Why is BP not receiving any additional help?

[sandrakae]

It seems to be very clear to me that this Oil Spill is more then BP can handle. They cannot stopped it. Everything they try fails. Is there not any other petroleum companies that can help them. Normally when there is a big disaster in the world, even the most hated receive help.


I understand this is BP's fault. It is there responsibility to fix it, however they cannot.

[Romulox]

1. Do you not understand that BP is a FOR PROFIT concern?

You think their competitors are going to shoulder some of the burden of the cleanup efforts to keep BP afloat? :silly:

[Gidney N Cloyd]

10. I'd think a smart company would have an interest in ensuring a competitor didn't screw the pooch.

If BP kills the Gulf that's not going to make getting offshore drilling leases there or anywhere much easier for, say, Shell or Exxon.

[Myrina]

2. they've been offered help, and declined it.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x4410297

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/kevin-costner-machine-bp-oil-clean/story?id=10689928

[napi21]

3. From everything I've read & heard, they are receiving the

technical help from all the top engineers & scientists in the World, including from the other oil drillers. Teh problem is that NOBODY seems to have a workable answer. Part of that is that few if any others ever drills this deep under the seabed, & in water that deep.

[baldguy]

4. Obama should send in the Army Corps of Engineers, the USCG and the Navy

And commandeer any all equipment necessary from any source with orders to take every measure to seal the rift in the sea floor permanently.

Then send BP the bill.

[sharp_stick]

5. And what would they do there?

The best engineers and underwater crews are already on the site, the best equipment is already on the site.

Why do you think the Army Corp of Engineers would be able to do a better job of this than the ones that are already there? The Army Corp can't seem to build a decent levee in New Orleans. The USCG and the US Navy don't have deep water robotic submarines or anywhere near the experience running them that the private contracters currently operating them do.

The problem isn't a lack of resources so much as a lack of knowledge about what will work.

[baldguy]

23. BP has already proven they lack both the recources & knowledge to deal with this disaster.

Leaving them in charge is an invitation to make it worse.

[benddem]

6. The US Navy

doesn't have submarines that go to that depth. They also don't have the ships that suck up the oil. This suggestion is ridiculous.

[BeFree]

9. Bwahahahah

"The US Navy doesn't have subs that go to that depth"

Here we are with a whole library at our fingertips and we still have to read idiotic false lies.

Google : alvin

[sharp_stick]

11. Alvin?

Do you mean the chipmunk or the Human Occupied Vehicle Alvin owned by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute?

http://www.whoi.edu/page.do?pid=8422

Alvin is not the Navies to take and is not equipped to do the work at the well head. It's manned, not equipped with proper manipulation apparatus and would probably jam up in the oil mess. It's also pretty old and designed for exploration, not seabed construction.

Google is a great library but you still have to filter out all the chipmunks and read the results.

[BeFree]

12. Yeah

I am fixing to filter you.

Next you'll tell us that when a Navy sub goes down, the US Navy will call BP for help?

Bwahahaha!!

[Captain Hilts]

14. Alvin's replacement isn't ready yet. Budgeting issues. But the USN does have the

capability to work that deep.

[BeFree]

15. Thank you

I was beginning to wonder if I was in an alternate dimension.

The stupid on this board is like another world sometimes.

[Captain Hilts]

16. It's pretty stunning. The funding for Alvin's replacement is, in part, funded by

the National Science Foundation. Congress is fretting over some chickenshit kind of amount like $40K over-budget on its production even though the thing, as a whole, costs less than $25million and will last 30+ years.

Penny wise and pound foolish.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&as_q=deep+sea+alvin+funding+replacement+nsf&as_epq=&as_oq=&as_eq=&num=10&lr=&as_filetype=&ft=i&as_sitesearch=&as_qdr=all&as_rights=&as_occt=any&cr=&as_nlo=&as_nhi=&safe=images

[sharp_stick]

18. If a navy sub goes down a mile

it's a recovery effort not a rescue. They probably wouldn't even bother to try. The navy is a lot more concerned with making sure subs don't sink than working on ways to recover those that do. Luckily they're pretty good at it, subs rarely go down.

Google is your friend for submarine realated information as well you know.

