SkyTruth

Whoa - nobody here is even suggesting that everyth...

2010-07-28T11:56:30.215-04:00

Whoa - nobody here is even suggesting that everything is A-OK. We do have to be honest: the surface oil slicks appear to be disapppearing, based on satellite images taken over the past several days.

BUT - in talking to the reporter I emphasized the unknowns and unseens: impact to marshes and beaches from now-buried and embedded oil; impact from plumes of oil still lurking beneath the surface; long-term impacts from this massive spill. The article raises those issues:

"The effect on sea life of the large amounts of oil that dissolved below the surface is still a mystery. Two preliminary government reports on that issue have found concentrations of toxic compounds in the deep sea to be low, but the reports left many questions, especially regarding an apparent decline in oxygen levels in the water.

And understanding the effects of the spill on the shorelines that were hit, including Louisiana’s coastal marshes, is expected to occupy scientists for years. Fishermen along the coast are deeply skeptical of any declarations of success, expressing concern about the long-term effects of the chemical dispersants used to combat the spill and of the submerged oil, particularly on shrimp and crab larvae that are the foundation of future fishing seasons."

Wow, John! I guess everything is just A-OK squeeky...

2010-07-27T22:20:13.092-04:00

Wow, John! I guess everything is just A-OK squeeky clean now eh? All the surface oil is dissipating quickly!
Oh snap! Silly us-es? All is well after all!
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/28/us/28spill.html

Monte - thanks! We just posted an image showing th...

2010-07-23T10:22:55.549-04:00

Monte - thanks! We just posted an image showing the Dalian oil spill in China. We've been looking at Nigeria offshore, but clouds and dust storms are a nearly constant problem, so we haven't seen anything yet of interest (no indications of a massive spill from an offshore platform that some bloggers have reported). Arctic sea ice is continually monitored by NASA, so we don't have to tackle that job.

Interesting art suggestion. But it would take a huge amount of energy - from CO2-emitting fossil fuels, no doubt - to create and maintain big platforms of artificial sea ice in an environment where they would normally be melting. Kinda defeats the whole purpose...

So if folks would like a simpler way to fund SkyTruth's ongoing and future work, just click here to learn more!

Nice work! This site has been a touchstone in the ...

2010-07-22T18:26:35.280-04:00

Nice work! This site has been a touchstone in the face of the rather duplicitous press statements and news coverage seen widely. As long as satellite capability exists, this is among the few ways to ethically employ it. Any chance you'll be looking to Nigeria, China, or arctic sea ice (to think of a few global catastrophes)...

An artist friend of mine has suggested that a major ironic piece of big corporate art might be to sell the idea of massive platforms of artificial sea ice could, funded by fossil fuel industry, with their corporate logos embossed, so that they can be seen from space and used as advertising of strane sort - "at Chevron we care about the environment, and we care about polar bears, so after destroying their habitat we knew we had to do something...." - anyway - just a thought toward a way to fund future projects...

take care
monte

Eric_7 - we are hopeful there will be some substan...

2010-07-22T11:05:59.779-04:00

Eric_7 - we are hopeful there will be some substantial positive changes to the ways we produce and consume energy as a result of this awful spill. But there is a long hard battle to fight to make sure those changes actually happen, and stick over the long haul. If our politicians don't hear from us, then we could end up back where we were on April 19.

Great article, John. Hopefully, what may have been...

2010-07-21T21:26:30.000-04:00

Great article, John. Hopefully, what may have been viewed by you as "just doing your job" will help to lead to significant changes in the way the Feds and the oil industry do theirs.

What is oil? When does discharge start? Here is a...

2010-07-20T01:15:02.530-04:00

What is oil? When does discharge start?

Here is a puzzle: The Oil Pollution Act stipulates as follows:
§4301(b) Civil penalties are authorized at $25,000 for each day of
violation or $1,000 per barrel of oil discharged.

What is oil and when does discharge start? In a geological reservoir
like the one BP drilled, all hydrocarbon components occur as a super
critical fluid with no separation between gas and liquid phases. At
the moment of discharge from the BP well-head (1500 m depth), the oil and
gas begin to divide into separate phases, but this partitioning is
very much dependent on temperature and pressure. So the "gas" rising
through the water will include components that will become liquid at
STP and "oil" in the same transit will degas continually, losing
volume and mass to the water as it does so.

