Two Ways to Stop the Gulf Oil Leak.avi

DRAFT MISSION DESIGN

Overall Mission Command:
Chief: Top NASA mission supervisor
Advisors: Joint Chiefs of Staff Navy Admiral, Chief of the Army Corp of Engineers, Top NOAA Geologist, Top BP engineer, Top non-BP oil engineer (with guarantee of immunity), Representatives of Gulf states governors

Mission A: Isolate the leak by removing the wellhead superstructure.
Mission chief: NASA mission supervisor #2
Team: Top military explosives expert, Top naval engineer
Probable approach: Controlled explosions, cables pre-attached to drag separated components away.

Mission B: Place a secure permanent cap on the wellhead.
Mission chief: NASA mission supervisor #3
Team: Top civilian expert in reinforced concrete structures, Top Navy engineer
Probable approach: Reinforced concrete structures lowered by guided cable

Mission C: D-Day implementation
Mission chief: NASA supervisor #4
Team: Navy Fleet commander, BP top engineer, Designated port site manager

MissionD: Remove Any Legal Obstacles
Mission Chief: Attorney General
Team: Majority and Minority Congressional Leaders, Attorney Generals of Gulf states

Mission E: Backup and contingency planning
Mission Chief: NASA supervisor #5
Team: Designated representatives from all other teams


Approximate sequence of events:
1. Approval of plan. Mission teams start work.
2. Detailed design of wellhead caps and mechanics of infrastructure removal.
3. Wellhead caps construction completed.
4. Infrastructure removal components in place.
5. Wellhead cap components in place.
6. D-Day
7. Evaluation of results.
8. Backup and contingency plans as necessary.

Note 1: The crucial first step in any near term solution is to isolate the leak. This means that some or all of the piping superstructure that sits atop the wellhead must be removed. (This is the point that most people seem to be missing.) Unless the leak is isolated, solutions like those proposed here (steps 2 plus) probably won't work, which is probably why they haven't been tried. Now here's the maddening part. Lawyers are (almost certainly) telling BP and Obama not to remove the superstructure. There is a chance that removing it might make the problem temporarily worse. This would increase BP's liability. And Obama can not take any direct action against the wellhead since that would shift some (or more) of the blame and liability to him. And there is risk that any particular approach will fail. Nevertheless, BP should be ordered to implement a version of this plan. The public should be told what the whole plan is, and that things may get worse before they get better.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• Gulf
• Oil
• Leak
• Engineering
• Stop