Can this happen here????

[flyster]

Bad news everyday coming from the gulf coast. Could this happen here?

[fflutterffly]

It could happen here or anywhere there is off shore drilling. I still don't understand why there isn't a two or one man sub in place to handle capping any type of underwater disaster. We have the technology. There should be contingency in place and proven before these deep wells can be sunk.

[WanderingBlues]

I think it points out the need to look at alternative energy sources. The talking heads will try to quantify the disaster, but it is immeasurable.

[John Harper]

Designing a sub that operates at 5000 feet down is incredibly expensive, something like the Navy DSRV. Water pressures at that depth make a manned craft very complicated with life support issues, etc. I guess we could re-commission the Trieste.

Some kind of redesigned blowout preventer seems likely.

John

[Pigeon]

Unfortunatly the bad actions of one company will only further degredade the overall strength of our Country. The US economy is ultra dependent on oil. China is locking up future growth by securing the major oil fields. The US energy policy will drive the price of oil up. Offshore drilling is a necessity as the less oil we produce here means we will import more. Every barrel of oil we import is US dollars leaving our country never to return. Alternative energy is something that is not economically commercial right now. Ethanol consumes more water and energy than it yields, solar technology does more to damage the environment as the total surface disturbance is thousands of acres, wind can only supply a minute portorion of our needs and hydrogen energy is a non started. The energy policy of this country has placed us where are and if we don't wake up as a country and realize that natural resources make us safe and strong the future is bleak.

[KRoberts1]

In my opinion, the risk of this happening off the the coast of CA is minimal compared to the deep water exploration work in the GOM and other parts of the world. All current production and drilling in CA OCS waters takes place on fixed structures (platforms) with all well control equipment on surface where it can be inspected and monitored continuously. The US MMS off the SB coast did make a daily visit to platforms that I was drilling wells on in the 80' and 90's. They made daily inspections of all our equipment and operations, tested drilling personnel for job knowledge, were current with well control certifications, had appropriate training and ensured that we adhered to the "approved drilling program". The MMS guys were thorough but a pleasure to work with. That's not to say that human judgement errors can't happen, which was the case in the Unocal fauxpas of '69 and the current BP blowout. The CA Coastal Commission and other Gov entities have pretty much locked out any type of deepwater exploration off the Pacific coast for years to come.

keith

[KRoberts1]

Additional thoughts to consider... without government subsidies, alternate energy sources are currently NOT economically viable and probably never will be. Case in point... Spain is nearly bankrupt from paying out subsidies trying to go "green" with solar and wind alternatives.

The more we rely on imported oil the risk of tanker spills increase. There's been more oil spilled from tanker accidents in the world than has been released from blowouts.

keith

[flybob]

I grew up in S. Cal, (please don't hold this against me) we used to spend a lot of time at the beaches, from LB down to HB and I remember when we got home and my dad always having to break out the gasoline to remove all the black tar balls stuck to our feet!
The coast was littered with pumpjacks on the inland side of PCH, the goo was just a part of life, but gas was cheap....funny how times have changed, obviously for the better.

[Pigeon]

Just an FYI the tar you get on you off the Pacific Coast is from naturally occurring oil seeps on the ocean floor. You can go tour them it's pretty cool.

[Brian Sloss]

The oil industry is heavily subsidised as well.