Home/Posts Tagged ‘leak’
Posts Tagged ‘leak’
Pollution, Wildlife & Flora, Oct 10th, 2011,
Oil leaking from the stranded container ship off New Zealand’s coast has washed up on local beaches and could continue polluting for weeks, according to authorities. Beautiful Mt Maunganui Beach in Tauranga has been hit with “tar balls”, aka toxic blobs of oil, prompting authorities to issue a public warning to stay away from the stricken beach. So far some 10-50 tons of oil are estimated to have leaked from the Liberian container ship, the Rena, since it hit Astrolabe Reef, near the city of Tauranga on Wednesday, poisoning local wildlife. Weather conditions this week are predicted to hamper rescue…
Tags: beach, leak, Maunganui, New Zealand, oil, ship, spill, tauranga
Pollution, Oct 7th, 2011,
A large container ship is stranded on a reef off the coast of New Zealand and is leaking oil. The ship, named the Rena, ran aground on Astrolabe Reef near the city of Tauranga on Wednesday, causing a 5km (3mi) long oil slick to leak into the Bay of Plenty. So far 4 sea birds have been found dead in the slick, while 4 blue penguins and 2 shags have been rescued by New Zealand Wildlife Response. From the New Zealand Herald: The Rena was carrying about 1700 tonnes of heavy fuel oil and about 70 tonnes of marine diesel…
Tags: Astrolabe Reef, blue penguin, leak, New Zealand, oil, Rena, ship
Pollution, Aug 16th, 2011,
The oil leak in the North Sea, which was discovered by Shell last Monday – but not announced until Friday – has been mostly staunched, according to the UK government. Yet another, albeit much smaller, leak has been found stemming from the same offshore platform and it is spilling some 2 barrels of crude oil per day. The second leak is proving difficult to stop, according to Shell, due to its ‘awkward’ positioning. Last Monday’s oil spill is already being called the worst to occur in UK waters in the last 10 years. From an article in the Independent: An…
Tags: Greenpeace, leak, North Sea, oil, Shell, spill
Pollution, Aug 1st, 2010,
China’s worst flooding in ten years has resulted in widespread problems including over 1,250 people dead or missing, thousands of homes destroyed and billions of euros in damage to infrastructure. One of the latest worries is that around 7,000 barrels, some containing toxic chemicals, were swept into the Songhua River on Wednesday. Authorities in China claim that nearly 3,000 have been recovered, but whether the barrels were empty or full is unclear. From a BBC News report: It is a source of drinking-water for several million people and is being tested for possible contamination, but officials have said there is…
Tags: Amur, Barrels, chemicals, China, Chinese, leak, river, Russia, Russian, Songhua, TOXIC, water
Pollution, Wildlife & Flora, Jul 28th, 2010,
Yesterday the United States experienced two more oil spills: One in the Gulf of Mexico, the other in the Kalamazoo River in Michigan. A tug boat, which was pushing a barge, ran into an abandoned well in the Gulf of Mexico on Tuesday morning, causing gas and oil to spew 100ft (30m) into the air. The well is located in Barataria Bay, Louisiana, some 65 miles (105km) south of New Orleans. Barataria Bay is an ecologically rich wetlands and fishing area that has been unused since the Deepwater Horizon spill began on April 10th. This is at least the third…
Tags: Barataria, bay, gas, Granholm, Gulf, Kalamazoo, leak, Michigan, oil, pipeline, river, spill, well
Pollution, Science & Technology, Jul 19th, 2010,
Though the cap on the damaged oil well in the Gulf of Mexico is reportedly holding, hydrocarbon leakage has been detected on the seabed. The hope has been that the cap – successfully placed over the wellhead last week – would stop the flow of oil into the Gulf until permanent relief wells are in place. US Admiral Thad Allen has written to BP chief of operations Bob Dudley demanding answers. He is quoted in a report in the Guardian: I direct you to provide me a written procedure for opening the choke valve as quickly as possible without damaging…
Tags: Admiral, Allen, BP, cap, detected, government, Gulf, hydrocarbons, leak, oil, plan, seepage, US, well
Pollution, Videos & Documentaries, Jul 16th, 2010,
Check out this clip from last night’s Rachel Maddow show on the situation in the Gulf of Mexico in light of BP’s successful capping of the oil well leak. Rachel is joined by NBC’s chief environmental affairs correspondent Anne Thompson to discuss possible scenarios such as hurricanes and contingency plans as well as the eventual relief well, which should offer a permanent solution to the leak in the Gulf. What next for the Gulf? Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy Keep up to date on the situation in the Gulf via this Associated Press…
Tags: BP, Gulf, leak, Maddow, oil, Rachel, well
