TRMS last night was about the Gulf oil spill in 1979, how it lasted 9 months

[peacebird]

and how the responsible company (transocean under a different name) and cause (same faulty cutoff connector) were players. AND how ALL of the efforts in play today are IDENTICAL to those tried then - in a similar situation only it was in much shallower water. ALL EFFORTS FAILED FOR 9 MONTHS, until they got the relief wells drilled.

The ONLY advance the oil companies have made in over 30 years is in how to drill deeper - not a single BIT in how to plan for or deal with disasters.

My question: How long did it take for the Gulf to "recover"? Did it recover? What was the lasting effect of that spill?
I ask because learning about the spill 31 years ago has given me a *small* glimmer of hope that maybe the Gulf can recover again?

[theoldman]

1. The Gulf oil spill in 1979 was much smalller and not in deep water.

[peacebird]

2. Ixtoc released 140 million gallons, AP reports this spill is about 20 million....

Tho the Ixtoc WAS in shallower water...


"the 1979 disaster in the Mexican Gulf of Mexico that released 140 million gallons after the Ixtoc I rig exploded."

[blogslut]

3. Smaller?

Are you sure about that? Are you confusing Burmah Agate with Ixtoc I?

Ixtoc I is/was, to this date, the second largest oil spill in history:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ixtoc_I_oil_spill

[jdlh8894]

4. I could have sworn Ixtoc (sp) was the largest ever in the Gulf.n/t

[FreeJG]

5. Sorry, the gulf is not the cleanest...it's a gulf, and there is already a HUGE dead zone

Before this...here are a few links on the topic of the "dead zone" they believe is caused from the Mississippi runoff....agriculture, the area is near the panhandle...fish swim around it...there is no oxygen. We will have another huge dead zone; a place where there cannot be any life. Nor has it recovered.


http://www.google.com/search?source=ig&hl=en&rlz=1W1ADSA_en&q=gulf+mexico+dead+zone&aq=0&aqi=g2&aql=&oq=gulf+mexico+dead&gs_rfai=Cm60ZruT-S4zzCYuugATm_-yxCAAAAKoEBU_QV_xv

at the above link:
Gulf of Mexico 'dead zone' to grow dramatically due to federal ... Every year copious amounts of fertilizer and nutrient-rich sentiment dump into the Gulf of Mexico from the mouth of the Mississippi River, feeding massive ...

[Overseas]

6. I really appreciated that segment.

Sad to learn that all the techniques to plug that gusher were the same ones being tried again this time, decades later.

They keep talking about the technology having evolved, but only the technology to drill deeper and deeper. Not the tech to clean up the messes.