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</ref> Coast Guard Rear Admiral Mary Landry described it as "a very serious spill, absolutely."<ref name=oilleak/> BP, which was leading the cleanup, employed [[Remotely operated underwater vehicle|remotely operated vehicle]]s (ROVs), 700 workers, four airplanes and 32 vessels to contain the oil.<ref name=oilleak/> They planned to use ROVs to close the well at depth; up to 1000 [[Barrel (volume)|barrels of oil]] a day were estimated to be leaking from the wellhead according to BP, but other sources using satellite imagery have put that number as high as 5,000 to 10,000 barrels a day.<ref name=oilleak/> The valve closing procedure was estimated to take 24 to 36 hours as of April 25; oil cleanup was being hampered by high waves on April 24 and 25.<ref name=leakfix> |
</ref> Coast Guard Rear Admiral Mary Landry described it as "a very serious spill, absolutely."<ref name=oilleak/> BP, which was leading the cleanup, employed [[Remotely operated underwater vehicle|remotely operated vehicle]]s (ROVs), 700 workers, four airplanes and 32 vessels to contain the oil.<ref name=oilleak/> They planned to use ROVs to close the well at depth; up to 1000 [[Barrel (volume)|barrels of oil]] a day were estimated to be leaking from the wellhead according to BP, but other sources using satellite imagery have put that number as high as 5,000 to 10,000 barrels a day.<ref name=oilleak/> The valve closing procedure was estimated to take 24 to 36 hours as of April 25; oil cleanup was being hampered by high waves on April 24 and 25.<ref name=leakfix> |
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{{cite news| url = http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2010/04/25/oil-rig-leak.html| title = Robot subs trying to stop Gulf oil leak| publisher = CBC News| author = Staff writer| date = 2010-04-25| accessdate = 2010-04-25}}</ref> By April 25, the oil spill covered 1500 square km, and was only 50 km from the [[Chandeleur Islands]], ecologically sensitive barrier islands, damaged in 2005 by [[Hurricane Katrina]].<ref name=leakfix/> Mike Miller expects the oil spill to be the biggest in history.<ref name="BBC 29/4">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/8651624.stm|title=US military joins Gulf of Mexico oil spill effort|date=April 29, 2010 |work=[[BBC News]]|publisher=[[BBC]]|accessdate=April 29, 2010}}</ref> |
{{cite news| url = http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2010/04/25/oil-rig-leak.html| title = Robot subs trying to stop Gulf oil leak| publisher = CBC News| author = Staff writer| date = 2010-04-25| accessdate = 2010-04-25}}</ref> By April 25, the oil spill covered 1500 square km, and was only 50 km from the [[Chandeleur Islands]], ecologically sensitive barrier islands, damaged in 2005 by [[Hurricane Katrina]].<ref name=leakfix/> Mike Miller expects the oil spill to be the biggest in history.<ref name="BBC 29/4">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/8651624.stm|title=US military joins Gulf of Mexico oil spill effort|date=April 29, 2010 |work=[[BBC News]]|publisher=[[BBC]]|accessdate=April 29, 2010}}</ref> |
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If unable to close the [[Blowout preventer|blow out preventer]] (BOP) valves on the well head 5000 feet below the surface of the water using the ROV two other options remain to secure the source. The first and fastest is to place a dome over the well head capturing the oil and piping it to the surface to a storage vessel, this operation will take some time as the dome will have to be fabricated. The next option would be to bring in another drilling rig and either re-drill the well straight down, ([[Montara oil spill|as done in Australia]]), or cross drill from a little ways away and tap into the original borehole. Once the second drilling operation reaches the original borehole the operators could then pump drilling mud into the well to stop the flow of oil. <ref>http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8651624.stm</ref> |
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On April 28, it was announced that the US Military was joining the cleanup operation and would commence controlled burning of the oil. BP admitted that up to five times the amount of oil as originally estimated had leaked into the Gulf of Mexico and the slick covered an area approximately the size of [[Jamaica]]. [[Doug Suttles]], chief executive officer of BP welcomed the assistance of the US military.<ref name="BBC 29/4"/> |
On April 28, it was announced that the US Military was joining the cleanup operation and would commence controlled burning of the oil. BP admitted that up to five times the amount of oil as originally estimated had leaked into the Gulf of Mexico and the slick covered an area approximately the size of [[Jamaica]]. [[Doug Suttles]], chief executive officer of BP welcomed the assistance of the US military.<ref name="BBC 29/4"/> |
Revision as of 15:43, 29 April 2010
Date | April 20, 2010 |
---|---|
Time | 10 p.m. (local time) |
Location | Gulf of Mexico, Louisiana, United States |
Casualties | |
11 missing, presumed dead | |
17 injured |
The Deepwater Horizon drilling rig explosion occurred on April 20, 2010 on the semi-submersible offshore drilling rig Deepwater Horizon in the Gulf of Mexico.