Once on the ocean surface, liquid oil rapidly (minutes) evaporates its
more volatile components into the atmosphere. And oil on the surface ocean
evaporates, emulsifies, dissolves, and is consumed by micro-organisms--
with a half-life of about 5 days. This means that a theoretical
discharge of 10 barrels of oil, would be reduced by natural
consumptive processes to to about 2.5 barrels after 10 days in the
ocean.

I think no one could convincingly argue that the actual release of that
10 barrels should be assessed as 2.5 barrels because natural processes
during an oil spill will have consumed the other 7.5 barrels. But
suppose the same 10 barrels of oil, when discharged from an open pipe
at the sea-floor, included 5 barrels of gas (in equivalent units of
mass or energy). Some of that gas would dissolve into the deep water
and eventually be consumed by bacteria. Some would make it to the
surface and then rise into the atmosphere--but only after it has spent
several hours floating up through the 1500 m of water. Could one
argue under science or the law that the actual discharge should be
assessed as 15 barrels?

This is not a question that the framers of the Oil Pollution Act had in mind. You can read the act here:
http://www.epa.gov/oem/content/lawsregs/opaover.htm

The circumstances and setting for the BP blow-out force us to think carefully. It is clear the the framers defined oil very broadly and discharge very broadly, i.e.
(23) ``oil'' means oil of any kind or in any form, including
petroleum, fuel oil, sludge, oil refuse, and oil mixed with wastes
other than dredged spoil

The courts will test whether BP is liable for total released hydrocarbons into the ocean. This could have billion dollar consequences.

What seep is this? What an amazing day this was. ...

2010-07-20T01:05:37.293-04:00

What seep is this?

What an amazing day this was. They invoke a threatening seep "within two miles of the well" for the morning talk shows. They cite this as a reason to resume oil release to de-pressure the well. But by 4pm, the seep is just an anomaly and nothing to worry about.

I'm not necessarily worried, but this was a big deal. It swallowed an entire news cycle without any clarity at the end of it. BP stocks dipped sharply. However, once again the public is held in blindness regarding. Thad Allen did not clarify his reasons for concern, he swept them under the rug.

There is a video cut on the web here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGx50g3lzWk&feature=player_embedded

This shows an ROV in a turbulent cloud of mud. The cut is terrible quality--a video of a full screen display from teh BP web site. It lasts about 5 min with occasional comment from the poster-- who appears to be monitoring a site maintained by Alexander Higgins here
http://blog.alexanderhiggins.com/bp-live-oil-spill-cam.html

Here is the pertinent data from the ROV screen:
Ship: Ocean Intervention III
ROV: 2
Dive: 53
19-07-2010
21:56 (cdt?)
Depth: 1524.5 (m?)
Altitude: 11 (m?)
E1202676.49 (UTM ft, zone 16 NAD83?)
N10431713.10

Although ROV thrusters CAN be operated generate clouds of resuspended sediment, it would be unusual to actually do it for several minutes because the danger of visual disorientation would increase. This looks more like the discharge of fluidized mud from the seafloor. I have seen similar displays from erupting mud volcanoes. It was particularly diagnostic to see small particles of gas-charged clay rising in the cloud of sediment. Each was raisin-sized or a bit larger and released a comet like tail of sediment as it moved upward. Although this is very distinctive, I have only seen this particular feature in erupting mud volcanoes.

My conclusion is that this could very likely have been a genuine eruption of gassy mud from an open conduit. But the video I saw does not constitute a legitimate inspection of this feature to determine its origin or age. A detailed survey of this feature should be made immediately and the government should consult with knowledgeable experts regarding its conclusions. Credible experts on this topic would agree to be named.

Thad Alan's assertion that they are certain this is normal and no cause for concern rings hollow in aftermath of his earlier statements and in the absence of credible data to support or contradict his claims.

The government should make an immediate survey of all the "anomalies" near and far from the wellhead to establish their current magnitude.

And if the caps holds and the cleanup can really g...

2010-07-17T02:42:17.163-04:00

And if the caps holds and the cleanup can really get underway ... what then?