Pollution, ,
You thought it might never happen, but yesterday evening BP successfully stopped the flow of oil from the broken well in the Gulf of Mexico. The cap is a temporary fix – with the lasting solution being the drilling of a relief well scheduled to take place in a few weeks time. Both US President Barack Obama and BP’s chief expressed cautious optimism at the news that the oil leak in the Gulf was under control for the first time in 87 days. From a report in the Guardian: Doug Suttles, BP’s chief operating officer, said engineers would be checking…
Tags: BP, cap, Gulf, leak, Mexico, oil, spill, well
Politics, Pollution, Science & Technology, Jul 10th, 2010,
Just soon as the US sent a hot Russian spy back home, an offer to help stop the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico emerged from the former ‘Evil Empire’. Russian submarine captain Yevgenii Chernyaev has told the BBC that two unique submersibles from Russia, which are capable of diving 6,000 meters deep, would be able to cap the leak. The subs are currently exploring for gas hydrates in Lake Baikal – the deepest lake in the world – in eastern Siberia. Anatoly Sagalevich of Russia’s Shirshov Institute of Oceanology, which owns the vessels, said that he had an…
Tags: Baikal, BP, cap, Gulf, lake, leak, moratorium, oil, Russia, Russian, Siberia, stop, sub, subs
Climate Change, Nature, Wildlife & Flora, Jun 14th, 2010,
While most of the country is currently obsessed with the Gulf Coast Oil Spill disaster, Utah residents have their own oil spill to deal with. Last week, a busted Chevron pipeline sent at least 400 to 500 barrels of oil into Red Butte Creek. The spill was initially at 50 gallons of crude oil per minute before crews were able to cap the leak. Many ducks and geese were coated in oil and a park also had to be shut down. What caused the leak or the extent of environmental damage is still uncertain; however, according to Chevron spokesperson, Mark…
Tags: broke, Chevron, cleanup, crude oil, ducks, fish, geese, leak, oil spill, pipeline, Pollution, ponds, Red Butte Creek, Salt Lake City, Utah
Climate Change, Politics, Jun 11th, 2010,
A new estimate has been made regarding the oil that has been leaking from the damaged well in the Gulf of Mexico: 20,000 to 40,000 barrels per day, or 840,000-1.7 million gallons (3.2-6.4 million liters). This estimate comes from the head of the US Geological Survey and is around twice as much oil as was previously gauged to have been escaping from the well. Scientists used new high definition footage provided by BP after demands from the US Congress, according to a CNN report. BP has been capturing some 16,000 barrels per day since a cap was installed last week,…
Tags: 40000, Barrels, BP, estimate, Exxon Valdez, Gulf, leak, leaking, Mexico, new, Obama, oil, spill
Climate Change, Wildlife & Flora, Jun 6th, 2010,
First it was actor Kevin Costner and his oil separation machines, now it’s Hollywood heavyweight James Cameron – director of Avatar, Titanic and the Terminator and Alien film series – who has offered to join in the quest for solutions to the Deepwater oil well leak in the Gulf of Mexico. Cameron, an avid submariner, owns a considerable amount of deep-sea equipment and has become a bit of an expert in deep-sea filming and technology by virtue of his work on Titanic, The Abyss and several documentary films. From Andrew C. Revkin’s Dot Earth blog in the New York Times:…
Tags: BP, Cameron, deep, director, Gulf, help, Hollywood, James, leak, oil, sea, spill, Titanic, well
Climate Change, Videos & Documentaries, Jun 4th, 2010,
The Guardian reports that BP has placed a cap on the broken end of the leaking wellhead in the Gulf of Mexico in order to capture escaping oil and collect it on ships above the shattered well: The placement of the containment cap is another positive development in BP’s most recent attempt to contain the leak, however, it will be some time before we can confirm that this method will work and to what extent it will mitigate the release of oil into the environment. Even if successful, this is only a temporary and partial fix and we must continue…
Tags: BP, cap, environment, Guardian, Gulf, leak, oil
Climate Change, Politics, May 30th, 2010,
US President Barack Obama’s energy advisor Carol Browner has called the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico ‘the worst’ environmental disaster to ever hit the United States. Browner also warned that the leak might not be stopped before August. The amount of oil leaking from BP’s Deepwater Horizon oilrig has now surpassed 1989′s Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska. From a BBC News report: At least 20 million gallons have now spilled into the Gulf of Mexico, affecting more than 70 miles (110km) of Louisiana’s coastline in the worst oil disaster in US history. Top kill has now officially failed,…
