The tropical storm Bonnie has forced BP to temporarily suspend drilling on its relief well in the Gulf of Mexico. Work to permanently plug the oil giant's leaking Macondo oil well, which has spewed more than 4m barrels of oil into the gulf, could be held up for up two weeks.
In a major setback for BP, ships working on the damaged oil well are leaving the site due to the storm, which formed over the Bahamas and could reach the area by the weekend. They have been ordered to evacuate by the US government.
The fleet of 65 ships involved in the disaster response is now leaving, including vessels being used in the monitoring of the well, although some may remain.
Thad Allen, the official appointed by Barack Obama to lead the federal response to the disaster, said: "Some of the boats may be able to remain on site but we will err on the side of safety.
"While these actions may delay the effort to kill the well for several days, the safety of individuals at the well site is our highest concern."
He warned: "If we have to evacuate the area … we could be looking at 10- to 14-day gaps in our lines of operation."
BP said: "We will continue to monitor the well as long as weather permits. Duration of the suspension of relief well activities will be dependent on the weather."
Undersea robots that monitor the sealed well would be the last to leave the site and first to return, because they were connected to ships able to handle waves as high as 15ft, Allen said.
"We are staging our skimming vessels and other assets in a manner that will allow us to promptly restart oil mitigation efforts as soon as the storm passes and we can ensure the safety of our personnel," he said.
The threat of bad weather has already delayed efforts to plug the well at its source deep beneath the sea bed. Engineers were obliged to suspend work on the first of two relief wells that are being drilled down to the source, setting back the final procedure to plug it.
They had been expecting to spend this week reinforcing the last section of the relief well with concrete, which would have allowed an attempt to plug the well with heavy mud over this weekend. Now that will be delayed.
A federal investigation panel in New Orleans continues its exploration of the causes of the disaster which began on 20 April when the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded. A widow of one of the 11 workers who died, Natalie Roshto, told the hearing on Thursday that he had been anxious about conditions on the rig before it went up. She said that her husband Shane had called it the oil well "from hell" and told her: "Mother Nature just doesn't want us to drill here."
Meanwhile a Senate committee has called on BP boss Tony Hayward to testify before it on whether the company played any role in the release of Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset al-Megrahi from prison in Scotland last year. It has been suggested BP lobbied for his release in the hope of securing a lucrative oil deal with Libya.
Two managers from BP have been named as subjects of a US investigation into the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig on 20 April, the Wall Street Journal has reported. Both were aboard the rig at the time of the explosion which killed 11 and triggered the worst offshore oil spill in US history. Investigators said last night they had named as "parties in interest" Robert Kaluza, a BP employee overseeing operations on the rig, and Patrick O'Bryan, BP's vice-president in charge of drilling.
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And what about the latest oil spill in China?
I can hardly believe the lack of critical coverage of this issue. What we have is BP lying through the teeth and a media lock-down.
There is a high likelihood of a toxic 'lake' of oil and deadly methane gas (itself a potent greenhouse gas) in the Gulf. Any hurricane will bring this cold water to the surface exposing the people living in the Gulf to this poisonous mixture.
What about the toxin anti-coagulants used and the sickness experienced by people in the area, tests down that show high concentrations of oil in the water (including one sample that exploded?)
I have always seen the Guardian as standing up for the truth. Disappointing.
For a balanced asessment on what is going on go to this interview on Bloomberg TV with Matt Simmons a leading oil expert
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/matt-simmons-says-gulf-clean-will-cost-over-1-trillion-sees-bp-1-says-we-have-now-killed-gom
@Seemorerocks
Oh please, a massive toxic methane gas cloud that's going to kill off everyone in the gulf?
Your "oil expert" is a trader who is shorting BP. Someone who claimed in June that BP were a month away from insolvency, someone who believes that the wellhead isn't the actual leak, and that there's some giant hole somewhere else in the gulf causing this.
Although if I were shorting their shares, I'd probably say the same thing.
“Are we heading for Global Toxic Rain from the Gulf Spill?
As to this ‘Gulf Oil Blow-out’ have any scientists fully evaluated the possibilities of ‘Global Toxic Rain Fall’?
The Hurricane season is now here which will lift vast quantities of Oil and Dispersant Polluted water high into the atmosphere thus spreading the devastation on a Global Scale. We must be concerned about the "Dispersant" rain laced with Corexit, the dispersant BP has used - is allegedly more toxic than the oil itself. This will present a problem as to breathing and rashes associated from being exposed to this deadly Dispersant which has been banned World-wide, this will soon be in the very air we breath.
If this occurs toxic rain will also destroy entire food crops whilst also poisoning rivers and streams will it not?
Signed Carl Barron Chairman of agpcuk”
BP is almost as much American as it is British,
The rig company was American, the drilling contractors American, the rig crew (mostly) American, Well equipment suppliers, American.......
Why does everything in the world HAVE to go the Americans way?
Who are they, to call our elected MPS up in front of them?
Hows about America facing up to the disaters it has caused?
What about Bhopal? What about the American company Union Carbide? Hows about the thousands that died a horrible death on the day and the tens of thousands who face chronic health problems such as psychological and neurological disabilities, blindness, skin, vision and breathing disorders?
Isn't everyone else in the world sick of America getting it's way regardless?
