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Deepwater Horizon oil spill

Coordinates: 28°45′19.34″N 88°23′15.65″W / 28.7553722°N 88.3876806°W / 28.7553722; -88.3876806
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Deepwater Horizon oil spill
Anchor handling tugs combat the fire on the Deepwater Horizon while the U.S. Coast Guard searches for missing crew.
DateApril 20, 2010
Time10 p.m. (local time)
LocationGulf of Mexico, Louisiana, United States
Casualties
11 missing, presumed dead
17 injured

The Deepwater Horizon, a semi-submersible offshore drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico owned by Transocean and leased to BP (formerly British Petroleum), exploded after a blowout on April 20, 2010, and sank two days later, taking with it eleven lives and causing a significant oil spill, which took another life when it turned into a sludge monster and killed Tasha Yar, by far the low point of season one. A "Unified Command" website coordinating information from U.S. government agencies and private companies involved refers to the disaster as the "Gulf of Mexico – Transocean Drilling Incident."[1] The EPA and White House have simply been calling it the "BP Oil Spill."[1] It is the worst drilling accident in the Gulf of Mexico since the very similar blowout and oil spill of the Ixtoc I in 1979. Experts fear that it will turn into an environmental disaster because of the effect of the spill on the Gulf shoreline, fisheries, and wildlife.[2]

Background

Main article: Deepwater Horizon

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).[3]

The semi-submersible drilling rig was owned by Transocean Ltd and was leased by BP[4] until 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 miles (66 km) off the Louisiana coast.[5][6]

Explosion and rescue efforts

The fire reportedly started at 10 p.m. CST.[5] 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.[7] According to spokesperson of Transocean Ltd, at the time of the explosion the rig was drilling but was not in production.[8] According to officials, 126 individuals were on board,[7] of whom 79 were Transocean employees, six were from BP, and 41 were contracted.[9]

Survivors described the incident as a sudden explosion which gave them less than five minutes to escape as the alarm went off.[10] Officials would later conclude that 11 workers could have been near the blast and not been able to escape due to the sudden explosion.[11] Most of the survivors escaped via fiberglass lifeboats equipped with diesel engines and traveled nearly 45 minutes before reaching a supply boat that BP had hired to pick up the survivors.[12] The survivors were brought to Port Fourchon to go through a medical check-up and be reunited with their families.[9]

Supply boats continued to battle the fire, viewed from a Coast Guard helicopter (Warning: loud volume and adult language)

115 of the 126-member crew were recovered; 94 were taken to shore with no major injuries, four others were transported to another vessel,[7][13] 17 were evacuated from the rig by helicopter and taken for medical treatment, two were airlifted to a trauma center in Mobile, Alabama,[7] 6 were taken to University of South Alabama Medical Center with one admitted to the burn unit and the other five released,[7] 4 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.[7] 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]

Initial reports indicated between 12 to 15 were missing.[4][15] The United States Coast Guard launched a massive rescue operation.[16] Four helicopters, four coast guard ships and one plane were used for rescue operations.[17] Two Coast Guard cutters continued searching overnight. By the morning of April 22 the Coast Guard had surveyed nearly 1,940 miles (3,120 km) in 17 separate air and sea search missions.[12]

After having been on fire for more than a day, Deepwater Horizon sank on April 22, 2010.[18] On April 23, the Coast Guard called off the search for the 11 missing persons[19][14] because "reasonable expectations of survival" had 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 complete, 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.[20]

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.[7][13] BP spokesperson Darren Beaudo said all BP employees were safe.[8]

Oil spill

This photo from a NASA satellite shows the oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico on April 25, 2010.
Approximate oil locations from April 25, 2010 to April 30, 2010 – NOAA

Pre-spill planning

In February 2009, BP filed a 52-page exploration and environmental impact plan with the federal Minerals Management Service for the Deepwater Horizon well. The plan stated that it was "unlikely that an accidental surface or subsurface oil spill would occur from the proposed activities", and that "due to the distance to shore (48 miles) and the response capabilities that would be implemented, no significant adverse impacts are expected".[21]

Discovery of oil spill

On the morning of April 22, CNN quoted Coast Guard Petty Officer Ashley Butler as saying that "oil was leaking from the rig at the rate of about 8,000 barrels of crude per day."[22] That afternoon, as a large oil slick spread, Senior Chief Petty Officer Michael O'Berry told CNN that a submersible crew had been unable to cap the well and that, based on the rig's previous daily production, up to 336,000 US gallons (1,270,000 litres) of oil a day could spill into the Gulf. Butler warned of a leak of up to 700,000 US gallons (2,600,000 litres) of diesel fuel, and BP Vice President David Rainey termed the incident as being a potential "major spill."[23]