Tags: August, BP, Deepwater Horizon, disaster, Gulf, history, leak, Mexico, oil, spill, US, worst
Videos & Documentaries, Wildlife & Flora, May 29th, 2010,
The spill in the Gulf of Mexico is now estimated to be the largest in US history, at ’12,000 to 19,000 barrels a day’ according to a New York Times article. This estimate is 2 to 5 times higher than previous figures. Needless to say, this is bad news for everyone. The price tag for the BP has reached $1bn and little progress is being made on stopping the leak. President Obama has promised that BP will be held fully accountable for the cleanup and destruction caused by the spill, but as the NY Times puts it, the future of…
Tags: BP, cleanup, Gulf, leak, Maddow, oil, Rachel, spill, US
Climate Change, Videos & Documentaries, Wildlife & Flora, May 27th, 2010,
In this video from Time magazine, marine biologist Rick Steiner goes through the many layers of disaster regarding the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, from the irresponsible behavior of BP before the leak, to the lousy clean-up efforts. According to Steiner, the lasting effects of the oil leak and chemical dispersants used by the clean-up teams will manifest for years to come in terms of poisoning ecosystems. Also, come hurricane season, hurricanes will draw up the oil from deeper waters and bring it onto the coast. Doesn’t make you feel great about the Obama administration’s new energy plan,…
Tags: biologist, clean up, disaster, ecosystems, Gulf, leak, marine, oil, Rick, spill, Steiner, video, wildlife
Climate Change, Politics, Videos & Documentaries, May 14th, 2010,
It turns out that deepwater drilling off the coast of the United States is a pretty experimental thing. In recent years the industry has been largely self-regulatory, which has allowed them to cut corners and take advantage of loopholes in the law. For example, the Deepwater Horizon rig, leased by BP, owned by Transocean and built in Korea, is officially a vessel of the Pacific nation the Marshall Islands – because of that country’s lax maritime regulations. In other words the rig flies what’s called a ‘flag of convenience’. Corporate greed and our thirst for oil have facilitated compromises in…
Tags: BP, Deepwater Horizon, Gulf, leak, loopholes, Marshall Islands, oil, rig, spill, video
Climate Change, Videos & Documentaries, May 9th, 2010,
The quick fix that BP was hoping for by lowering a containment dome over the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico was not successful. Workers began the operation of lowering the metal container over the Deepwater Horizon oilrig leak on Thursday night, with hopes that it would staunch most of the flow of oil. However, a build up of ice crystals blocked pipes in the container, preventing the siphoning off of oil. From a report in the Guardian: The problem is blamed on methane gas, partly frozen into slush by the cold temperatures on the seabed at 1,500 metres…
Tags: BP, containment, deep sea, Deepwater Horizon, dome, Gulf, ice crystals, leak, oil, spill
Climate Change, Science & Technology, Videos & Documentaries, May 7th, 2010,
The latest effort to staunch the flow of oil leaking into the Gulf of Mexico – caused by the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oilrig – is the lowering of a 5 storey-high containment dome over the leak. The lengthy operation began last night with the eventual hope that the dome would cut the amount of oil spilling into the sea by 85%. From an article in the Guardian that also features a video explaining the mechanics of the dome or ‘cofferdam’ solution: Engineers believe that the dome could be the best short-term solution to controlling the 220,000 gallons of…
Tags: BP, cofferdam, containment, Deepwater Horizon, dome, Gulf, leak, oil, solution, strategy, video
Climate Change, Nature, Wildlife & Flora, Apr 14th, 2010,
There is always a dark cloud hiding somewhere behind every silver lining and unfortunately, this also applies to the recent Great Barrier Reef incident. Although the Chinese vessel was refloated and towed away from the shoal, some oil from the spill still washed up at the well-known North West Island nature sanctuary. This particular sanctuary is a breeding site for hundreds of thousands of seabirds and turtles. Many feared for the safety, health and well-being of these animals on the island, so environmental experts and clean-up crews were immediately sent by helicopter to the site. One major concern at this…
Tags: australia, beach, breeding ground, Chinese, contamination, coral cay, Great Barrier Reef, green turtles, hatching, leak, loggerhead turtles, nature sanctuary, nesting site, North West Island, oil, seabirds, Shen Neng 1, ship, spill, Tyron Island, vessel
