On Sun, 20 Jun 2010 22:06:46 +0700, J. D. Slocomb
wrote:
snip
I think that you are ignoring quite a few things. Typically wells that
blow out around the casing, and there have been quite a number of
them, do not "destroy the foundation" as you think. They simply blow
out a fisher and vent. Secondly the "foundation" is in effect a
tapered pile reaching something like 15,000 feet into the earth. At
the surface it is a two foot column with a wall thickness of 8 inches
of cement and steel.
In addition BP is energetically drilling two relief wells which when
completed will be used to relieve pressure in the hole and serve as a
conduit for pumping cement into the faulty well to permanently seal
it.
To be frank the attempts that BP has made to date with the chambers to
drop over the well head are probably greatly in response to political
pressure as I'm fairly certain that no one in BP expected them to
actually cure the problem and simply hoped that they might catch some
of the oil and calm things down until they can get the permanent
solution in place.
And I don't know what you have been reading but I can tell you that
guys in the drilling business are certainly circulating some pretty
specific data on the BP drilling program, what were the original
problems, what was done when they finished the well and what was going
on when the well kicked.
snip
==========
This is most likely good advice about the
specific/isolated/basic problem of an oil well blowout at
5,000 feet.
Unfortunately however, as a nation we are now far beyond
this specific incident/problem, namely a total lack of
credibility/accountability/capability of either the Federal
government or BP. The available information indicates BP
was in a continual quest for immediate profits, continually
"cut corners," and got caught (as always happens). FWIW --
This is not the first instance, but the third, after the
major pipeline leaks in Alaska caused by a total lack of
maintenance, and the explosion in the BP refinery in Texas
City, Texas that killed 15 and maimed hundreds.
[What happened to 3 strikes and your out?]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_C...nery_explosion
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BP
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11696601/
http://www.marke****ch.com/story/ala...-ok-2010-05-29
The secrecy surrounding the mitigation efforts and clean-up
activities by BP, aided and abetted by the Federal
government's no go/ no fly zones around the blow-out site,
and attempts to keep people away from even the beaches can
only result in the assumption that things are far worse than
admitted.
The refusal of the Federal government to use the proffered
expertise and equipment from other oil producing countries
and their prevention of the use of oil recovery barges
indicates either serious "hidden agenda" problems or gross
stupidity, neither of which can be tolerated in a modern
society.
IMNSHO the Federal government via the MMS shares
accountability with BP for this mess in that the oil
companies were allowed entirely too much scope and room to
cut corners. Given the extremely serious potential, and now
actual environmental impact, and high on-the-job danger
levels [11 killed, more maimed], it would appear that the
MMS should have been specifying what practices *MUST* be
followed, what type approved equipment *MUST* be used, e.g.
no jury-rigged blowout preventers, and what drilling
practices, e.g. double wall well casing, cementing
[verification] tests, *MUST* be used. Deep water drilling
appears to offer much the same levels of risks and benefits
as nuclear power and civil aviation, and there appears to be
no logical or plausible justification that similar
governmental oversight and "best practices" should not be
imposed, backed by stiff civil and corporate/individual
penalties.
--
-- Unka George (George McDuffee)
...............................
The past is a foreign country;
they do things differently there.
L. P. Hartley (1895-1972), British author.
The Go-Between, Prologue (1953).