Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Update: Top kill Operation Failed- on to Plan C or was it D?

 The “topkill” operation has  been officially declared “dead in the water”, pardon the pun.  It is becoming more and more clear that the only way to stop the flow of oil will be with the two relief wells that are currently being drilled.  BP is going to try to place a another top hat over the blow-out preventer (BOP), this time a smaller one will be used and they will cut in to the well head so that they can get a better, tighter fit than what was achieved in the “top-hat” attempt.

According to BP (and our own engineering editor) this was not attempted previously, as cutting into the well head presents it’s own risks and could initially result in oil leaking  into the ocean at a faster rate.  It will be at least 4 days before they know if this procedure has worked.  In the meantime, they are going to continue to use dispersants under the surface, contrary to the advice of ocean experts due to the toxic impact for  plant and fish species.

Having already eclipsed the Exxon Valdez disaster ( which was on oil spill on the surface only), the Deepwater Horizon may turn out to be one of the worst ecological disasters the world has seen.  Below is a photo album telling the story of the oil spill to date.

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Posted by admin on May 30 2010. Filed under Latest Ocean News, Ocean Environment. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.