BP spill is already far larger than the 1989 Exxon Valdez (Hope: how much, felony)

[Manmountain]

Boy,,, this is killing me. Put away the petty B.S. drama.

Whos takin charge? Mainstream media talks about liability lawsuits.

You know what the deathcount will be on sealife? Take your cat outside and throw it in a bathtub of used motor oil and leave it-- same thing happening now x 100000000.

In China CEO's get life for F-in up. Not here--- Oh no were gonna jawjack about BULL****--- AND SHUT UP BIT--. , heres the article ;
There's at least 10 times as much oil spilling into the Gulf of Mexico than official estimates suggest, according to an exclusive NPR analysis.

NPR's Richard Harris talks to Michele Norris on All Things Considered
[3 min 45 sec]
Add to Playlist At NPR's request, experts analyzed video that BP released Wednesday. Their findings suggest the BP spill is already far larger than the 1989 Exxon Valdez accident in Alaska, which spilled at least 250,000 barrels of oil.

BP has said repeatedly that there is no reliable way to measure the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico by looking at the oil gushing out of the pipe. But scientists say there are actually many proven techniques for doing just that.

Steven Wereley, an associate professor at Purdue University, analyzed videotape of the sea-floor gusher using a technique called particle image velocimetry.

A computer program simply tracks particles, and calculates how fast they are moving. Wereley put the BP video of the gusher into his computer. He made a few simple calculations and came up with an astonishing value for the rate of the oil spill: 70,000 barrels a day — much higher than the official estimate of 5,000 barrels a day.

The method is accurate to a degree of plus or minus 20 percent.


Given that uncertainty, the amount of material spewing from the pipe could range from 56,000 barrels to 84,000 barrels a day. It is important to note that it's not all oil. The short video BP released starts out with a shot of methane, but at the end it seems to be mostly oil.


"There's potentially some fluctuation back and forth between methane and oil," Wereley said.

But assuming that the lion's share of the material coming out the pipe is oil, Wereley's calculations show that the official estimates are too low.

"We're talking more than a factor of 10 difference between what I calculate and the number that's being thrown around," he said.

At least two other calculations support him.

Timothy Crone, an associate research scientist at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, used another well-accepted method to calculate fluid flows. Crone says the flow is at least 50,000 barrels a day.

Eugene Chaing, a professor of astrophysics at the University of California, Berkeley, got a similar answer just using pencil and paper.

Without even having a sense of scale from the BP video, he correctly deduced that the diameter of the pipe was about 20 inches. And though his calculation is less precise than Wereley's, it is in the same ballpark.


"I would peg it at around 20,000 to 100,000 barrels per day," he says.

Chiang calls the current estimate of 5,000 barrels a day "almost certainly incorrect."

Given this flow rate, it seems this is a spill of unprecedented proportions in U.S. waters.

"It would just take a few days, at most a week, for it to exceed the Exxon Valdez's record," Chiang said.

BP disputed these figures.

"We've said all along that there's no way to estimate the flow coming out of the pipe accurately," said Bill Salvin, a BP spokesman.

Instead, BP prefers to rely on measurements of oil on the sea surface made by the Coast Guard and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Those are also contentious. Salvin also says these analyses should not assume that the oil is spewing from the 21-inch pipe, called a riser, shown in the video.

"The drill pipe, from which the oil is rising, is actually a 9-inch pipe that rests within the riser," Slavin said.


But Werleley says that fact doesn't skew his calculation. And though scientists say they hope that BP will eventually release more video and information so they can refine their estimates, what they have now is good enough.


"It's possible to get a pretty decent number by looking at the video," Wereley said.

This new, much larger number suggests that capturing — and cleaning up — this oil may be a much bigger challenge than anyone has let on.

[starlite9]

According to the news, currently, it is half of what the EXXON Valdez was at. At some point it may exceed it, but not yet.

The sky is falling, run and hide.

That is sarcasm for those that don't grasp it.

It will be a mess, get in and start cleaning it while they figure out how to stop it. Claiming the world is going to end is a waste of energy to say the least. The fact that the politicians are pointing fingers at everyone verses putting resources into getting it stopped is wast of time and effort, there will be years of courtroom drama to figure out who did what and didn't.

