oil spill

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New BP Plan: Fix the Failed 'Blowout Preventer'

Which failed in an outrageous number of ways, Congress heard yesterday

(Newser) - So far, nothing BP has tried to do to stop the flow of oil into the Gulf has worked, but company and Obama administration officials tell the New York Times they're optimistic about their latest plan: fixing the underwater “blowout preventer” that was supposed to seal off the spill...

BP Lowers 'Top Hat' Over Oil Spill

They call it 'Top Hat'

(Newser) - BP is trying the “if at first you don't succeed” method of oil spill containment, lowering a second, smaller box over its still-gushing underwater leak. The first box the company tried failed on Saturday, when ice-like crystals formed, making it float, CNN explains. That device was a whopping four...

La. Pols: BP Can't Handle Slick, Let's Take Over

Calls for gov't intervention grow as oil approaches shore

(Newser) - As oil threatens more bays and wetlands in Louisiana, including the state's most fertile fisheries, Louisiana lawmakers have ramped up calls for BP to hand over cleanup efforts to the government. “We’re relying on a private company that seems to be overwhelmed,” a state rep. complained. “...

Oil Execs' Refrain: Don't Blame Me, Blame Him
Oil Execs' Refrain: Don't Blame Me, Blame Him
updated
May 11, 2010 3:50 PM CDT

Oil Execs' Refrain: Don't Blame Me, Blame Him

BP, Transocean, Halliburton CEOs testify in DC

(Newser) - As expected , the leaders of the oil and oil service companies involved with the Gulf oil spill attempted to shift blame onto one another at a Senate hearing today. Executives from BP, Transocean, and Halliburton each blamed the other companies' work for the blowout, the Washington Post reports. BP's...

Spill May Screw the Gulf, but It Won't Kill BP

Oil giant's profits are prodigious enough to pay for cleanup

(Newser) - If you've been up late worrying about BP , rest easy. Whatever the ultimate toll to the Gulf states, and indeed the nation, the still-gushing oil spill isn't likely to kill BP. The British firm may be shelling out $17.5 million per day in clean-up costs, but it averaged $93...

'Hairlift' Donations Help Fight Oil Slick

Salons, groomers donate hair, fur for booms

(Newser) - The biggest "hairlift" in history is helping fight the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. Donations of hair, fur, and wool are being gathered by salons, pet groomers, and farmers around the world to be stuffed into nylon tights, creating highly absorbent booms. Matter of Trust, the charity organizing the...

Team Mulls 'Trash Plug' for Oil Leak

'Junk shot' would be blasted into contraption

(Newser) - The team that failed to cap the Gulf oil well with a dome may next try to plug the gusher with trash. The so-called "junk shot" would be used to aid the "blowout preventer" contraption that now sits near the leaker, but hasn't worked to prevent the spill...

BP Spill Plan Bore No Resemblance to Reality

Critics blast company's preparedness

(Newser) - As BP struggles to fix its oil containment dome, many in Washington and the oil industry say the company's botched handling of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill shows it failed to prepare for a major disaster—and comparing its spill plan to the reality of the current situation seems...

BP Weighs Trying Smaller Dome
 BP Weighs Trying Smaller Dome 
May 9, 2010 4:00 PM CDT

BP Weighs Trying Smaller Dome

Company considers multiple strategies as oik continues to gush

(Newser) - BP is considering more options to stop the flow of oil spewing at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico. COO Doug Suttles said today BP is thinking about putting a smaller containment dome over the massive leak after a four-story, 100-ton box became clogged with icelike crystals yesterday. BP...

BP's Safety Record Murky
 BP's Safety Record Murky 
May 9, 2010 10:15 AM CDT

BP's Safety Record Murky

Refinery blast, pipeline spill, safety violations

(Newser) - As the Gulf of Mexico turns into an oil-slicked environmental disaster, BP is quick to point the finger at Transocean, the owner and operator of the doomed Deepwater Horizon. But, as the New York Times reports, the oil giant itself has a history littered with spills, blowouts, safety violations, and...

