OIL SPILL DISASTER IN THE GULF OF MEXICO

DATE OF DISASTER: APRIL 20, 2010

COMPANIES INVOLVED:
- BRITISH PETROLEUM (Leased Deepwater Horizon)
- HALLIBURTON (Oil Services Contractor for Deepwater Horizon)
- TRANSOCEAN LTD. (Owns Deepwater Horizon)

A new microbe may turn out to be nature’s secret weapon in removing oil from the Gulf of Mexico. Researchers discovered the existence of this microbe after taking many samples of ocean water near the spill site.

Scientists discovered the new microbe while studying the underwater dispersion of millions of gallons of oil spilled since the explosion of BP’s Deepwater Horizon drilling rig.

Also, the microbe works without significantly depleting oxygen in the water, researchers reported in the online journal Sciencexpress.

“Our findings … suggest that a great potential for intrinsic bioremediation of oil plumes exists in the deep-sea,” lead researcher Terry Hazen, a microbial ecologist at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab in Berkeley, California, said in a statement.

The data is also the first ever on microbial activity from a deep-water dispersed oil plume, Hazen said.
Environmentalists have raised fears about the giant oil spill and the underwater plume of dispersed oil, particularly its potential effects on sea life. A report just last week described a 22-mile-long underwater mist of tiny oil droplets.

“Our findings show that the influx of oil profoundly altered the microbial community by significantly stimulating deep-sea” cold temperature bacteria that are closely related to known petroleum-degrading microbes, Hazen reported.

Their findings are based on more than 200 samples collected from 17 deep-water sites between May 25 and June 2. They found that the dominant microbe in the oil plume is a new species, closely related to members of Oceanospirillales.

This microbe thrives in cold water, with temperatures in the deep recorded at 41 degrees Fahrenheit.

Hazen suggested that the bacteria may have adapted over time due to periodic leaks and natural seeps of oil in the Gulf.

Primary Sources: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38834330/

OIL SPILL DISASTER IN THE GULF OF MEXICO

DATE OF DISASTER: APRIL 20, 2010

COMPANIES INVOLVED:
- BRITISH PETROLEUM (Leased Deepwater Horizon)
- HALLIBURTON (Oil Services Contractor for Deepwater Horizon)
- TRANSOCEAN LTD. (Owns Deepwater Horizon)

Even though some government officials have stated that oil in the Gulf of Mexico is dissipating due to clean up efforts, other scientists and researchers believe the oil is simply settling at the bottom. This oil remaining on the sea floor will affect the creatures at the very base of the food chain and perhaps work its way up the chain to affect other marine life as well.

…researchers at the University of South Florida have concluded that oil from the Deepwater Horizon spill may have settled to the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico farther east than previously suspected — and at levels toxic to marine life. Their study is to be released Tuesday, as well, but CNN obtained a summary of the initial conclusions Monday night.

Initial findings from a new survey of the Gulf conclude that dispersants may have sent droplets of crude to the ocean floor, where it has turned up at the bottom of an undersea canyon within 40 miles of the Florida Panhandle, the University of South Florida team said.

Plankton and other organisms at the base of the food chain showed a “strong toxic response” to the crude, and the oil could resurface later, according to researchers.

“The dispersant is moving the oil down out of the surface and into the deeper waters, where it can affect phytoplankton and other marine life,” said John Paul, a marine microbiologist at the University of South Florida.

The University of Georgia study “strongly contradicts” a 2-week-old government report saying that only 26 percent of the oil spilled from the well remains in the Gulf.

Primary Sources:

http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/08/17/gulf.oil.disaster/index.html?hpt=T2

DATE OF DISASTER: APRIL 20, 2010

OIL PLATFORM: DEEPWATER HORIZON

COMPANIES INVOLVED:
- BRITISH PETROLEUM (Leased Deepwater Horizon)
- HALLIBURTON (Oil Services Contractor for Deepwater Horizon)
- TRANSOCEAN LTD. (Owns Deepwater Horizon)

Yet another set back has halted the final steps of integrating the new oil relief well with the once leaking BP oil well. Even though just yesterday it seemed this job would be coming to an end, more bad weather has slowed the process.

The threat of bad weather has caused BP to delay work on the relief well that is meant to be the last nail in the coffin of the company’s once-gushing Macondo well.

Thad W. Allen, the retired Coast Guard admiral leading the response effort, said Tuesday that with a storm system developing east of the Macondo site in the gulf, the relief well had been plugged temporarily “out of an overabundance of caution.”

Wednesday’s expected interception of the Macondo well will be delayed at least two to three days, the admiral said, and pumping of mud and cement to finish the job of permanently sealing the well is not expected until Sunday at the earliest.

Primary Sources:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/11/us/11liability.html

DATE OF DISASTER: APRIL 20, 2010

OIL PLATFORM: DEEPWATER HORIZON

COMPANIES INVOLVED:
- BRITISH PETROLEUM (Leased Deepwater Horizon)
- HALLIBURTON (Oil Services Contractor for Deepwater Horizon)
- TRANSOCEAN LTD. (Owns Deepwater Horizon)

For about a week, the oil has stopped leaking into the Gulf of Mexico. To be certain the oil well at the bottom of the gulf stays that way, worker’s are putting the finishing touches on a relief well that will connect to the initial BP oil well. As of today, it seems the project is going well but there are definite challenges ahead.

The drilling of the relief well began on May 2 and has reached nearly 18,000 feet. Officials for BP have emphasized that intercepting the Macondo well on the first try will be difficult. After a spill off the coast of Australia last August, crews needed five attempts to hit their target.

With under 40 feet to go until the relief well reaches BP’s former leaking well, the wait will soon be up to find out if this plan is a success.

Primary Sources:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/10/us/10spill.html