@seemorerocks
How do you get a lake of gas in a fluid? I can't think of any gas which is denser than the lightest fluid.
BTW Methane is not toxic. If you were in a room full of it you would die from asphyxia (due to lack of oxygen) but not from poisoning. It would burn / explode in the right mixture with sufficient oxygen and an ignition source. It will react spontaneously with certain chemicals, but it is NOT toxic.
Seemorerocks
you get a lot more about this on the huffpost. i am disapointed with the guardian too.
given the worldwide spectacular and dangrous effects this might well have and the absolutly criminallity of neglect and careless ness of the company[ and others i am sure. we all know about shell and nigeria]
this ought to have more critical analysis.
Seemorerocks
thanks for the link. me, i am actually scared of the methane
http://www.survivalistnews.com/2010/07/11/possible-extinction-level-event-underway-in-gulf-of-mexico/
@sabelmouse and seemorerocks
Do you people ever make it out of the house. That's assuming you live in a house and not an underground reinforced bunker!!
You crack me up!
JSB
Have a look here.
Seems the tropical storms are being named after Blue Peter dogs.
The next one will be called Shep.
Seeing as its proving so difficult to stop the oil it s time to cut short the losses and goto plan D.
Empty the gulf of water and have a giant oil lake.
I'm SvensCojones and I solve problems, more wise words next week.
Erm, SvensCojones, think you are a little bit out of date.....????
@seemorerocks and sabelmousse - I bet you a billion pounds that the gulf doesn't explode and destroy the world. So if it does I'll pay you, if it doesn't you pay me. I'll even be decent and not expect payment for the next 12 months.
Deal?
JSB
This would be the rare oil-that-is-heavier-than-water that they produce in the Gulf of Mexico, would it?
The truth is the spill hasn't produced the Exxon-Valdez like scenes of inundated beaches so the wackier ends of the media are manufacturing reasons why.
Oil floats. What's been released from the well has floated to the surface, and is either still there, has evaporated, been burnt or skimmed off, or has been washed up on the beaches. There are no greater underwater plumes or lakes.
The media made a big story out of these "plumes" of oil, but only 3 were positively identified but the US NAOO. 2 had such low traces of oil it was impossible to identify the source, the third had a high of 0.5 parts per million and was identified as coming from a different source, probably one of the tens of thousands of natural seeps in to the Gulf.
To put that in to context, if you drink 2 litres of water a day, with 0.5 parts per million oil, you would consume 1 teaspoon of oil over a period of 13.5 years. It won't do you any harm.
As to the "exploding" water, it exploded after the "scientist" involved had added solvent to it. What was the solvent, and how much did he add?
Guys just to point out
There's libel laws that prevent any newspaper from writing speculation regarding cause and effect of this disaster until the formal investigation and criminal proceedings have taken place.
The guardian - and for that matter any paper covering the story - are not able to print speculative stories at this stage. That's just the way it goes people. I suspect once the full facts are known and the legal case begins is when we might get some "real" reporting of the incident.
Conjecture and speculation can be a very costly thing in something of this nature and size.
user512
That's not strictly true in 100% cases. Tidal streams have influence as well as salinity levels which creates denser water.
We simply don't know what the full impacts of this disaster are or what they could be yet. Environmental impact is very difficult to predict or even detect due to the variances in phenomena that occur in deep water.
I hope everyone realises the Gulf of Mexico is not land-locked, and any oil or toxic waste in the Gulf may eventually make its way out into the Atlantic. This is not a "Gulf" problem only.
And poor Tony Hayward, who has "earned" more than most of you ever could, wants to slink off to a comfortable retirement after literally presiding over one of the worst environmental disasters in the U.S.
American workers were involved in the mess as well, but good old Tony was ultimately in charge. This same Tony who was going to "focus like a laser" on safety issues. Creep.
SvensCojones
I like your way of thinking. While everyone is farting about looking for half-baked patch-ups, you come along with a full-blown solution.
Of course, yur plan could also add that, once the Gulf is dry of water, and the oil used up or secured within walled reservoirs, you have just won millions of acres of land for the USA .... or would that be for Mexico? Or would they start a war over it? And think of the problems patrolling the border between the USA and Mexico.
Aaah. This is clearly why your idea has not been taken up by the powers that be.
Good try though. I take my hat off.
How come there's still oil left down there?
Denser water will make the oil even more buoyant. Oil floats on water. There simply can't be an underwater lake of oil.
It's important to note that there is absolutely no evidence for these wild claims. Without some evidence, any rational person should go along with established scientific facts, like oil floats on water.
So will 'Big Oil" now admit its all too risky to be drilling so deep in parts of the world where there are tropical storms, or are we supposed to want that as 'business as usual'?
quelter
The next one should be called Clyde.
With millions of barrels of oil already leaked in to the gulf what's the worst that can happen? Your answers on a post card ;-) LOL
user512
I am not saying there's a huge underwater plume of oil, just that it is possible due to other forces changing the way oil interatcs with it's surroundings. I too think this end of the world prediction stuff is rubish.
However the impacts of unknown or unmodelled phenomena could have further consequences that we won't know until much later on.
There are very clever experts in this field working on this that don't know either so you and I speculating on anything is pretty pointless. I agree with you thought that doom mongering is a bit over dramatic and the likelihood is very remote.