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29th May 2010, 09:54 AM
Oil spreading much farther than thought; Obama returns to Gulf Coast.
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Who's Blogging» Links to this article
By Juliet Eilperin, David Fahrenthold and Alec MacGillis
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, May 29, 2010
New evidence emerged Friday that the oil spewing into the Gulf of Mexico was spreading more broadly than previously thought as BP continued its fitful efforts to stop the worst oil spill in U.S. history and President Obama returned to the Gulf Coast to assess the damage.
This Story
Along Gulf Coast, a wave of emotion
Golf ball-size oil globs found 75 miles from rig
Halt in offshore drilling leaves McDonnell's plans high and dry
Proposed drilling area
Beached oil
Captain testifies at oil-spill inquiry
High drilling costs for Deepwater Horizon pressured BP to save time
Oil spill cleanup, containment efforts, hearings in wake of gulf disaster
Oil-leak gush hits record levels
Black death has just begun to take its toll on animals
Oil was leaking faster than thought, making gulf spill the U.S.'s largest
Gulf oil spill's animal victims
Fed: Government can't push BP aside on oil spill
How the maneuver works
Is the Gulf spill 'Katrina in slow motion?'
Anger over White House response to spill in the Gulf
'No effort spared' in government oil response
Gulf oil spill: BP briefs on breakdowns, mistakes
Glossary of terms related to Gulf Coast oil spill
Effort to plug well 'proceeding as we planned'
Report: Inspectors took gifts from oil companies
Obama expected to boost offshore-drilling oversight
ANALYSIS: Obama struggling to show he's in control
View All Items in This Story
View Only Top Items in This Story
A day after a research team reported finding a huge "plume" of oil extending miles east of the leaking BP well, another university scientist said his crew had located another vast plume of oily globs in the opposite direction, in a section of the gulf 75 miles northwest of where the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded on April 20.
James H. Cowan Jr., a professor at Louisiana State University, said his crew sent a remotely controlled submarine into the water, a section already closed to fishing, and found it full of oily globules, ranging from the size of a thumbnail to the size of a golf ball -- "like big, wet snowflakes, but they're brown and black and oily."
Unlike the plume found east of the leak -- in which the oil was so dissolved that contaminated water appeared clear -- Cowan said the oil at this site was so thick that it covered the lights on the submarine, which returned to the surface entirely black. The submarine traveled about 400 feet down, close to the sea floor, and found oil all the way down. Trying to find the edges of the plume, he said, the submarine traveled miles from side to side.
"We really never found either end of it," Cowan said.
BP continued its attempt to stop the leak with the "top kill" procedure -- pumping heavy drilling "mud" into the damaged well shaft -- amid questions about whether it was being forthcoming about the process.
In interviews Friday morning, BP officials apologized for not disclosing earlier that they had stopped the pumping procedure much of Thursday out of concern about the mud that was leaking back out. But they said the process was again showing signs of success along with "junk shot" injections into the wellhead of heavier material, such as rubber.
But later Friday, it emerged that BP stopped the pumping operation again at 2:30 local time on Friday morning. The pumping resumed after 3 p.m., Energy Secretary Steven Chu said.
On Friday evening, BP Chief Operating Officer Doug Suttles said that the operation was "basically going according to plan" and that it was "not unusual" for pumping periods to alternate with pauses for monitoring. The pumping will continue for another day or two, he said.
If the operation is successful, BP can then cap the well with cement. If it is not, BP will turn to other options, starting with a second attempt to place a containment cap that could collect oil while BP continues to dig a second well to relieve the leak.
"The key element here is to exercise patience," Suttles said. He said the attempt to skim oil from the water was going well, with 1,300 vessels at work and another million feet of boom on the way.
Obama's visit to the Gulf Coast -- a detour from his Memorial Day weekend visit home to Chicago -- was part of a concerted White House effort to push back against critics who have called the administration's response lacking. He visited a beach in Port Fourchon on Louisiana's southeastern coast, where tar balls are washing up, and attended a briefing at a Coast Guard station in Grand Isle, a small barrier island town south of New Orleans.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/28/AR2010052801495.html?wpisrc=nl_cuzhead
OIL SPILL GRAPHICS
Explore all of our oil spill graphics to track the spill, see its effects, and learn its possible solutions.
View the Graphics
TOOLBOX
Resize Print E-mail Yahoo! BuzzReprints
COMMENT
394 Comments | View All »
POST A COMMENT
You must be logged in to leave a comment. Log in | Register
Why Do I Have to Log In Again?
