The BP Oil Spill

Created By: Elvis Stump
Introduction
On April 20th, 2010 the US suffered the largest oil spill in history. Thanks in part to the efforts of British Petroleum also known as the BP Oil Company. This event harmed an entire ecosystem, altered markets, and hindered the publics view of big business and government.
The DeepWater Horizon
The Oil Breach
On April 20, 2010 BP Oil rig named Deepwater Horizon has oil well break killing 11 of the 126 individuals working the rig. The Deepwater Horizon was the worlds deepest oil exploration going nearly 5,000 feet under water.
Cause and Effect?

Deepwater Horizon was connected by a 21 inch by 1 mile pipe called a riser. The riser lead to a four story device known as the Blowout Preventer (BOP). 2.5 miles deeper a gas leak began seeping into the well causing an explosion that traveled 3.5 miles back to the top of the Horizon. The BOP contains four devices. The final device, the blind shear ram, has two blades powered by hydraulics that is suppose to sever the drill pipe and seal the well permanently. When the gas made it to the BOP the shear ram never sealed.
Riser Piping
Blowout Preventer (BOP)
The Investigation
The day after the explosion BP sent a remote operated vehicle down to where the BOP was located.
They discover the riser was attached but bent at a 90 degree angle creating a 1500 feet trench that eventually pointed back toward the well.
The BOP was found to have actually triggered. At this point the reality of the enormity of the situation sets in.
Key Players
Doug Suttles, Ex-CEO
Patrick Campbell, Wild Well Control
Thad Allen, US National Incident Commander
The Initial Estimated Damage
BP stated the initial estimate was 5,000 gallons of oil leaking per day. This statement was eventually found inaccurate. The party responsible was a government agency. BP spends $6 million per day to clean up the spill. The year prior the companies profits were $14 billion. The oil was spreading miles around the Gulf Coast and the Horizon begins to sink after day two. Peoples livelihoods are threatened due to the fisheries in the Gulf. The Gulf is Americas biggest fisheries.
The Planning
1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
The cofferdam plan The use of dispersants Topkill Tophats The capping stack
The Cofferdam Plan
A cofferdams original use was to shelter divers working below the sea bed in shallow water. The cofferdam took 18 days to prepare, weighed 87 tons, and took nearly six hours to reach the bottom. The idea was to use two different sized coffer dams. The larger cofferdam would be placed over the broken riser pipe to funnel the oil back to the surface hopefully catching 80% of the oil.
Cofferdam Failure
When the cofferdam made it to the bottom the funnel in the top had already sealed.
This was caused by two factors.

The cofferdam actually filled up at 2,300 feet before hitting the bottom. This allowed hydrates to build up and seal the funnel killing the plan.
Dispersants
Dispersants are typically used when an oil spill occurs. This is normally done above the surface however, not under water. On day 26 the government gave approval for the use of dispersants. The idea was if the dispersants worked the oil would never reach the surface. This idea was heavily disputed by wildlife experts due to the toxins in the chemical.
After 2 million gallons of these dispersants was pumped into the Gulf the idea was deemed a failure. BPs response to the long term effect of these dispersants is unknown.
The Use of Topkill
Topkill is basically house hold junk packed down by drill mud.
The idea was to seal the oil well off by filling the hole through the BOP with topkill and packing it with mud.
The problem was every time the topkill was stopped the well would shoot all the topkill back through the BOP. After spending nearly $140,000,000 million dollars on drill mud the plan was also a failure making BP wonder if they could even seal the well.
The Use of Tophats
A tophat is suppose to collect oil without building up pressure inside the well. To do this the riser pipe would have to be removed from the well. To cut the riser pipe they used a BAS Shear. Which literally stands for big ass shear.
In the end BP only was able to remove 28,000 barrels of oil a day, but at this time the flow rate was nearly 35,000 to 60,000 barrels of oil a day. By day 84 millions of barrels of oil had flowed into the ocean and a plan was now or never.
Once the pipe was removed the oil was removed in a vessel called the Enterprise.
Essentially the plan would work but BP struggled to find vessels to store the oil.
The Capping Stack

Patrick Campbell had designed a capping stack to seal the well. The equipment wouldnt leak, could conduct the flow of the well, and shut it in whenever was needed. The worry was the capping stack would blow the well. At 7pm the stack was put in place, and at 2:25pm on the 87th day the flow had been stopped.
Patrick Campbell stated the capping stack could had been put into place nearly 3 weeks earlier. BP declined the idea which resulted in millions of barrels of extra oil being flowed into the Gulf.
The estimated cost resulted in $40 billion dollars.
The Three Year Aftermath

4.9 million barrels of oil spilled Traces of oil can still be found A lot of land is lost The local economies still are trying to bounce back:

Wedding planning industry Tourism Fishing industry is crippled
The Reality of It All

In the BP Oil Spill, more than 200 million gallons of crude oil was pumped into the Gulf of Mexico for a total of 87 days, making it the biggest oil spill in U.S. history.
16,000 total miles of coastline have been affected, including the coasts of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida.
Even though the gushing well was capped in July 2010, oil is still washing up on shores, which might cause long-term damages to people living in the area. The initial oil rig explosion killed 11 people and injured 17 others. President Obama announced that his administration would create a $20 billion spill response fund. Responders used 5.5 million feet of boom, a barrier placed in water, to collect and absorb oil. Of the 400 miles of Louisiana coast, approximately 125 miles have been polluted by the oil spill.
Continued
One method of treating the oil spill is "in-situ burning" or burning oil in a contained area on the surface of the water, which has negative effects on the environment. Over 8,000 animals (birds, turtles, mammals) were reported dead just 6 months after the spill, including many that are already on the endangered species list. Immediate impact on the wildlife includes oil-coated birds and sea turtles, mammal ingestion of oil, and dead or dying deep sea coral. BP is responsible for close to $40 billion in fines, cleanup costs, and settlements as a result of the oil spill in 2010, with an additional $16 billion due to the Clean Water Act. Over 30,000 people responded to the spill in the Gulf Coast working to collect oil, clean up beaches, take care of animals and perform various other duties. As of 2012, the Gulf was still polluted with oil.
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The BP Oil Spill

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The BP Oil Spill

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Created By: Elvis Stump

The DeepWater Horizon

The Oil Breach

Cause and Effect?

Blowout Preventer (BOP)

Doug Suttles, Ex-CEO

Patrick Campbell, Wild Well Control

Thad Allen, US National Incident Commander

The Initial Estimated Damage

The Cofferdam Plan

This was caused by two factors.

The Use of Topkill

Topkill is basically house hold junk packed down by drill mud.

The Use of Tophats

The Capping Stack

The Three Year Aftermath

Wedding planning industry Tourism Fishing industry is crippled

The Reality of It All

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