It is reported that scientists are being offered $250.00 per hour by BP, if they will simply sign on the dotted line, and keep silent about their work and findings for at least the next three years. Traitor? such a strong word "Judas" .... you choose....

http://just-me-in-t.blogspot.com/2010/07/judas-money-sign-on-dotted-line.html

Thanks, John. I'm beginning to notice that with th...

2010-07-15T19:31:04.491-04:00

Thanks, John. I'm beginning to notice that with the LANDSAT resolutions. We'll see.
Re oil in the Yucatan, I was also going on the latest WAVCIS reports on the LOOP Current taking a swing around the spill:
http://wavcis.csi.lsu.edu/forecasts/forecasts.asp?modelspec=currents

Editilla Out :)

NOL - re Landsat - congrats, but the resolution (3...

2010-07-15T10:54:37.726-04:00

NOL - re Landsat - congrats, but the resolution (30m color) might not do the trick in terms of seeing oil in wetlands. But let us know if it works out.

Re oil hitting the Yucatan - we're not so sure about this one. The current coming through the Yucatan straits generally goes from south to north, and not every dark area on a radar image is caused by floating oil. We'll have to see if there is any confirmation in coming days.

Did y'all see this one yet? http://www.floridaoils...

2010-07-14T18:20:14.608-04:00

Did y'all see this one yet?
http://www.floridaoilspilllaw.com/latest-satellite-analysis-oil-miles-mexico-cancun

Yay Youz Guyz! I found it! LANDSAT! http://eros.us...

2010-07-14T12:17:28.662-04:00

Yay Youz Guyz! I found it! LANDSAT!
http://eros.usgs.gov/#/Find_Data/Products_and_Data_Available/ETM
However, novice me will have to learn how to use this so, if any of you have any suggestions of the way this sort of Satellite thing works, pointers to avoid stupid redundancies etc, I'd much appreciate it.
Please leave me a note in the comments of The Ladder and don't try to email me from the blog's profile email address. That's for psycho-spammers run run run awaaaayyyy....

I just want to be able to look down on the ground, the marshes, for oil, and follow the rainfall effects up into the Mid-South etc.

Thanks youz
Editilla~New Orleans Ladder
http://noladder.blogspot.com/

bluerocks - that's a good question. That big area ...

2010-07-13T11:14:10.282-04:00

bluerocks - that's a good question. That big area along the coast that we outlined with a dashed orange line is ambiguous: the wind speed was low when the image was taken, which tends to make water appear dark whether it is oil-covered or not. We decided to outline it as an area of "possible" oil slicks and sheen, because we've seen oil there on other recent images.

Some of the "shrinkage" in the area covered by oil slick could be real: rough weather there since Alex went by could be breaking up and naturally dispersing the thinnest slicks and sheen located farther away from the leaking well. Or it could be due to limitations in the available satellite images: strong winds are able to kick up choppy waves in areas that are covered by very thin oil, making them appear medium-gray in color - similar to clean water.

That's why it's tricky to draw conclusions based on just one or two images. We'll have to see if these trends continue in coming days.

Why is it NOAA or CNN don't show the huge portion ...

2010-07-12T00:01:38.281-04:00

Why is it NOAA or CNN don't show the huge portion of the spill / slicks off the Florida coast like the radar image shows...they only have the smaller portion of the spill / slick off the coast of Louisiana identified on their maps? Are they trying to hide something that is apparent on your radar images? I was wondering why on CNN their tracker map made it look like the spill was actually shrinking in the last 2 weeks while skimmers weren't even in the water. This makes a lot more sense now - thanks Skytruth :)

The Univ. of Hawaii posted another computer simula...

2010-07-11T16:21:48.908-04:00

The Univ. of Hawaii posted another computer simulation for the oil leak. It has the oil stopping at 120 days while the simulation goes for 360 days.

It's on YouTube: /watch?v=lim0-gT7WDw

John -- you have a great blog here that provides a...

2010-07-07T16:29:16.413-04:00

John -- you have a great blog here that provides a lot of information regarding the oil spill. We have a blog that takes a critical look at the oil spill and the events surrounding it. We have provided a link to your site on ours and would appreciate it if you would backlink to us. Feel free to check out our site:

http://www.jamesianburns.com/

Thanks -- Nathan

Jim O'D - that's a great question. As you acknowle...