Background
The Deepwater Horizon was 396 feet (121 m) long and 256 feet (78 m) wide. It was built by Hyundai Heavy Industries in South Korea in 2001. The rig could accommodate up to 130 people and was designed for operations in water depths of up to 8,000 feet (2,400 m). Maximum drill depth was 30,000 feet (9,100 m).[1]
The semi-submersible drilling rig was owned by Transocean Ltd and was under lease to BP[2] through September 2013. At the time of the fire Deepwater Horizon was on BP's Mississippi Canyon Block 252, referred to as the Macondo prospect, in the U.S. sector of the Gulf of Mexico, about 41 mi (66 km) off the Louisiana coast.[3][4]
Explosion and rescue efforts
The fire reportedly started at 10 p.m. CST.[3] Adrian Rose, a vice president of Transocean, Ltd., said workers had been performing their standard routines with "no indication of any problems" just prior to the explosion.[5] According to officials, 126 individuals were on board at the time of the explosion,[5] many of whom who were able to escape were brought onshore on a workboat.[6] According to spokesperson of Transocean Ltd, at the time of the explosion the rig was drilling but was not in production.[7] Survivors described the incident as a sudden explosion which gave them less than five minutes to escape as the alarm went off.[8] Most of the survivors escaped via fiberglass lifeboats equipped with diesel engines and travelled nearly 45 minutes before reaching a supply boat that BP had hired to pick up the survivors.[9] The survivors were brought to Port Fourchon to go through a medical check-up and be reunited with their families.[10] On April 22, officials stated 11 missing workers could have been near the blast and not been able to escape due to the sudden explosion.[11] After having been on fire for more than a day, Deepwater Horizon sank on April 22, 2010.[12]
115 of the 126 member crew were recovered, 94 of the survivors were taken to shore with no major injuries and four others were transported to another vessel and eleven remain missing.[5] 17 were evacuated from the rig by helicopter and taken for medical treatment; two of them were airlifted to a trauma center in Mobile, Alabama.[5] Six were taken to University of South Alabama Medical Center with one admitted to the burn unit and the other five released.[5] Four were taken to the West Jefferson Medical Center in Marrero, two by air and two by ground, all of whom were treated and released by 11:15 a.m. on April 21.[5] Initial reports indicated between 12 to 15 were missing.[2][13] As of April 23, 2010, Rear Admiral Mary E. Landry, commander of the Eighth Coast Guard District said that the conditions of four of the injured had improved with two of them released from the hospital, one soon to be and another expected to be released in seven to ten days.[14]
The United States Coast Guard launched a massive rescue operation.[15] Four helicopters, four coast guard ships and one plane were used for rescue operations.[16] Two Coast Guard cutters continued searching overnight. By the morning of April 22 the Coast Guard surveyed nearly 1,940 mi (3,120 km) in 17 separate air and sea search missions.[9] On April 23 the Coast Guard called off the search for the 11 missing persons.[17][14] The eleven are not expected to be found alive, as Landry stated at a news conference, “We have just made a very difficult decision. After a three-day search covering 5,300 miles, we have reached a point where reasonable expectations of survival have passed.”[14]
Investigation
The Coast Guard and the Minerals Management Service have launched an investigation on possible causes of the explosion. Production casing was being run and cemented at the time of the accident. Once the cementing was done, it was due to be tested for integrity and a cement plug set to abandon the well for later completion as a subsea producer. According to Transocean executive Adrian Rose "undoubtedly abnormal pressure" had accumulated inside the marine riser and as it came up it "expanded rapidly and ignited", an event known as a blowout.[18]
Due to potential oil spills which are likely during explosions, the Environmental Protection Agency's teams were on a standby in Morgan City, Louisiana, to assess possible environmental damage as soon as the fire is put out. The Mineral Management Service officials said there have been 39 fires or explosions offshore in the Gulf of Mexico in the first five months of 2009, the last period with statistics available.[5][6] Seventy-nine of the total 126 workers were Transocean employees, six were from BP and forty-one were contracted.[10] BP spokesperson Darren Beaudo said all BP employees were safe.[7]
Oil leak
Although initially the undersea wellhead appeared to be contained, on April 24 it was found that the wellhead was damaged and was leaking oil into the Gulf.[19] Coast Guard Rear Admiral Mary Landry described it as "a very serious spill, absolutely."[19] BP, which was leading the cleanup, employed remotely operated vehicles (ROVs), 700 workers, four airplanes and 32 vessels to contain the oil.[19] They planned to use ROVs to close the well at depth; up to 1000 barrels of oil a day were estimated to be leaking from the wellhead according to BP, but other sources using satellite imagery have put that number as high as 5,000 to 10,000 barrels a day.[19] The valve closing procedure was estimated to take 24 to 36 hours as of April 25; oil cleanup was being hampered by high waves on April 24 and 25.[20] By April 25, the oil spill covered 1500 square km, and was only 50 km from the Chandeleur Islands, ecologically sensitive barrier islands, damaged in 2005 by Hurricane Katrina.[20] Mike Miller expects the oil spill to be the biggest in history.[21]
On April 28, it was announced that the US Military was joining the cleanup operation and would commence controlled burning of the oil. BP admitted that up to five times the amount of oil as originally estimated had leaked into the Gulf of Mexico and the slick covered an area approximately the size of Jamaica. Doug Suttles, chief executive officer of BP welcomed the assistance of the US military.[21]
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Response boats work to clean up spilled fuel and oil from the rig and undersea wellhead.
