Oil Spill - Source Plume & Blowout Mitigation Updates, Deep Horizon Blowout

[ricki]

"‘Top Kill’ Effort Seems to Be Working, U.S. Says Cautiously
HOUSTON — The latest effort to plug a gushing underwater oil well in the Gulf of Mexico appeared to be working, officials and engineers said on Thursday morning, though definitive word on its success was still hours away."



Image of Top Kill gear in place by the blowout
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environmen...l-bp-oil-spill


"Early indications on Thursday were positive for the well-plugging measure, known as a top kill. Crews were injecting heavy drilling fluid deep into the well in hopes of stemming the relentless flow of gas and oil, which has devastated commercial fishing in the Gulf for five weeks, fouled miles of coastline and put the company and federal regulators at the center of a political firestorm. Several previous attempts to stop the leak had failed.

BP warned that success for the top kill was not guaranteed and that it could still fail at any moment. But engineers and geologists following the effort said the likelihood of success was growing with each passing hour."
Continued at: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/28/us/28spill.html



Top Kill diagram
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/


NEW Oil Release estimates:

"Flow Rate Group Provides Preliminary Best Estimate Of Oil Flowing from BP Oil Well
WASHINGTON - USGS Director Dr. Marcia McNutt today announced that the National Incident Command’s Flow Rate Technical Group (FRTG) has developed an independent, preliminary estimate of the amount of oil flowing from BP’s leaking oil well.

In making the announcement, Dr. McNutt, who is the chair of the FRTG, established by Admiral Thad Allen, the National Incident Commander, emphasized that since day one, the Administration’s deployments of resources and tactics in response to the BP oil spill have been based on a worst-case, catastrophic scenario, and have not been contained by flow rate estimates.

Based on three separate methodologies, outlined below, the independent analysis of the Flow Rate Technical Group has determined that the overall best initial estimate for the lower and upper boundaries of flow rates of oil is in the range of 12,000 and 19,000 barrels per day.

The FRTG used three separate methodologies to calculate their initial estimate, which they deemed the most scientifically-sound approach, because measurement of the flow of oil is extremely challenging, given the environment, unique nature of the flow, limited visibility, and lack of human access to BP’s leaking oil well. "

"Based on observations on May 17th, and accounting for thin oil not sensed by the AVIRIS sensor, the FRTG estimated that between 130,000 and 270,000 barrels of oil are on the surface of the Gulf of Mexico."
Complete article at: http://www.deepwaterhorizonresponse....c/2931/569235/


With that, here's a joyful article ...

"Estimates Suggest Spill Is Biggest in U.S. History
By CAMPBELL ROBERTSON
NEW ORLEANS — A federal team created to produce a more precise estimate of the oil gushing into the Gulf of Mexico has determined that the rate is at least twice what was previously acknowledged and possibly five times as much, officials said on Thursday."
Continued at: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/28/us/28flow.html

and on a lighter note, eels consider diet change?


Sea life checks out discharge 5000 ft. deep

.