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BP: Massively wrong
Jul. 7th, 2010 10:21 amRe the tarballs in Lake Pontchartrain (my previous post)
Times-Picayune:Nearly 1,700 pounds of oil captured in Lake Pontchartrain
In the scale of this disaster, that's "minor". Thus far. As to what the oil had to get past to get that far, in addition to twists and turns of geography:
Picayune: System in place to try to minimize impact of oil in Lake Pontchartrain
"Floating barriers stretch across the Rigolets and Chef Menteur Pass, the deep waterways that connect lakes Pontchartrain and Borgne. And closer to Lake Pontchartrain, huge barges sit across those passes, forming imposing walls."
There wasn't just some amateurishly laid string of boom, this was multiple barriers including a wall of barges, at some 10 feet above the water level and 6 to 8 feet below the water level, blocking the paths to Pontchartrain. The tar apparently got under them.
One of proposed and debated possible options is construction of rock barriers and/or sand berms. I don't know enough about the science to evaluate. Unfortunately the debate seems to be getting highly politicized.
N.Y. Times:Louisiana and Scientists Spar Over How to Stop Oil
Picayune: Sand berms a dubious solution: A guest column by Len Bahr
On the cleanup side, BP's figures "massively wrong, by a factor of over 100":
Reuters: Truth and lies in oil-skimming statistics
"[before the blowout] a March report from BP said that it had the capacity to skim and remove 491,721 barrels of oil per day. Even after the explosion, BP was still insisting that it had “skimming capacity of more than 171,000 barrels per day, with more available if needed.” So far, it has managed to skim less than 900 barrels per day. Add burn-offs, and you get to just over 300,000 barrels in total, over 77 days — that’s less than 4,000 barrels per day."
Editorial in the Picayune: Is the Coast Guard working for the public or BP?
Times-Picayune:Nearly 1,700 pounds of oil captured in Lake Pontchartrain
In the scale of this disaster, that's "minor". Thus far. As to what the oil had to get past to get that far, in addition to twists and turns of geography:
Picayune: System in place to try to minimize impact of oil in Lake Pontchartrain
"Floating barriers stretch across the Rigolets and Chef Menteur Pass, the deep waterways that connect lakes Pontchartrain and Borgne. And closer to Lake Pontchartrain, huge barges sit across those passes, forming imposing walls."
There wasn't just some amateurishly laid string of boom, this was multiple barriers including a wall of barges, at some 10 feet above the water level and 6 to 8 feet below the water level, blocking the paths to Pontchartrain. The tar apparently got under them.
One of proposed and debated possible options is construction of rock barriers and/or sand berms. I don't know enough about the science to evaluate. Unfortunately the debate seems to be getting highly politicized.
N.Y. Times:Louisiana and Scientists Spar Over How to Stop Oil
Picayune: Sand berms a dubious solution: A guest column by Len Bahr
On the cleanup side, BP's figures "massively wrong, by a factor of over 100":
Reuters: Truth and lies in oil-skimming statistics
"[before the blowout] a March report from BP said that it had the capacity to skim and remove 491,721 barrels of oil per day. Even after the explosion, BP was still insisting that it had “skimming capacity of more than 171,000 barrels per day, with more available if needed.” So far, it has managed to skim less than 900 barrels per day. Add burn-offs, and you get to just over 300,000 barrels in total, over 77 days — that’s less than 4,000 barrels per day."
Editorial in the Picayune: Is the Coast Guard working for the public or BP?