BP on April 22 announced that it was deploying an unmanned submarine (or ROV) to the site to assess whether oil was flowing from the well.[24] Other reports indicated that BP was using more than one ROV and that the purpose was to attempt to plug the well pipe.[25]

The next day, April 23, a Reuters article titled "Oil spill not growing" referred to an unnamed "spokeswoman" and an ROV that "found no oil leaking from the sunken ... rig and no oil flowing from the well."[26]Coast Guard Rear Adm. Mary Landry, interviewed by CBS, when specifically asked how much oil was emanating from the ocean floor wellhead or the broken pipes or risers, stated that no oil was emanating from either.[27] On another TV interview the same day, Landry stated, "The fact that there is no oil spilled other than that small amount we were able to work with, that's a good thing," and expressed "cautious optimism" of zero environmental impact.[28] Subsequently, news stories of April 23 quoted Admiral Landry as saying that no oil appeared to be leaking from either the undersea wellhead or at the water's surface, and that oil spilled from the explosion and sinking was being contained.[29][30]

The following day, April 24, Landry announced that a damaged wellhead was leaking oil into the Gulf.[31] Landry described it as "a very serious spill, absolutely."[32]

Volume and extent of oil spill

BP originally estimated up to 1,000 barrels of oil a day (1.84 litres/second) were leaking from the wellhead,[32] but by April 28, the NOAA said that the rate was probably five times that estimate, i.e., 5,000 barrels, or about 210,000 gallons, per day (9.2 litres/second).[33][34] Other sources using satellite imagery have put that number as high as 5,000 to 10,000 barrels a day (9.2 to 18.4 litres/second).[32] Estimating the flow is very difficult, as there is no metering of the flow underwater.[34]

The spread of the oil was increased by strong southernly winds caused by an impending cold front. By April 25, the oil spill covered 1,500 square km, and was only 50 km from the Chandeleur Islands, ecologically sensitive barrier islands, damaged in 2005 by Hurricane Katrina.[35] Mike Miller of fire-fighting company Safety Boss that specializes in oil wells, predicted that the oil spill would be the biggest in history.[34] The oil slick may eventually exceed the volume of oil in the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill. At the rate of 5,000 barrels per day, it will take less than two months for the current spill to surpass the 270,000 barrels oil spilled by the Exxon Valdez.[36] The spill quickly approached the Delta National Wildlife Refuge and Breton National Wildlife Refuge.[37][38] On April 29, Governor of Louisiana Bobby Jindal declared a state of emergency in the state after weather forecasts predicted the slick would reach the Louisiana coast by April 30.[39]

Activities to stop the oil leak

An example of an ROV at work on a valve in an underwater oil and gas field.

BP planned to use ROVs to close the blow out preventer (BOP) valves on the well head 5,000 feet below the surface of the water.[40] The valve closing procedure was estimated to take 24 to 36 hours as of April 25.[35] As of April 28, BP had been unsuccessful in accomplishing this.[40] BP engineers are working on two other options to secure the source. The first and fastest is to place a dome over the well head that will capture the oil and pipe it to the surface to be contained in a storage vessel, but it will still take weeks for the design and fabrication of the dome before it can be put in place. BP is also preparing to drill a relief well into the original well to relieve it. Transocean Development Driller III has arrived on site and is preparing to drill and is scheduled to start a relief well by the weekend.[41] Transocean's Discoverer Enterprise is also underway should a second relief well be necessary. This operation will take two to three months to stop the flow of oil, however. [34][42][41] Re-drilling the well straight down was done in Australia after the Montara oil spill. In this case, once the second drilling operation reached the original borehole the operators pumped drilling mud into the well to stop the flow of oil.[43][44]

Dealing with the spill

BP, which was leading the cleanup, employed remotely operated vehicles (ROVs), 700 workers, four airplanes and 32 vessels to contain the oil.[32]After the discovery that the undersea wellhead was leaking, the oil cleanup was being hampered by high waves on April 24 and 25.[35] According to BP Plc's Chief Executive, Tony Hayward, BP will compensate all those affected by the oil spill saying that "We are taking full responsibility for the spill and we will clean it up and where people can present legitimate claims for damages we will honour them. We are going to be very, very aggressive in all of that."[45]

On April 28, it was announced that the US military was joining the cleanup operation and Doug Suttles, chief executive officer of BP, welcomed the assistance of the US military.[34]. Also it was announced that the US Coast Guard and would commence controlled burning of the oil. They made a controlled burn later that day 30 miles east from the Mississippi river delta in an effort to protect environmentally sensitive wetlands.[46] President Barack Obama announced that the Federal Government was using "every single resource at our disposal"[39] to control the slick.[39]

