Louisiana Coast Oil Leak Disaster Underway

Offshore Louisiana Well: “very serious spill”

Oil Well Beneath Sunken Deepwater Horizon Leaking 1,000 BPD

We thought it was a fairy tale as far as the capping of the well story went …

The oil well that was being pumped out by the doomed Deepwater Horizon oil rig is spewing crude oil at a rate of 1,000 barrels per day (bpd),  the U.S. Coast Guard said on Saturday.

[Note: 1,000 barrels = 42,000 US gallons, or ~ 160,000 liters]

The well, located on the ocean floor, some 1,500m (~5,000 feet) beneath the ocean surface,  is causing what the Coast Guard called a “very serious spill.”

A Coast Guard spokeswoman said a  remote-controlled submarine detected oil leaking from both the riser and drill pipe.

“We are classifying this as a very serious spill and we are using all our resources to help contain it,” the Coast Guard Petty Officer Connie Terrell said.

The ill-fated Deepwater Horizon, owned by Transocean Ltd and operated by the oil Goliath BP, sank on Thursday. The rig had been burning for two days after exploding  at about 10 p.m. CDT on Tuesday (02:00UTC Wednesday), about 66km (~ 41 miles) off the Louisiana.

The search for 11 crew members was abandoned on Friday. Four of the 17 crew members who were injured were said to be in critical condition.

As of Sunday an oil slick measuring about 1,600 square kilometers (~ 600 square miles), covered an area close to the US coast line. The slick is spreading north moving toward Mississippi and Alabama coastline, the U.S. Coast Guard reported.

On Saturday Fire-Earth Moderators said: “This situation, of course, could change because oil wells gushing at a rate of 8,000 barrels per day don’t heal automatically after a fire.”

Related Links:

• Gulf Sunken Rig: No Major Spill Yet—Reports
• Deepwater Horizon Still Burning – UPDATE
• Offshore Oil Rig Explodes
• Disasters Caused by Oil and gas Drilling, Oil Spills, Leaks, Land, Water and Air Pollution
• Want a Mandate to Kill Life on the Planet?

• Chevron-BP Pipeline leaks Oil into Louisiana Wildlife Refuge
• Oil Refinery Explodes in Washington State
• Obama: A Serious Self-Hater

• NASA Satellite Images (disappointing, as usual, but meant as a record)

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