Gulf oil leak may be bigger than BP says

[HughMoran]

NEW ORLEANS — While BP is capturing more oil from its blown-out well with every passing day, scientists on a team analyzing the flow said Tuesday that the amount of crude still escaping into the Gulf of Mexico is considerably greater than what the government and the company have claimed.

Their assertions — combined with BP's rush to build a bigger cap and its apparent difficulty in immediately processing all the oil being collected — have only added to the impression that BP and the government are still floundering in dealing with the catastrophe and may be misleading the public.

The cap that was put on the ruptured well last week collected about 620,000 gallons (nearly 15,000 barrels) of oil on Monday and funneled it to a ship at the surface, said Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, the government's point man on the crisis. That would mean the cap is capturing better than half of the oil, based on the government's estimate that around 600,000 to 1.2 million gallons a day are leaking from the bottom of the sea.

A team of researchers and government officials assembled by the Coast Guard and run by the director of the U.S. Geological Survey is studying the flow rate and hopes to present its latest findings in the coming days on what is already the biggest oil spill in U.S. history.

In an interview with The Associated Press, team member and Purdue University engineering professor Steve Wereley said it was a "reasonable conclusion" but not the team's final one to say that the daily flow rate is, in fact, somewhere between 798,000 gallons (19,000 barrels) and 1.8 million gallons (43,000 barrels).

...

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gIXWYBTpLtSayJtg41LKXpxSxVPAD9G7CR5O0

[rocktivity]

1. SURPRISE SURPRISE SURPRISE!

At the BP Cafe, the specialties of the house are boiled frog and whine.

:eyes:
rocktivity

[Rex]

2. Okay, here and now on the record I'm going to say

WHEN (there is no IF, nature will tell us the impact and can't be arrested) we find out how bad the spill is...I say it will be far, far worse than anything we've heard about. And then? The M$M will say how NOBODY COULD BELIEVE how bad this really was and hope we move on until the next global catastrophe.

[Ruby the Liberal]

7. Not to mention, if internal engineers were led to believe the lower estimates

(as the actual numbers were reserved for legal staff, marketing and PR), this may have affected their judgment on relief efforts.

If I were an attorney, this is the tact I would take in a negligence case.

[Rex]

9. I wonder what the government will finally go after BP with?

Gross criminal negligence?

[Junkdrawer]

11. Consider this: What would happen if they capped the thing and got 100K per day?

Answer: BP would be on the hook for fines of about $430 million a day.

Compare that with the $48 million total payouts to date (as of last week) and you see the motives to NOT completely fix the problem.

[Ruby the Liberal]

12. Good point.

Is anyone in our government overseeing the capture at sea level, or are they just taking BP's word for how much is being collected?

[Junkdrawer]

13. BP has STRONG monetary motives to NOT fix the problem. They should NOT...

be in charge.

[Ruby the Liberal]

15. Agreed, but are you aware of any independent estimates on their capture volume?

I did a quick google after reading your comments (when the lightbulb went off) and didn't find anything - but honestly don't know what to search on.

[Junkdrawer]

18. The collection ship is named Enterprise....

Obligatory facepalm for Trek fans...

[rzemanfl]

19. Yes, no one could have predicted this, even other countries were

convinced, I forget the rest.

[Junkdrawer]

3. Let's see: 3 of 4 relief valves are still open on the cap....

Oil is gushing from the bottom of the cap, they're collecting 15K per day so 19K is still a reasonable guess?

Riiight...

[HughMoran]

8. I have a feeling that their final estimate will have a higher lower limit

Perhaps they were unaware of the 15,000 barrels recovered yesterday when they commented - lol.

[Catherina]

4. Rec'd but still at 0. WTF

Who would recommend this? n/t

[HughMoran]

14. That's odd

This is the new estimate that we've all been waiting for.

I'm all about facts and this was the first solid estimate that I could find - story was released just 10 minutes before I posted it.

[Catherina]

17. Now it's at +10 thankfully.

I don't understand why anyone would unrec this. This is important.

Thanks for posting it.

[HughMoran]

22. recs don't matter to me

but I can't understand unreccing this.

[Ruby the Liberal]

5. No, really? REALLY??

We've been duped!

:eyes:

[thecrow]

6. And let's not forget that other leak in the Gulf..

The one about 40 miles away and belonging to another company...
It started leaking during a capping procedure.

[Edweird]

10. Well duh. BP is in charge of their own crime scene.

[laughingliberal]

16. Seem to have misplaced my shocked face.

:shrug:

[Owl]

20. They're already claiming/lying to be capturing 3x the amount was originally flowing!

[HughMoran]

21. Internal memo said the original flow rate calculated by BP was 14,000 bpd

Markey exposed this today, so they've already been caught in that lie.

That was before the Top Kill opened the lines up more, then cutting the riser increased the flow even further.

[misanthrope]

23. Oh, but remember it's all Obama's fault...

...That's what the people in Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Florida keep saying. Coincidentally, the GOP and corporate-owned media say the same.

[Scurrilous]

24. K & R

:thumbsup: