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Author Archives: zerbe
Oil forms ring on Seafloor
WASHINGTON (AP) — The BP oil spill left an oily “bathub ring” on the sea floor that’s about the size of Rhode Island, new research shows. The study by David Valentine, the chief scientist on the federal damage assessment research … Continue reading
Tepco Building Ice Walls to Prevent Groundwater Contamination
Tepco is considering “liquid glass” barriers of sodium silicate in the ground to stop the spread of contaminated water. This “subterranean bypass” created by the world’s longest underground “ice wall” should stop groundwater from reaching the reactors and block irradiated … Continue reading
Posted in Nuclear
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Gas Hydrate Desalination
Interesting way to desalinate salty water. Gas hydrate consists of only water and a gas, such as methane, the stuff of natural gas. When hydrates form, salts and other impurities are left behind. Hydrates were formed from water and carbon … Continue reading
Posted in Oil, Physics, Seawater / Saltwater
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Health Defects Found in Fish Exposed to Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill
Three years later (had to remember where this site is hosted), crude oil toxicity continued to sicken the Gulf killfish embryos, the “canary” of the sea. Full article from the Science Daily here.
Posted in Findings
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This fire initially was the biggest fire ever in the world. But every day we exceeded those numbers…
Al Jazeera reports on US witness claims BP gas explosion cover-up. Full article with video here.
BP Claims Fund Pays out $5 Billion to Spill Victims
Bloomberg reported today that BP Plc paid more than $5 billion to 204,434 claimants in the past year from the fund created to compensate victims from the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill. The claims facility draws on more than … Continue reading
Blowout preventer was flawed
A Norwegian firm reports the blowout preventer failed because of faulty design and a bent piece of pipe, shifting some blame away from the oil giant. The 551 page repot cast blame on the blowout preventer’s blind shear rams, which … Continue reading
Deep Drilling Permit Issued for Gulf
The federal government on Monday told Noble Energy it can resume a deep-water drilling project. This is the first work of its kind approved since the Obama administration lifted a moratorium prompted by last year’s Gulf of Mexico oil spill. … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
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Scientist finds Gulf bottom still oily, dead
Oil from the BP spill remains stuck on the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico, according to a top scientist’s video and slides that she says demonstrate the oil isn’t degrading as hoped and has decimated life on parts of … Continue reading
Posted in Clean up
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Dispersants Presenting a Problem
Dispersants injected deep in the Gulf of Mexico to counter an oil gusher last spring seemed to keep some oil from fouling the water’s surface, but the chemicals lingered underwater, raising concerns about long-term problems, a new study found. Scientists … Continue reading
Posted in Response
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U.S. Justice Department the Latest Party to Suits in Gulf Spill
The U.S. Justice Department is expected to join civil lawsuits stemming from the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. By joining the private litigation, Justice Department officials will play a major role in the coming trial. Attorneys for private party plaintiffs … Continue reading
Posted in Investigation
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Testing to Begin on Blow Out Preventer
Testing began today on the failed BOP in a NASA facility in New Orleans. The BOP can snuff a blowout by squeezing rubber seals tightly around the pipes with up to 1 million pounds of force. If the seals fail, … Continue reading
Relief Well Intercepts Deepwater Horizon Well
BP said in a statement that the relief well intercepted the stricken well’s annulus — the space between the well’s metal casing and the surrounding rock — nearly 13,000 feet below the seabed at 4:30 p.m. Central time on Thursday. … Continue reading
Posted in Relief Well, Response
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Deepwater Horizon Well Sealed By Sunday!
Retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, the government official overseeing the crisis in the Gulf, said the relief well BP has been drilling all summer long should intersect the ruptured well within 24 hours. He said mud and cement will … Continue reading
Posted in Relief Well, Response
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Obama Administration Orders Plugging or Dismantling of Wells and Platforms No Longer In Use.
The Obama administration moved to head off another catastrophic leak like the BP disaster Wednesday, ordering oil and gas companies in the Gulf of Mexico to plug or dismantle thousands of wells and platforms no longer in use. In Washington, … Continue reading
Posted in Response
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Levelized Cost of Electricity By Source
Here is a great chart published in the Wall Street Journal’s Power Investing: Investing in Energy special report published on September 13, 2010. This chart shows the “levelized” cost of electricity–reflecting all costs (capital, fuel, operating costs, etc.) without subsidies–in … Continue reading
Posted in Alternatives
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BP Report: Blames Transocean And Halliburton
While BP claims their internal investigation was free from any senior management input, it was subject to many reviews from BP internal legal team. Hopefully the incident will provide the necessary wake-up call to the true cost of oil and … Continue reading
BOP Recovered from the Ocean Floor
Last night, the failed BOP that had allowed BP’s Macondo well to flow uncontrolled into the Gulf of Mexico for 87 days earlier this year was recovered after a risky US government-ordered replacement procedure was completed. The massive structure was … Continue reading
Posted in BOP
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What Happened on the Deepwater Horizon
Here’s a great diagram of what went wrong with the Deepwater Horizon drilling. Click on the image for a larger version Graphic provided by Emmett Mayer III and Dan Shea / The Times-Picayune Source: Staff Research
Posted in BP, Cause, Pre Explosion
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