BP finds way to reclaim oil spewing into Gulf
Source: Agencies |
May 18, 2010, Tuesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
BP engineers finally figured out how to recapture some of the oil spewing into the Gulf of Mexico but scientists said it could be too late to stop the black ooze from reaching a major ocean current that could carry it to the Florida Keys and up the United States East Coast.
After weeks of failed solutions, BP PLC crews hooked up a 1.6-kilometer tube on Sunday to funnel some crude from a blown undersea well into a tanker ship.
However, millions of liters of crude are already in the Gulf, and a researcher said that computer models show the oil may have already seeped into a powerful water stream known as the loop current, which could propel it hundreds of kilometers away into the Atlantic Ocean.
A research boat is being sent to collect samples and learn more.
"This can't be passed off as 'it's not going to be a problem'," said William Hogarth, dean of the University of South Florida's College of Marine Science. "This is a very sensitive area. We are concerned with what happens in the Florida Keys."
Oil has been spewing underwater since the rig Deepwater Horizon exploded on April 20, killing 11 people and sinking two days later. The government later estimated the spill at 790,000 liters a day, a figure that has been questioned by some scientists who fear it could be far more.
Hogarth said one computer model shows oil has already entered the loop current, while a second shows the oil is only five kilometers away. The models are based on weather, ocean current and spill data.
After weeks of failed solutions, BP PLC crews hooked up a 1.6-kilometer tube on Sunday to funnel some crude from a blown undersea well into a tanker ship.
However, millions of liters of crude are already in the Gulf, and a researcher said that computer models show the oil may have already seeped into a powerful water stream known as the loop current, which could propel it hundreds of kilometers away into the Atlantic Ocean.
A research boat is being sent to collect samples and learn more.
"This can't be passed off as 'it's not going to be a problem'," said William Hogarth, dean of the University of South Florida's College of Marine Science. "This is a very sensitive area. We are concerned with what happens in the Florida Keys."
Oil has been spewing underwater since the rig Deepwater Horizon exploded on April 20, killing 11 people and sinking two days later. The government later estimated the spill at 790,000 liters a day, a figure that has been questioned by some scientists who fear it could be far more.
Hogarth said one computer model shows oil has already entered the loop current, while a second shows the oil is only five kilometers away. The models are based on weather, ocean current and spill data.
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