[writerwife]

We were at the Alabama Gulf shores last week and so far, its stayed away from those beaches. The only extra sealife that had washed up at that point were a lot of Jelly fish and Portuguese man of war. The beach was littered with them. Also not unusual if there's a storm out to sea (which there was). I don't doubt there will be a great deal of loss though...that thing is really pumping it out. Hopefully they'll get something done soon.

[akdreamin]

Originally Posted by starlite9

According to the news, currently, it is half of what the EXXON Valdez was at. At some point it may exceed it, but not yet.

The sky is falling, run and hide.

That is sarcasm for those that don't grasp it.

Ain't no telling how large the thing is, its all people estimating anyway. What I do know is that it's a disaster and its growing every day anyway you slice it.


Some folks say its pouring out 5x more than the 5000 barrels a day:
Calculations of Gulf Spill Volume Are Questioned - NYTimes.com

[Nativechief]

The oil crooks are already in court trying to LIMIT how much they will have to pay.You never see them talking about any LIMIT on how much they can make do you........Limit HELL........forget about any limit just get that mess cleaned up and pay back every cent it cost now and for the next twenty years...

[rifleman]

Originally Posted by writerwife

We were at the Alabama Gulf shores last week and so far, its stayed away from those beaches. The only extra sealife that had washed up at that point were a lot of Jelly fish and Portuguese man of war. The beach was littered with them. Also not unusual if there's a storm out to sea (which there was). I don't doubt there will be a great deal of loss though...that thing is really pumping it out. Hopefully they'll get something done soon.

The losses to the already damaged (from over-utilization; another human failing) fishing industry is palpable. Oysters ala' crude oil? Not gonna be a big seller! Alaska was bad enough, this will be catastrophic. (BTW, I've heard that Exxon has yet to pay even one dime. That so?) And yes, I'd rather have a massive surface spill if I had to pick one; this one's also contaminating the sub-surface by having this sludgy mess percolate up through the currents. The effects on fish and molluscs and cetaceans? Oh-oh...

Can it be stopped? We'll see. It's unthinkably possible that it cannot, it being over a mile down; except for perhaps a nuclear detonation to fuse the ocean floor. Or not.

We must learn to NEVER EVER again believe those patronizing, lulling BS statements of Big Biz, esp. Big Oil or Big Coal. Their personal goal? Why, to garner massively obscene paychecks and personal benefits or course. For a select few who always seem to escape unscathed at our expense. They should all be required to live downwind, downstream, or within the physical sphere of influence of their pet projects.

That would necessarily also apply to that eco-illiterate hack Rush Limbaugh. Move his mansion down to the Louisiana shores, and have him get his water from a chemically polluted well.. Yeah yeah; I know: he's a politically insightful powerhouse, but his ecological common sense, indeed his level of biological, geological or ecological understanding, is pathologically lacking. And yet, millions buy into his "The Earth can absorb anything!" nonsense. Should be a felony to spew such tripe.

Even when the smoke clears on this one, if it ever does, you can bet that BP will simply pass on the costs to you and I in the form of raised gasoline prices. You don't for a moment think the CEO or CFO or any of the top, say, 100 execs, will suffer in the least do you?

BTW, I've worked for big Oil and big coal, as a professional biologist and geologist.

Hmmm... perhaps socialism has some advantages, non?

[stiffnecked]

I have an idea if they would let the truth out this spill would be larger then the ExxonValdez.

[blueflames50]

ummmm...this will set things off!
The Mudflats | BP Whistleblower Speaks Out on Falsified Safety Tests (http://www.themudflats.net/2010/05/14/bp-whistleblower-speaks-out-on-falsified-safety-tests/ - broken link)

[AADAD]

There is a much bigger problem.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/16/us/16oil.html?hp

[Floyd_Davidson]

Originally Posted by starlite9

According to the news, currently, it is half of what the EXXON Valdez was at. At some point it may exceed it, but not yet.

The sky is falling, run and hide.

That is sarcasm for those that don't grasp it.

Originally Posted by AADAD

Giant Plumes of Oil Found Under Gulf of Mexico - NYTimes.com

From that cite: "10 miles long, 3 miles wide and 300 feet thick" is the largest underwater oil plume, of many, that they have found so far.

Apparently, for those who don't grasp it, that isn't sarcasm and in effect the sky is indeed falling. Even if that is only 25% oil, it's still more oil than the Exxon Valdez had on board, never mind what it spilled.

A little oil here, a little oil there... next thing you know Starlite9 will end up with oil on his Chef Salad, and then it suddenly will be a big deal.