward. "There aren't any plumes."
.../

Full text and video at:

http://edition.cnn.com/2010/US/06/07/gulf.oil.plume/index.html

 

[Sally Furniss]

Re: Scientists Find Giant Plumes of Oil Forming Under the Gulf

<embed src="http://abcnews.go.com/assets/player/walt2.6/flash/SFP_Walt.swf" quality="high" allowscriptaccess="always" allownetworking="all" allowfullscreen="true" pluginspage="http://www.adobe.com/shockwave/download/download.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" flashvars="configUrl=http://abcnews.go.com/video/sfp/embedPlayerConfig&configId=406732&clipId=10803837&showId=10803837&gig_lt=1275950843392&gig_pt=1275950853606&gig_g=3&gig_s=huffingtonpost.com" name="ABCESNWID" height="278" width="344">

Updated: 06- 2-10 02:16 PM ABC News has new video showing oil plumes 40 miles out in the ocean, just southwest of the Deepwater Horizon. So far, three large underwater islands of oil have been discovered, some 20 miles long by 6 miles wide. The new found plumes will surely increase the outrage against BP as the company tries for the seventh time to stop the leaking oil.
BP has previously denied the existence of these plumes.


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/06/02/gulf-oil-spill-new-plumes_n_597872.htm

 

[Pathfinder]

Re: Scientists Find Giant Plumes of Oil Forming Under the Gulf

NOAA Completes Initial Analysis of Weatherbird II Water Samples

Research part of larger effort to study spill impacts sub surface

June 8, 2010
NOAA?s independent analysis of water samples provided from the May 22-28 research mission of the University of South Florida?s R/V Weatherbird II confirmed the presence of very low concentrations of sub-surface oil and PAHs (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) at sampling depths ranging from 50 meters to 1,400 meters.

Weatherbird II sampling stations.
High resolution (Credit: NOAA)


The Weatherbird II samples came from three stations: 40 and 45 nautical miles to the northeast of the well head and 142 nautical miles southeast of the well head (see chart). NOAA?s analysis of the presence of subsurface oil determined that the concentration of hydrocarbons is in the range of less than 0.5 parts per million, and PAH levels in range of parts per trillion. NOAA announced its analysis in conjunction with the University of South Florida today.


Along with its analysis for the presence of oil and PAHs, NOAA?s tests to ?fingerprint? the Weatherbird II oil samples to the BP oil spill source concluded that:

• Hydrocarbons found in surface samples taken at the Slick 1 source, 40 nautical miles northeast from the well head, were consistent with the BP oil spill source;
• Hydrocarbons found in samples from Station 07?42 nautical miles northeast from the well head?at the surface, at 50 meters and at 400 meters are petroleum-derived but in concentrations too low to confirm the source; and
• Hydrocarbons found in samples taken from Station 01, 142 nautical miles southeast of the well head, at 100 meters and 300 meters were not consistent with the BP oil spill source.
• An additional analysis of samples taken from waters 1,250 meters deep and 1,000 deep at two stations closer to the well are consistent with the findings of the University of South Florida. Our preliminary results revealed petroleum hydrocarbons so highly fractionated that it was not possible to confirm the source of the oil.

?We have always known there is oil under the surface; the questions we are exploring are where is it, in what concentrations, where is it going, and what are the consequences for the health of the marine environment?? said NOAA Administrator Dr. Jane Lubchenco. ?This research from the University of South Florida contributes to this larger, three-dimensional puzzle we are trying to solve, in partnership with academic and NOAA scientists.?

Other NOAA research missions that are conducting important research on sub surface impacts include the NOAA Ship Thomas Jefferson, a 208-foot survey vessel, which is currently underway on a mission in the vicinity of the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Researchers are taking water samples and testing advanced methods for detecting submerged oil while gathering oceanographic data in the area?s coastal waters. The NOAA Ship Gordon Gunter, a 224-foot research vessel, returned June 3 from an eight-day oil detection mission in the vicinity of the BP Deepwater Horizon well head.

During the effort, researchers collected water samples, conducted plankton tows, and employed echo sounders, autonomous underwater vehicles and other technologies to collect subsurface data. In addition, NOAA?s P-3 ?Hurricane Hunter? is deploying instruments to better track the movement of the Loop Current, and therefore improve our understanding of where the oil is moving at the surface and below the surface.

