Friday, June 18, 2010

Second Attempt To Cap BP Well

BP has successfully capped its oil well at the bottom of the seabed. A well that was left during the first attempt was connected with a long pipe with a cap. At first, there were mixed results, because oil came out of the well at high pressure, a great deal of oil escaped. However, when the cap moved in closer, less oil escaped and the first barrels of oil started to reach the Q4000 Platform, in which the oil will be burned immediately because the platform does not have storing space. Methanol is being injected throughout the pipe to prevent ice crystals from forming in the pipe near the botton of the Gulf of Mexico. Two days ago, the well worked as planned and between 5,000 to 10,000 barrels of oil was being pumped up to the Q4000 Platform every day.

I believe that this is not such a good idea because burning the oil will cause a great deal of atomospheric pollution. I think that bioremediation is better for we can let nature clean up after itself, which is usually much more effective and cheaper. However, I am glad that BP was able to cap the well and pump oil to the platform. By Y.J. Kim

2 comments:

  1. How far do you think the oil will spread?

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  2. Some scholars say that the oil will catch the Gulf Stream and reach the Atlantic Ocean and the Grand Banks, destroying the fisheries of Canada, USA, and Western Europe. Others believe that the oil spill will head South, into the Caribbean Sea, destroying coral reefs. :(

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