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BP Says "Top Kill" Operation Has Failed

Posted by kdawson on from the unlimber-the-nukes dept.

MrShaggy sends a quote from a CBC story: "BP has scuttled the 'top kill' procedure of shooting heavy drilling mud into its blown-out oil well in the Gulf of Mexico after it failed to plug the leak. BP chief operating officer Doug Suttles told reporters on Saturday that over the last three days, the company has pumped more than 30,000 barrels of mud and other materials down the well but has not been able to stop the flow. 'These repeated pumping[s], we don't believe will likely achieve success, so at this point it's time to move to the next option,' Suttles said."

5 of 768 comments (clear)

  1. Expect repost.... from 1979! by leuk_he · · Score: 5, Informative

    This is all deja vu. This has occures before. In 1979 a oil well in the gulf blew and it took 9 months to close the gap, using the same techniques they used so far.

    So expect repost of failed attempts for the next 9 months.... in the true /. tradition. If it is important it will be posted again. ;)

  2. Re:Amazing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    BP is actually the result of a merger between AMOCO (AMerican Oil COmpany) and the old BP.

  3. Re:It's all for show from now on. by Genda · · Score: 5, Informative

    Hhhmmm, I don't know, but I think this would have been a really simple thing to prevent... no need for any new technology whatsoever

    1. First replace the entire bozo squad passing for government regulators, in fact jail the lot of them, for receiving bribes, and causing billions of dollars of damage to the country.
    2. Next when an oil company installs emergency shut off valves at the well head, make certain they work, BP knew for a fact theirs didn't work and ignored it.
    3. Additionally, when your high tech well has special high pressure seals, design expressly for potential disasters, and you know you've damaged or destroyed them, stop drilling, and fix the seals, BP knew they had a problem when they brought huge chunks of rubber and again ignored it to continue drilling.
    4. Finally, when some idiot from an oil company tells the folks on the rig to remove tons of drilling mud from the well, now, to shave a few days off of opening the well to pumping later, knowing full well that leaving that mud in the well is a critical safety feature for preventing disasters like... this one, they should be politely shot in the head. Twice.

    There was absolutely no need for this mess. BP played loose and fast with the lives of millions of people. Hell, they virtually murdered the drilling crew. They knew they were engaged in risky behavior, they cut dozens of corners, shaved the rules, lied about their problems, and did anything at all to cut their expense and increase their profit. At some point, when a company creates, literally manufactures a disaster of this proportion, and the only significant cause is a blatant and callous disregard for human life, and environmental safety, I think it's only fair to invite them to leave the country permanently. They've demonstrated they have absolutely no interest whatsoever in being responsible, decent, or even vaguely accountable. We're still the largest consumer of petroleum products in the world. They must serve us, and not the other way.

  4. Re:long history of cutting corners by bmo · · Score: 5, Informative

    >What does LaRouche have to do with the TeaParty?

    The LaRouchians are within your ranks. Get to know them.

    If this is not obvious to you, YOU SHOULD BE MORE OBSERVANT.

    >Its rallies have actually be characterized by being peaceful and resulting in less damage to property and shared services than Obama political rallies.

    Not when you ransack classrooms when you don't like the New Deal collage on the wall.

    http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/joan_walsh/politics/2010/05/14/maine_tea_party_worse_than_you_thought

    Posting with no karma bonus, because it's off topic.

    --
    BMO

  5. Re:long history of cutting corners by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    I was about to post the same thing. After reading the LaRouche commentary on the spill, I clicked to see their video, "The Case for Impeachment". At 0:36 in the video: "In characteristic negro fashion, the president went absolutely berserk and demanded that all such senate insubordination be crushed immediately." This, to me, raises some red flags as to the credibility of their other arguments.

    Did they think it wasn't racist because the guy they paid to read the script is Black?