By April 29, 69 vessels including skimmers, tugs, barges and recovery vessels were active in cleanup activities. In an attempt to minimize impact to sensitive areas in the Mississippi River Delta area, over 100,000 feet of booms were deployed along the coast.[42] By the next day, this nearly doubled to 180,000 feet (34 miles) of boom in the water, with an additional 300,000 feet staged or being deployed.[41]

By 30 April, the Coast Guard received reports that oil had begun washing up to wildlife refuges and seafood grounds on the Louisiana Gulf coast and initial cost estimates to the fishing industry were $2.5 billion while the impact on tourism along Florida's Paradise coast could be $3 billion. Because of the risk that the oil spill can affect the shrimping industry, an emergency shrimping season was opened on April 29, 2010 so that a catch could be brought in before the oil advanced too far.[46]

At the time of the spill, President Barack Obama declared the coastline of Louisiana and Mississippi an emergency and sent more than 1000 National Guard personnel to assist in the cleanup operation.

Estimates on 30 April placed the total spread of the oil at 2,100 square miles with approximately 2,000 people, 79 vessels, and two DoD C-130 aircraft involved in the response. All told, 217,000 feet of boom were assigned and 139,400 US gallons (528,000 litres)+ of dispersant deployed. BP claims that more than 853,000 US gallons (3,230,000 litres) of oil-water mix have been recovered. As for the wildlife, more than 400 species, including whales and dolphins, face a dire threat from the spill, along with Louisiana's barrier islands and marshlands. In the national refuges most at risk, about 34,000 birds have been counted, including gulls, pelicans, roseate spoonbills, egrets, shore birds, terns and blue herons.[47]

Consequences

On April 28, 2010, two commercial shrimpers from Louisiana filed a class action lawsuit against Transocean, BP, Halliburton Energy Services Inc. and Cameron International Corp over the oil spill, stating that the oil spill disrupts commercial shrimping industry.[48] The lawsuit seeks $5 million dollars in compensatory damages and an unspecified amount in punitive damages.