?NOAA?s analysis of the Weatherbird II samples shows that concentrations of hydrocarbons decrease with depth, with a notable exception of samples at 300 meters from Station 07, which warrants additional research attention,? said Dr. Steven Murawski, chief scientists for NOAA Fisheries.

?Also, PAH levels are very low in all samples, with only five of 25 having reportable concentrations of the priority pollutant PAHs.?

?We are deeply concerned about what this oil spill means for the health of the Gulf of Mexico, and for the millions of people who depend on these waters for their livelihoods and enjoyment,? said Dr. Lubchenco. ?NOAA is using all the scientific methods at our disposal to assess the damage, from satellites in space, planes in the air, boats on the water, gliders under the sea, scientists in the field, and information online.?

NOAA?s report from the Weatherbird II sampling is available online.

http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2010/20100608_weatherbird.html

 

[Pathfinder]

Re: Scientists Find Giant Plumes of Oil Forming Under the Gulf

USF scientists: BP not helpful in researching oil layers


<!-- Article Photos --><!-- findit dukeCMS/exposure/templates/mini_photo_gallery --><!-- featurephoto --><SCRIPT language=javascript type=text/javascript charset=utf-8> $(function() { // widen the cutline div if there are no controls $('.articlePhotoCutline').width(639); // control showing and hiding of photos var num = 0; $('#articlePhotoControlsLeftButton').live('click', function() { if (num > 0) { num = num - 1; $('#articlePhoto' + (num + 1)).hide(); $('#articlePhoto' + num).show(); $('#articlePhotoControlsRightButton').removeClass('photoControlButtonInactive'); if (num == 0) { $('#articlePhotoControlsLeftButton').addClass('photoControlButtonInactive'); } } }); $('#articlePhotoControlsRightButton').live('click', function() { if (num >= 0 && num < (1 - 1)) { num = num + 1; $('#articlePhoto' + (num - 1)).hide(); $('#articlePhoto' + num).show(); $('#articlePhotoControlsLeftButton').removeClass('photoControlButtonInactive'); if (num == 1 - 1) { $('#articlePhotoControlsRightButton').addClass('photoControlButtonInactive'); } } }); }); </SCRIPT>Staff file photo by INDIRA LEVINE

Researchers from USF have been traveling the gulf on the research ship Weatherbird II, sampling the water for oil from the Deepwater Horizon spill.



By ROB SHAW | The Tampa Tribune
Published: June 8, 2010

ST. PETERSBURG - Officials with BP have been less than helpful in assisting University of South Florida researchers who have been investigating the presence of invisible oil layers deep in the Gulf of Mexico.

Researchers at the College of Marine Science expressed frustration this morning at the lack of cooperation from the giant oil company responsible for the biggest oil spill in the country's history.

"I've tried to get a piece of the oil from the BP representatives and it was met with some resistance,'' said David Hollander, a chemical oceanographer at the university. "I was just taken aback by it. It was a little unsettling. I was hoping for a little more cooperation.

"There's 50 million barrels in their reservoir,'' Hollander added. "I'm sure they could spare one.''

Hollander made his comments at a news conference where university and federal officials announced the findings of their tests on Gulf waters that were taken last month.

Phil Cochrane, a spokesman for BP, said the company had provided more than 20 samples to various university and government entities. He said any request made in writing from USF would be honored.

The test results, which were first released late last week, indicated there is a plume of undersea oil deep in the Gulf and many miles from the site of the Deepwater Horizon rig that exploded and sank in April.

Oil found on the surface of the Gulf by the R/V Weatherbird II linked that oil to the BP spill; more work is ongoing on the subsurface, invisible oil to see if it can be linked to the huge spill.

More tests are ongoing by both university and federal officials on a daily basis on those samples and others collected by ships sailing into the Gulf.

Those tests are important as officials try to determine what the effect of an underwater plume of oil, combined with about a million gallons of dispersant that has been used, could have on the underwater food chain.

"The use of dispersants cannot be minimized,'' Hollander said.

One of the biggest questions, said Steven Murawski of the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, is whether the dispersants deep underwater are robbing sea life of its necessary oxygen.

