Engineers search for solutions:
Obama blasts oil companies
WASHINGTON, May 15, AFP - Engineers frantically searched Saturday for
ways to plug an underwater oil gush in the Gulf of Mexico after US
President Barack Obama lashed out at oil companies for trying to divert
blame for the slick.
As experts said the amount of oil flowing into the sea from the
wreckage of the sunken Deepwater Horizon rig was likely much higher than
estimated, Obama vowed he would not rest until the leak was contained
and capped.
Visibly angered by the gravity of the disaster and the failure to
contain the spill despite more than three weeks of efforts, Obama
announced a review of the enforcement of environmental protection
safeguards.
“I’m not going to rest or be satisfied until the leak is stopped at
the source, the oil in the Gulf is contained and cleaned up, and the
people of the Gulf are able to go back to their lives and their
livelihoods,” he vowed.
He also hit out at buck-passing by three oil companies linked to the
Deepwater Horizon rig, calling testimony by their top officials at
recent congressional hearings a “ridiculous spectacle.
“The rig, leased by BP from Transocean, exploded April 20 and sank in
flames two days later, fracturing a riser pipe that connected it to the
wellhead and sending oil gushing into the Gulf of Mexico. Eleven workers
were killed in the disaster.
Engineers from the British energy giant, using underwater robots,
struggled Friday to implement their latest tactic to contain the oil
leak a mile (1.6 kilometers) down on the seabed.
The plan is to attach an “insertion tube” into the riser pipe to
funnel the leaking oil up to a container vessel on the surface, but the
process was taking longer than expected.“It’s really complicated because
of the depth,” spokesman John Crabtree told AFP.
The tube has been billed as more effective than a previous plan to
use a so-called “top hat,” a container attached to a siphon tube that
would be lowered over the leak to collect and then funnel away the oil.
Obama, meanwhile, said he had ordered “top to bottom” reform of the
federal agency that oversees oil drilling after allegations that the
Minerals Management Service (MMS) had allowed BP and other oil companies
to drill in the Gulf of Mexico without first obtaining required
permits.An environmental group, the Center for Biological Diversity,
said it had formally filed notice of intent “to sue Interior Secretary
Ken Salazar for ignoring marine-mammal protection laws.”
“Under Salazar’s watch, the Department of the Interior has treated
the Gulf of Mexico as a sacrifice area where laws are ignored and
wildlife protection takes a backseat to oil-company profits,” said
oceans director Miyoko Sakashita.Obama, who recently lifted a moratorium
on offshore drilling, acknowledged the federal government also had to
bear its responsibility, pledging to strengthen oversight of the oil
industry.
“For too long, for a decade or more, there’s been a cozy relationship
between the oil companies and the federal agency that permits them to
drill,” he said.
Experts now fear oil may be spewing from the site at a rate of up to
70,000 barrels (2.9 million gallons) a day, more than 10 times faster
than a government estimate of 5,000 barrels (210,000 gallons) a day.
The findings suggest the spill has already eclipsed the 1989 Exxon
Valdez spill, which was the worst environmental disaster in US history.
BP was quick to contradict the figures, with Robert Dudley, BP’s
executive vice president for the Americas, telling CNN that “70,000
barrels a day isn’t anywhere I think within the realm of possibility.
“And BP chief executive Tony Hayward told Britain’s Guardian
newspaper that the spill is “tiny” by comparison with the amount of
water in the area.
“The Gulf of Mexico is a very big ocean. The amount of volume of oil
and dispersant we are putting into it is tiny in relation to the total
water volume,” Hayward said.But Hayward sounded a different tone
following Obama’s harsh criticism of BP’s apparent inability to stem the
leak.
“We absolutely understand and share President Obama’s sense of
urgency over the length of time this complex task is taking,” Hayward
said.“BP... is focused on doing everything in our power to stop the flow
of oil, remove it from the surface, and protect the shoreline.
“Coast Guard Real Admiral Mary Landry said efforts were underway to
assess the flow of oil, but insisted it would not alter plans to combat
the massive spill.
“Whether the flow is one, five, 10, or 15,000 barrels per day, the
mobilization of resources has been from day one to prepare for a
worst-case scenario. |