  • Response boats work to clean up spilled fuel and oil from the rig and undersea wellhead.
    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.
    In this image, the Mississippi River Delta is at image center, and the oil slick is a silvery swirl to the right.
  • The slick seen from NASA's EO-1 satellite.
    The slick seen from NASA's EO-1 satellite.
  • The slick just off the Louisiana coast.
    The slick just off the Louisiana coast.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Federal Response to BP Spill in the Gulf of Mexico". United States Environmental Protection Agency. Retrieved 2010-04-30.
  2. ^ Gulf Oil Slick Endangering Ecology (CBS News). CBS. 2010-04-30. Retrieved 2010-05-01.
  3. ^ "Transocean Deepwater Horizon specifications". Transocean. Retrieved 2010-04-22.
  4. ^ a b Tom Fowler (2010-04-21). "Workers missing after Transocean offshore rig accident". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 2010-04-21.
  5. ^ a b "BP confirms that Transocean Ltd issued the following statement today" (Press release). BP. April 21, 2010. Retrieved April 21, 2010.
  6. ^ "Deepwater Horizon Still on Fire in GOM". Rigzone. 2010-04-21. Retrieved 2010-04-21.
  7. ^ 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.
  8. ^ a b "At least 11 workers missing after La. oil rig explosion". USA Today. 2010-04-21. Retrieved 2010-04-21.
  9. ^ a b "Oil rig survivors back on land; 11 missing". Shreveport Times. 2010-04-22. Retrieved 2010-04-22.
  10. ^ Wise, Lindsay; Latson, Jennifer; Patel, Purva (2010-04-22). "Rig blast survivor: 'We had like zero time'". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 2010-04-22.
  11. ^ Kevin McGill (2010-04-22). "11 missing in oil rig blast may not have escaped". Associated Press. Retrieved 2010-04-22.
  12. ^ 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.
  13. ^ a b "Search for Missing Workers After La. Oil Rig Blast". Fox News. 2010-04-21. Retrieved 2010-04-21.
  14. ^ a b c Kaufman, Leslie (April 23, 2010). "Search Ends for Missing Oil Rig Workers". Retrieved April 24, 2010.
  15. ^ Robertson, Campbell; Robbins, Liz (2010-04-21). "Workers Missing After Oil Rig Blast". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-04-21.
  16. ^ "Transocean Ltd. Reports Fire on Semisubmersible Drilling Rig Deepwater Horizon" (Press release). Transocean. April 21, 2010. Retrieved April 21, 2010.
  17. ^ "Oil rig blaze off Louisiana leaves at least 11 missing". BBC News. 2010-04-21. Retrieved 2010-04-21.
  18. ^ 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)
  19. ^ "Coast guard calls off search for oil rig workers". CBC. 2010-04-23. Retrieved 2010-04-23.
  20. ^ 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)
  21. ^ Burdeau, Cain (2010-04-30). "Document: BP didn't plan for major oil spill". Associated Press. Retrieved 2010-04-30. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  22. ^ "Coast Guard: Oil rig that exploded has sunk". CNN. 2010-04-22. Retrieved 2010-04-30.
  23. ^ CNN. 2010-04-22 http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/04/22/oil.rig.explosion/index.html?hpt=T1. Retrieved 2010-04-30. {{cite news}}: |first= missing |last= (help); Missing or empty |title= (help); Missing pipe in: |first= (help)
  24. ^ Nichols, Bruce (2010-04-22). "Rig sinks in Gulf of Mexico, oil spill risk looms". Reuters. Retrieved 2010-04-30. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  25. ^ Jonsson, Patrik (2010-04-22). "Ecological risk grows as Deepwater Horizon oil rig sinks in Gulf". Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved 2010-04-30.
  26. ^ Nichols, Bruce (2010-04-23). "UPDATE 1-Oil spill not growing, search for 11 continues". Reuters. Retrieved 2010-04-30.
  27. ^ Coast Guard: Oil Not Leaking from Sunken Rig. CBS News. CBS. 2010-04-23. Retrieved 2010-04-30.
  28. ^ RAW: Interview with Rear Adm. Mary Landry. Clip Syndicate. WDSU NBC. 2010-04-23. Retrieved 2010-04-30.
  29. ^ Jervis, Rick (2010-04-23). "Coast Guard: No oil leaking from sunken rig". USA Today. Retrieved 2010-04-30.
  30. ^ McGill, Kevin (2010-04-23). "Oil drilling accidents prompting new safety rules". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 2010-04-30. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  31. ^ "Oil slick spreads from sunken rig". CBC News. Canadian Broadcasting Corp. 2010-04-24. Retrieved 2010-04-30.
  32. ^ a b c d Associated Press (2010-04-25). "Oil rig wreck leaks into Gulf of Mexico". CBC News. Retrieved 2010-04-25.
  33. ^ "untitled". AP. AP. 2010-04-28. Retrieved 2010-04-30. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  34. ^ a b c d e "US military joins Gulf of Mexico oil spill effort". BBC News. BBC. April 29, 2010. Retrieved April 29, 2010.
  35. ^ a b c Staff writer (2010-04-25). "Robot subs trying to stop Gulf oil leak". CBC News. Retrieved 2010-04-25.
  36. ^ Largest U.S. Tanker Spill Spews 270000 Barrels Of Oil Off Alaska, www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0324.html
  37. ^ McGreal, Chris (April 29, 2010). "Deepwater Horizon oil slick to hit US coast within hours". Guardian News and Media Limited. guardian.co.uk. Retrieved 30 April 2010. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  38. ^ Associated Press, MSNBC (April 30, 2010). "Oil from massive Gulf spill reaching La. coast". Associated Press. Mouth of the Mississippi River, Louisiana: msnbc.com. Retrieved 30 April 2010.
  39. ^ a b c "State of emergency declared as oil spill nears Louisiana". Cable News Networks. April 29, 2010. Retrieved April 29, 2010.
  40. ^ a b "Growing concerns over Gulf of Mexico oil leak". BBC News. BBC. April 28, 2010. Retrieved 29 April 2010.
  41. ^ a b c Staff writer (2010-04-30). "BP Press Release: BP Steps Up Shoreline Protection Plans on US Gulf Coas". BP. Retrieved 2010-04-30.
  42. ^ a b Staff writer (2010-04-29). "BP Press Release: BP MC252 Gulf Of Mexico Response Continues To Escalate On And Below Surface". BP. Retrieved 2010-04-29.
  43. ^ PTTEP Australasia (November 3, 2009). "PTTEP Australasia Timor Sea Operations – Incident Information #87". Press release. Archived from the original on November 5, 2009. http://www.webcitation.org/5l3MMzCW3. Retrieved November 5, 2009.
  44. ^ "West Atlas oil leak stopped". ABC News. November 3, 2009. Archived from the original on November 5, 2009. http://www.webcitation.org/5l3R9hPbY. Retrieved November 5, 2009.
  45. ^ Tom Bergin (Fri Apr 30, 2010 8:29pm IST). "EXCLUSIVE – BP CEO says will pay oil spill claims". Reuters (London). Retrieved 2010-04-30. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  46. ^ a b "Oil 'reaches' US Gulf Coast from spill". BBC News. BBC. April 30, 2010. Retrieved April 30, 2010.
  47. ^ "Gulf Oil Spill, by the Numbers". CBS News. 2010-04-30. Retrieved 2010-04-30.
  48. ^ "BP welcomes military help for larger Gulf oil leak, by Cain Burdeau (Associated Press), April 29, 2010

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