Category Archives: BP

Question of the Day: Are we going to be breathing oil?

Friday, July 9, 2010

Hi. As I understand it, oil floats. At least some of the oil that’s leaked from the Deep Water Horizon wellhead is floating at or near the surface of the Gulf of Mexico.

Open water storms, including hurricanes, pick up moisture from the bodies of water over which they form and from which they derive their energy. Once they make landfall, that water becomes the rain that falls on our yards and streets, and on the crops growing in our fields, and that floods our streams and rivers. More importantly, it is the rain that touches our skin and permeates the air we breathe.

As workers who cleaned up after the Exxon Valdez will tell you, breathing oil isn’t good.

My question is, will the rain from storms crossing the oil in the Gulf contain even microscopic volumes of oil? To what extent does this oil-involved rain pose a health hazard, over what geographic area, and what are we going to do about it?

Anybody out there know?

Oh, in case you’re assuming our crackerjack government is on top of the problem, don’t hold your breath – unless, of course, it’s raining.

-wf

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Question of the Day: When, in the Gulf, is it time for a “last resort”?

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

About a month ago,* I suggested what I thought was the obvious, that the use of carefully engineered explosives would do what BP obviously can’t, seal the open hole it made in the bottom of the Gulf floor under the Deep Water Horizon. In light of today’s new estimates of the extent of the problem, I think it’s reasonable to suggest that the use of explosives be given renewed and very careful consideration.

Some people have effectively dismissed of the use of conventional explosives by focusing their criticism on those few nut balls who have recommended nuclear force. Needless to say, the use of nuclear weaponry is nonsensical and unnecessary, and no one is seriously considering it.

Understandably, more reasoned experts have called the use of explosives a last resort. It’s tricky business that needs the input and management of our best scientists, engineers and industry experts, and which cannot be left up to BP to implement whose track record is abysmal, to say the least.

The simple objective is to focus enough force onto the well head to press and fuse it shut. Easier said than done? Of course. What isn’t? Is it a last resort? Maybe, but it’s doable, and last resorts are, after all, what you do when you’ve run out of options, when you’ve lost confidence in the ordinary solutions, when the scope of the damages from a continuing problem become unbearable, which is pretty much where we are now.

What? We’re supposed to wait for the relief wells BP is drilling? Does anybody out there really believe they’re going to work?

*“They’re the “BP” in ‘bupkis.’ The solution they haven’t and won’t consider.,” published May 18.

**“Scientists up estimate of leaking Gulf oil”, by Ray Henry, published today on MSNBC.com.

-wf


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Mandel Bread, the Final Solution to the Gulf Oil Problem

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Mandel (pronounced “mahn-dle”) Bread, if you don’t know what I’m talking about, is Jewish biscotti. I like to call it “Miracle Bread,” because I believe it is miraculous that it stays together despite the fact that it has, in my opinion, negative moisture content, if that’s possible. You think you understand the meaning of the word “dry”? Well, you don’t have a clue what you’re talking about until you’ve tried some, Mandel Bread that is.

However tasty, Mandel Bread is best consumed in small bites which can be difficult to swallow without a beverage, hence the tradition of dipping it into something. Just be careful not to overdo it. Too much Mandel Bread at one time and you won’t see saliva in your mouth for a month. Two or more pieces at a time will turn you into a raisin.

The absorptive powers of Mandel Bread are legendary. Even an undergraduate student in ancient history knows that Moses didn’t part the Red Sea, not exactly, but that the Jews, in a hurry to get the hell out of Dodge, spilled cartloads of freshly baked Mandel Bread which soaked up the water and allowed them to pass. It’s true. That’s the way it happened. I know this because my Grandfather told me, when I was a kid, that he was there and knew Moses personally.

And so, flash forward a few thousand years, the solution to the Gulf Oil problem is simple. First, we need to replace BP CEO Tony Hayward with someone who’s Jewish or Italian. (The British like to make scones, but they’re not nearly as effective.) Second, get everyone to work baking Mandel Bread and dump the finished product directly onto the oil in the gulf. I’ve done some calculations, and determined that less than 100 pieces using my Grandmother’s negative moisture recipe should do the trick. Hell, 200 pieces of that stuff will suck up enough sea water to offset the effect of rising sea levels associated with Global Warming.

Jeez, that was easy.

-wf


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They’re the “BP” in “bupkis.” The solution they haven’t and won’t consider.

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

There is arguably enough oil in the earth, gushing out of the failed BP well in the Gulf of Mexico, to eventually cover the world’s oceans.  After all, it only has to be a molecule thick.  At the very least, we are in the midst of a continuing environmental disaster of potentially biblical proportions.  While BP’s various failed attempts to stop the flow are laughably pathetic, the fact is, this mess isn’t the least bit funny.

What is curious is BP’s failure to consider and implement the most obvious, quickest, least expensive solution: Set off a substantial explosive device at the wellhead on the bottom of the ocean floor.

The hole they have drilled to find the oil is relatively small and proceeds from the ocean floor more than two miles into the earth.  A carefully engineered device with sufficient power would seal that hole, fusing it shut, and that would be that.

And if BP isn’t up to it, Congress should give President Obama the authority to seize the well and get the job done without a moment’s further delay – at BP’s expense, of course.

-wf


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