2010-07-06T15:26:35.859-04:00

Jim O'D - that's a great question. As you acknowledge, shutting down established offshore production is a non-starter; it would cause an economic calamity to rival the environmental one we're dealing with. But putting a hold on new offshore drilling until we 1) get the BP mess fixed, and 2) troubleshoot and correct the obvious failures of technology and decisionmaking, seems like it would be prudent since our response capability is essentially "all in" on the BP spill.

The President tried to put a 6-month moratorium on new deepwater drilling in the Gulf, a move that would affect about 33 mobile drilling rigs but wouldn't touch the existing oil and gas production in the Gulf coming from nearly 4,000 offshore platforms and other fixed structures. But a federal judge overturned that moratorium; the administration is appealing the judge's decision.

John, I got to wondering yesterday...what happens ...

2010-07-06T14:49:03.675-04:00

John, I got to wondering yesterday...what happens if there is another spill in another location (Alaska, Mexico, etc) while this is still going on? Its my understanding that nearly all of the available clean up equipment is in the GOM working on the BP mess. So, what if something else goes wrong? It seems to me that ALL exploration and production should be shut down (I DO know how unrealistic that would be) until the BP disaster is fixed since we clearly dont have enough equipment to deal with other fossil fuel disasters. Thanks! Jim OD

A few topical references from ASTM F2534 Standard ...

2010-06-25T11:34:30.204-04:00

A few topical references from ASTM F2534 Standard Guide for Visually Estimating Oil Spill Thickness on Water

MacDonald, I. R., Guinasso, Jr., N. L., Ackleson, S. G., Amos, J. F.,
Duckworth, R., Sassen, R., and Brooks, J. M., “Natural Oil Slicks in
the Gulf of Mexico Visible from Space,” Journal of Geophysical
Research, Vol 98, No. C9, 1993, pp. 16,351-16,364.

Hollinger, J. P., and Mennella, R. A., “Oil Spills: Measurements of
Their Distributions and Volumes by Multifrequency Microwave
Radiometry,” Science, Vol 181, 1973, pp. 54-56.

Parker, H. D., and Cormack, D., Evaluation of Infrared Line Scan
(IRLS) and Side-looking Airborne Radar (SLAR) over Controlled Oil
Spills in the North Sea, Warren Spring Laboratory Report, 1979.

Johnnie50 - I don't think the cost of a new BOP is...

2010-06-25T10:05:34.546-04:00

Johnnie50 - I don't think the cost of a new BOP is holding them back since the cleanup is costing at least $2 million per day. I think the problem is cutting off the existing BOP and installing a new one one at 5000' with a high-pressure stream of oil and gas rocketing out of the well. Plus the fact that BP has estimated if the BOP is removed the spill rate could go as high as 4.2 million gallons (100,000 barrels) per day. I think they don't want to risk that, and they don't want to add any strain on the well casing below the BOP - if we lost that casing, then this spill could get much worse.

If I had to bet on it I would say the answer is no...

2010-06-25T01:31:09.247-04:00

If I had to bet on it I would say the answer is no. They have proved they don't have a replacement containment cap because they had to fix the only cap they have. They could have a duplicate cap, and just lower it down first, take the one cap off and then the other on immediately, instead of an 12 hour switch. They (bp/government/coast guard) are making the most rudimentary planning mistakes, or lack of planning mistakes maybe I should say.

I've been thinking a brand new BOP & bring the old...

2010-06-24T17:06:11.381-04:00

I've been thinking a brand new BOP & bring the old BOP up to the surface for evidence in culpable criminal neglicence.A Brand new BOP with automatic shut-off & remote control only costs $500,000.The lifetime of the well is 30 years,thereby making that a good investment and GUARANTEE no further blow-outs.

DUDE - those ROVs keep moving around so the feed c...

2010-06-24T10:04:32.029-04:00

DUDE - those ROVs keep moving around so the feed changes unpredictably. There are a bunch of different ROV cameras to choose from so if one isn't showing anything of interest, try the others.

Right now the Skandi 2 camera has all the action. Looks like the riser cap containment device has been repositioned over the leaking well, but oil is still billowing out.