-
In this image, the Mississippi River Delta is at image center, and the oil slick is a silvery swirl to the right.
See also
- Offshore oil and gas in the US Gulf of Mexico
- United States offshore drilling debate
- Ixtoc I exploratory oil well in the Gulf of Mexico. Suffered a simular blowout and is recognized as the second largest oil spill in history.
References
- ^ Transocean Deepwater Horizon specifications [1]. Retrieved on 2010-04-22.
- ^ a b Tom Fowler (2010-04-21). "Workers missing after Transocean offshore rig accident". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 2010-04-21.
- ^ a b "BP confirms that Transocean Ltd issued the following statement today" (Press release). BP. April 21, 2010. Retrieved April 21, 2010.
- ^ "Deepwater Horizon Still on Fire in GOM". Rigzone. 2010-04-21. Retrieved 2010-04-21.
- ^ a b c d e f g "At least 11 missing after blast on oil rig in Gulf". CNN. 2010-04-21. Retrieved 2010-04-21.
- ^ a b "Search for Missing Workers After La. Oil Rig Blast". Fox News. 2010-04-21. Retrieved 2010-04-21.
- ^ a b "At least 11 workers missing after La. oil rig explosion". USA Today. 2010-04-21. Retrieved 2010-04-21.
- ^ Wise, Lindsay; Latson, Jennifer; Patel, Purva (2010-04-22). "Rig blast survivor: 'We had like zero time'". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 2010-04-22.
- ^ a b Chris Kirkham (2010-04-22). "Rescued oil rig explosion workers arrive to meet families at Kenner hotel". New Orleans Metro Real-Time News. Retrieved 2010-04-22.
- ^ a b "Oil rig survivors back on land; 11 missing". Shreveport Times. 2010-04-22. Retrieved 2010-04-22.
- ^ Kevin McGill (2010-04-22). "11 missing in oil rig blast may not have escaped". Associated Press. Retrieved 2010-04-22.
- ^ Jessica Resnick-Ault; Katarzyna Klimasinska (2010-04-22). "Transocean Oil-Drilling Rig Sinks in Gulf of Mexico". Bloomberg. Retrieved 2010-04-22.
{{cite news}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Robertson, Campbell; Robbins, Liz (2010-04-21). "Workers Missing After Oil Rig Blast". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-04-21.
- ^ a b c Kaufman, Leslie (April 23, 2010). "Search Ends for Missing Oil Rig Workers". Retrieved April 24, 2010.
- ^ "Transocean Ltd. Reports Fire on Semisubmersible Drilling Rig Deepwater Horizon" (Press release). Transocean Ltd. April 21, 2010. Retrieved April 21, 2010.
- ^ "Oil rig blaze off Louisiana leaves at least 11 missing". BBC News. 2010-04-21. Retrieved 2010-04-21.
- ^ "Coast guard calls off search for oil rig workers". CBC. 2010-04-23. Retrieved 2010-04-23.
- ^
Noah Brenner, Anthony Guegel, Tan Hwee Hwee, Anthea Pitt (2010-04-22). "Coast Guard confirms Horizon sinks". Upstream Online. Retrieved 2010-04-22.
{{cite news}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ a b c d Associated Press (2010-04-24). "Oil rig wreck leaks into Gulf of Mexico". CBC News. Retrieved 2010-04-25.
- ^ a b Staff writer (2010-04-25). "Robot subs trying to stop Gulf oil leak". CBC News. Retrieved 2010-04-25.
- ^ a b "US military joins Gulf of Mexico oil spill effort". BBC News. BBC. April 29, 2010. Retrieved April 29, 2010.