Log In Again? CLOSEWe've made some updates to washingtonpost.com's Groups, MyPost and comment pages. We need you to verify your MyPost ID by logging in before you can post to the new pages. We apologize for the inconvenience.
Discussion PolicyYour browser's settings may be preventing you from commenting on and viewing comments about this item. See instructions for fixing the problem.
Discussion Policy CLOSEComments that include profanity or personal attacks or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. Additionally, entries that are unsigned or contain "signatures" by someone other than the actual author will be removed. Finally, we will take steps to block users who violate any of our posting standards, terms of use or privacy policies or any other policies governing this site. Please review the full rules governing commentaries and discussions. You are fully responsible for the content that you post.
Who's Blogging» Links to this article
By Juliet Eilperin, David Fahrenthold and Alec MacGillis
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, May 29, 2010
New evidence emerged Friday that the oil spewing into the Gulf of Mexico was spreading more broadly than previously thought as BP continued its fitful efforts to stop the worst oil spill in U.S. history and President Obama returned to the Gulf Coast to assess the damage.
This Story
Along Gulf Coast, a wave of emotion
Golf ball-size oil globs found 75 miles from rig
Halt in offshore drilling leaves McDonnell's plans high and dry
Proposed drilling area
Beached oil
Captain testifies at oil-spill inquiry
High drilling costs for Deepwater Horizon pressured BP to save time
Oil spill cleanup, containment efforts, hearings in wake of gulf disaster
Oil-leak gush hits record levels
Black death has just begun to take its toll on animals
Oil was leaking faster than thought, making gulf spill the U.S.'s largest
Gulf oil spill's animal victims
Fed: Government can't push BP aside on oil spill
How the maneuver works
Is the Gulf spill 'Katrina in slow motion?'
Anger over White House response to spill in the Gulf
'No effort spared' in government oil response
Gulf oil spill: BP briefs on breakdowns, mistakes
Glossary of terms related to Gulf Coast oil spill
Effort to plug well 'proceeding as we planned'
Report: Inspectors took gifts from oil companies
Obama expected to boost offshore-drilling oversight
ANALYSIS: Obama struggling to show he's in control
View All Items in This Story
View Only Top Items in This Story
A day after a research team reported finding a huge "plume" of oil extending miles east of the leaking BP well, another university scientist said his crew had located another vast plume of oily globs in the opposite direction, in a section of the gulf 75 miles northwest of where the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded on April 20.
James H. Cowan Jr., a professor at Louisiana State University, said his crew sent a remotely controlled submarine into the water, a section already closed to fishing, and found it full of oily globules, ranging from the size of a thumbnail to the size of a golf ball -- "like big, wet snowflakes, but they're brown and black and oily."
Unlike the plume found east of the leak -- in which the oil was so dissolved that contaminated water appeared clear -- Cowan said the oil at this site was so thick that it covered the lights on the submarine, which returned to the surface entirely black. The submarine traveled about 400 feet down, close to the sea floor, and found oil all the way down. Trying to find the edges of the plume, he said, the submarine traveled miles from side to side.
"We really never found either end of it," Cowan said.
BP continued its attempt to stop the leak with the "top kill" procedure -- pumping heavy drilling "mud" into the damaged well shaft -- amid questions about whether it was being forthcoming about the process.
In interviews Friday morning, BP officials apologized for not disclosing earlier that they had stopped the pumping procedure much of Thursday out of concern about the mud that was leaking back out. But they said the process was again showing signs of success along with "junk shot" injections into the wellhead of heavier material, such as rubber.
But later Friday, it emerged that BP stopped the pumping operation again at 2:30 local time on Friday morning. The pumping resumed after 3 p.m., Energy Secretary Steven Chu said.
On Friday evening, BP Chief Operating Officer Doug Suttles said that the operation was "basically going according to plan" and that it was "not unusual" for pumping periods to alternate with pauses for monitoring. The pumping will continue for another day or two, he said.
If the operation is successful, BP can then cap the well with cement. If it is not, BP will turn to other options, starting with a second attempt to place a containment cap that could collect oil while BP continues to dig a second well to relieve the leak.
"The key element here is to exercise patience," Suttles said. He said the attempt to skim oil from the water was going well, with 1,300 vessels at work and another million feet of boom on the way.
Obama's visit to the Gulf Coast -- a detour from his Memorial Day weekend visit home to Chicago -- was part of a concerted White House effort to push back against critics who have called the administration's response lacking. He visited a beach in Port Fourchon on Louisiana's southeastern coast, where tar balls are washing up, and attended a briefing at a Coast Guard station in Grand Isle, a small barrier island town south of New Orleans.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/28/AR2010052801495.html?wpisrc=nl_cuzhead