BP Has to Remove Dome From Well

Buildup of ice crystals forces a reassessment

(Newser) - Bad news from the Gulf: BP is reporting problems with the giant containment dome that was lowered to the ocean floor to save the day. Workers had to pull it off a blown well—at least temporarily—because of a buildup of ice crystals inside the 100-ton contraption, reports AP...

Oil Rig Crew: We All Were Sure We'd Die

Workers recount fateful night Deepwater Horizon blew

(Newser) - It was a pristine day on the Gulf of Mexico, and the crew of the Deepwater Horizon had much to celebrate—they were nearing completion of a difficult oil well ahead of schedule, and a crew of BP execs had landed that morning to laud their safety record. Then at...

Methane Bubble Triggered Blast Aboard Oil Rig

Gas cloud covered Deepwater Horizon, then she blew

(Newser) - The deadly Deepwater Horizon blowout was triggered by a bubble of methane gas that shot up the drill column, expanding quickly as it burst through several seals and barriers before exploding, according to interviews with rig workers. "A small bubble becomes a really big bubble," says an expert...

Stewart's Rent-Boy Scandal Fix: Put a Dome on It!
 Stewart's 
 Rent-Boy 
 Scandal Fix: 
 Put a Dome on It! 
feats of engineering
May 7, 2010 9:41 AM CDT

Stewart's Rent-Boy Scandal Fix: Put a Dome on It!

Then finds a way to connect it to George Rekers' penis

(Newser) - So much is going on in the world right now that Jon Stewart didn’t know where to start last night on the Daily Show —so he covered it all, from “wanna-bomber” Faisal Shahzad to Greece’s financial crisis. But the best part of his round-the-news tour comes...

Gulf Slick Hits Wildlife Refuge

Oily birds found in Lousiania's Chandeleur Islands

(Newser) - Oil from the massive Gulf of Mexico slick has begun washing ashore in a wildlife preserve off the coast of Louisiana. Officials say there is "oiling all over" the uninhabited Chandeleur islands, the BBC reports. The island chain is home to large numbers of endangered birds. Pelicans and gannets...

Gulf Crews Prepare to Lower Containment Dome
 Gulf Crews  
 Prepare to Lower 
 Containment Dome 
oil reaches shore
May 6, 2010 2:47 PM CDT

Gulf Crews Prepare to Lower Containment Dome

Move to cap BP spill fraught with unknowns

(Newser) - Crews prepared today to lower a 100-ton box they hoped would cut off most of the crude spewing from a blown-out well in the Gulf of Mexico, the urgency of their task underscored by oil that started washing up on delicate barrier islands. If the concrete-and-steel box works, it could...

Oil Slick Blasted With Record Dose of Cleanup Chemical

Oil dispersant helps break up slick

(Newser) - The massive oil slick bobbing in the Gulf of Mexico still hasn't reached shore, thanks in part to the unprecedented doses of an oil-dispersing chemical that are being dropped on it. The spill is being blasted with as much as 60,000 gallons of the dispersant each day, by way...

BP Closes 1 of 3 Gulf Oil Leaks

But it won't cut the amount of oil gushing from the damaged well

(Newser) - One of the three leaks gushing oil into the Gulf of Mexico from the ruptured undersea well was shut down last night, BP said this morning. The success in installing a valve, after several days of rough seas that hampered efforts, won't slow the oil flowing into the Gulf, but...

If BP Plans Fail, Oil Spill Could Worsen Eight-Fold

Executives estimate 40K barrels a day would gush into Gulf

(Newser) - We know about 5,000 barrels of oil are gushing into the Gulf of Mexico every day because of the BP disaster. (See a nifty animated graphic charting the spill and projecting its course here from the Times-Picayune.) So what happens if the company's schemes to stem the flow—...

BP Building 'Containment Dome' to Slow Spill

'Giant iron funnel' will pump oil to surface

(Newser) - The firm at the center of the Gulf Coast spill is building a giant dome to slow the spread of oil. BP is constructing a 4-story, 70-ton contraption to lower over one of the leaks. The BBC likens the device to a "giant iron funnel" that "resembles a...

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