Filter away if you must, I couldn't care less.

[BeFree]

20. And you continue on

Spinning.

Why? Are you now a Navy expert? Do you realize the Navy does stuff that you will never hear about?

What is your agenda, I wonder, that would force you to spin like you do?

[sharp_stick]

22. Let's check shall we

The USS Thresher... Sank in 1963 off the coast of New England in 1963 during deep diving tests, likely imploded between 1300 and 2000 feet. Still at the bottom and monitored by the US Navy for environmental leakage of nuclear material

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Thresher_(SSN-593)

The USS Scorpion... Sank in 1968 and the last US Submarine to be lost at sea. Cause of sinking still unknown but the wreck was discovered and photographed in 1968 and again by the Alvin submersible mentioned earlier in 1985 in almost 10,000 feet of water. It's still there too and the navy checks it's site routinely for leakage. This sub wreckage site is kept secret because it happens to contain two nuclear tipped torpedoes that are still in the torpedo room on the ocean bottom.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Scorpion_(SSN-589)

If you're interested click through to some great pictures, declassified in the 90's of the Scorpion from 1985, really creepy looking at something 10,000 feet under the surface.

I have no agenda but I don't pin my hopes on super secret technologies that the Navy could be hiding at China Lake. Especially when the technologies needed for this operation already exist outside of the sphere of influence of the military and the navy has shown no need or interest for technologies of this kind.

If you think the Navy or any other group can ride to the rescue you are in for a massive disappointment. If the navy had the technology and the expertise they would be on site right now using it. The best underwater engineers in the world work for the oil companies, not the navy.

We are deep in the shit simply because industries operate with impunity in this country. Now all we can do is work with the same damned industry because we've got nothing else. Conspiracy theories aside, the technology and the people that know how to use it rests with the oil industry.

All this entire clusterfuck should teach us is that we regulate the oil industry enough. If BP had a second blow-out preventer on top of the first one as they should have this never would have happened. BP claims, correctly in fact, that they don't know how to deal with a situation like this. They say it's because it's never happened before but really it's because they weren't forced to figure it out before being given permits to start a well more than a mile under water. I blame Governments for not having the foresight or the balls to tell these companies that they better plan some serious safety testing and multiple redundancies before getting this shit started. There should be regulations telling Halliburton how thick the cement is on the bore, there should be regulations telling Trans Ocean what kind of pressure changes will trigger release. And there should be regulations that tell BP that this thing doesn't start until they have a workable plan for sealing a blowout at the wellhead.

BP rests all their hopes on blaming contractors for the problem as large companies try to do when they get into this kind of shit. One of the main reasons BP and other large companies hire contract companies is to mitigate liability. BP pretends that they had no real knowledge of what's going on and just like Exxon will drag this shit through the court system for decades.

[baldguy]

24. And you think the Navy's knowledge, skills & technology hasn't progressed in the last 45 yrs?

[BeFree]

25. Good to see you learning

You still have a bit to go, like as concerns this:

"The best underwater engineers in the world work for the oil companies, not the navy."

That's not very smart. In fact, it's dumb.

You have finally admitted that the Navy has used Alvin, many years ago.
Surely you must know they didn't stop then with the tech then and there?
And that they aren't going to tell you, and the Chinese, what they are down too? Right?

Alas, tho, you seem to think you know it all, so that is a drawback in your education.
Not that it matters, but when I see the stupid shit posted on DU, I do have to respond, know what I mean?

[salguine]

7. BP is concerned that anyone else coming in will actually see and report the extent of the

damage, the hiding of which is of greater priority to BP than actually stopping the flow or cleaning up the mess.

[blondeatlast]

8. EXXON to the rescue! (Hint: they are getting help--they are just refusing it, mostly). nt

[Captain Hilts]

13. They are. nt

[kestrel91316]

17. BP needs to spend just a tad more of its TRILLIONS in profits

and they can hire anyone and everyone they need. They're just too cheap to do so.

[blondeatlast]

19. They can afford the best help in the world. What they can't afford is how to hsut that help up. nt

[TwilightGardener]

21. When your opponent shoots himself in the foot, you stand back and let him.