[quote=briansd1]It’s interesting to see how the contingencies are failing one after the other.[/quote]
It’s predictable. They are trying (and failing at) all the same things they tried in 1979 for the Ixtoc I spill. The Ixtoc I spill was also in the Gulf of Mexico, but in Mexican territory. Pemex was the oil company for that one.
In that one they tried putting a giant funnel cap over it – calling it “The Sombrero”. This time around they called it “Top Hat”. Same results.
In that one they put out massive amounts of boom and chemical dispersant – and still had lots of oil reach delicate coastlines. Same thing this time. Except more dispersant is being used because the oil is deeper.
In that one they had divers try to shove steel balls in the hole to try to stop it. This time we had ROVs shove golf balls and debris in – calling it the “junk shot”. Didn’t work then or now.
In that one 160 miles of U.S. beaches were impacted… and laborers had to clean the barrier island beaches with rakes and shovels. Same thing is happening now.
They haven’t come up with any new methods/technologies in the past 30 years. The ixtoc well was only a few hundred feet down – and still couldn’t be plugged.
What stopped the spill in 1979 was the drilling of the relief well. 5 months to drill the relief wells, then another 4 months to successfully cap it. That’s probably going to be the final solution this time. It took 9 months to cap Ixtoc. Lets see how long it takes this time.