"If we deplete oxygen to levels where you can't sustain life, that's a very big action,'' he said.

.../

http://www2.tbo.com/content/2010/ju...t-helpful-researching-oil-laye/news-breaking/

 

[Treyfish]

Re: Scientists Find Giant Plumes of Oil Forming Under the Gulf

Why the existence of underwater oil plumes is a big deal for BP and the country

June 9, 8:33 PM

Surface spills can largely be cleaned up, but underwater oil can not. AP Photo​

​

By now BP has conceded to nearly every claim made against it by the federal government and press. The company concedes that a leak of this magnitude never should have happened given the "fail safe" devices designed to prevent a blowout. After originally denying a large leak existed, the company has also admitted that the oil flow far exceeds their original estimates of 1,000 barrels a day. The company has even acknowledged the long, expensive road ahead for the Gulf Coast in cleaning up oil on the shores.
Despite all this, BP still denies the existence of one thing even when confronted with a great deal of evidence to the contrary. Today, BP COO Doug Settles said that there are no underwater plumes of oil stemming from the current leak. Much like President Clinton dodged questions by asking what the meaning of "is" is, Settles denied the existence of plumes by saying it depends on how one defines a "plume."
To be clear, by now multiple, independent teams of scientists have established the existence of underwater plumes of oil in the Gulf. The government has also now confirmed the existence of low concentrations of underwater oil as far away as 142 miles from the source of the leak. If that was not proof enough, multiple videos have been produced giving visual evidence of the underwater plumes.
So why would BP deny the existence of plumes much like the Catholic Church once denied the earth revolved around the sun? It may have to do with the ultimate amount of damages BP has to pay.
Oil on the surface is bad enough and BP is certainly bad enough, but that oil is at least recoverable. BP can send cleanup clews to beaches affected by surface oil, or they can burn it, or they can collect it through skimming. In addition, the damages from surface oil is finite and can be more easily calculated. BP can refer to maps where oil has come ashore. They can show where the oil is gone through clean up efforts. Even the damage to marshlands, which ultimately may be destroyed forever by the spill, can be accounted for and limited to some degree by booms, etc.
On the other hand, underwater oil literally presents unlimited liability for the company. The oil is unseen and so can not easily be accounted for in calculating damages. It is bad enough for BP if they must pay for the known damages on shores. If the company is also forced to pay for the unseen damages going on underneath the surface it could significantly increase their costs.
The underwater oil presents two main dangers.
First, the sea creatures who swim through the oil will undoubtedly suffer from toxicity causing many of them to die. Secondly, the oil will cause some microbes to multiply robbing the precious water column of oxygen that fish, etc. need to survive. If the plumes destroy the underwater ecosystem, it is entirely possible that BP would have to pay a shrimper for not only lost earnings this year, but lost earnings for decades to come.
<!-- Start of StatCounter Code --><SCRIPT type=text/javascript>var sc_project=5951829; var sc_invisible=1; var sc_security="130d3098"; </SCRIPT><SCRIPT type=text/javascript src="http://www.statcounter.com/counter/counter.js"></SCRIPT><NOSCRIPT></NOSCRIPT><!-- End of StatCounter Code -->This, in a nutshell, is why BP will likely continue to deny the existence of underwater plumes. The company knows that it will not escape this disaster without paying something to the government and people along the coast. At this point, their best hope is to get out with paying a one time, large sum to compensate people for the surface oil spill. Their worst nightmare is to continue making large payments for the next 30-50 years for damage done by oil lurking underneath the surface.

Pictures from the Gulf Coast oil spill disaster

​

View Slideshow :tiphat:http://www.examiner.com/x-5738-Poli...l-plumes-is-a-big-deal-for-BP-and-the-country

 

[Sally Furniss]

Re: Scientists Find Giant Plumes of Oil Forming Under the Gulf

On the Trail of Methane and Plumes
By TODD WOODY

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Scientists from Texas A&M and the University of California, Santa Barbara, will try to measure the size of the gulf oil spill more precisely by taking continuous measurements of methane with machines that can also fingerprint deep-water oil plumes to track their dispersal. http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/06/10/on-the-trail-of-methane-and-plumes/#more-55159