Problem With Cap Causes More Oil to Gush in Gulf

Problem With Cap Causes More Oil to Gush in Gulf
By LIZ ROBBINS
Copyright by The New York Times
Published: June 23, 2010
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/24/us/24spillweb.html?hp


BP suffered another setback in the Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday, when a discharge of liquid and gases forced the company to remove the containment cap that for three weeks had been able to capture a large portion of the oil gushing from its damaged well.

Adm. Thad W. Allen of the Coast Guard, at a mid-day briefing in Washington, said a remote-controlled submersible operating a mile beneath the surface had most likely bumped a vent and compromised the system. Live video from the seafloor showed oil and gas storming out of the well unrestricted.

This was yet another complication in BP’s two-month-old struggle to contain the tens of thousands of barrels of oil spewing into the gulf.

On Tuesday, BP said it had been able to capture 16,665 barrels of oil through its containment cap, two-thirds of the total recovery operation. Another system, connected to a Q4000 vessel, is still operating since it is connected through a separate pipe near the seabed, rather than directly atop the failed blowout preventer. This system siphons the oil and gas and then burns it on the ship.

But at 8:45 a.m. local time on Wednesday, workers noticed liquids escaping from a valve connected to the Discoverer Enterprise drill ship collecting the oil. Admiral Allen said that a vent sending warm water to prevent hydrates from forming had been damaged. “When they thought that that line might have been compromised, they elected to remove the cap,” Admiral Allen said.

BP was inspecting the pipe, and if workers observe that hydrates — ice-like crystals — have formed, they might have to adjust the line before putting the cap back on.

Neither BP nor the Coast Guard could determine immediately how long it would be before they could reattach the lower marine riser package cap, however. “We’re still developing the facts,” Admiral Allen said.

Also Wednesday, Admiral Allen said that two people working with the overall response efforts had died. One person was the operator of a vessel assisting the cleanup in Gulf Shores, Ala., who was found dead on his docked boat; local police were investigating the circumstances of his death, Admiral Allen said. The other person died in a swimming pool accident. Neither death appeared to be directly related to the people’s specific duties in the effort, Admiral Allen said.

As oil gushed fiercely from a mile under the surface, some beleaguered fisherman in the gulf received a reprieve. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association said it opened a small portion — 8,000 square miles — of previously closed fishing area in the Gulf of Mexico, because it had not observed oil in the area. One area, south of Mississippi, had only been closed since Monday.

Two-thirds of the federal waters of the Gulf of Mexico are still open for fishing, and N.O.A.A. said that the closed area now represents 78,597 square miles.

Still, Florida residents directly experienced the effects of the oil: tar balls and oil mousse (with the consistency of sludge) washed up on the shore of Pensacola Beach and forced the closure of several areas for swimming, according to a spokeswoman for the Mobile, Ala. Incident Command.

In Washington, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said Wednesday that he was preparing new evidence to support a six-month moratorium on deepwater oil and gas drilling in the Gulf of Mexico and was prepared to vigorously challenge a federal judge’s ruling on Tuesday that the drilling ban was unjustified.

Appearing before a Senate committee, Mr. Salazar said that the “pause” in the drilling of 33 deepwater wells in the gulf was essential until the causes of the April 20 BP Deepwater Horizon explosion and oil leak were fully understood.

A federal judge in New Orleans ruled on Tuesday that the moratorium Mr. Salazar imposed in May was not supported by the facts or law and was causing extreme economic distress throughout the Gulf Coast. The Obama administration quickly announced it would appeal the ruling and Mr. Salazar promised a new order within days to justify the drilling halt.

But Mr. Salazar left open the possibility that the moratorium could be revised or even lifted for certain types of wells in the gulf before the six months are up.

At the same hearing, the man whom Mr. Salazar and President Obama have designated to oversee reforms of offshore drilling he plans to create an investigative unit to root out corruption and speed reorganization of the office.

Michael R. Bromwich, who was appointed director of the Minerals Management Service last week, said in testimony before the Senate Appropriations Committee that the new investigations team would report directly to him and would work closely with the Interior Department’s inspector general’s office, which has issued several tough reports on misconduct at the minerals service in the last decade.

Mr. Bromwich, a former inspector general in the Justice Department, said the new unit will quickly act on charges against agency officials or the companies they are supposed to regulate.

John M. Broder contributed reporting from Washington.