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| AP: Deepwater Horizon BOP |
The National Institutes of Health said it will launch a multi-year study of the public health effects of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill this fall. The latest federal figures show 2,130 people suffered injuries or sickness related to the oil spill. The study will focus on worker exposure to crude oil and chemical dispersant. It will include study of the neurobehvioral symptoms related to exposure. BP is expected to contribute $10 million to the effort.
The toll on wildlife is still being assessed by US Fish & Wildlife. However, an initial report by the agency shows that 3,634 dead birds have been collected as of September 14th. Most of these are laughing gulls, followed by brown pelicans and northern gannets. 1,042 live birds have been found in areas affected by the spill. Dead birds are catalogued and kept in freezers as evidence. Live birds are taken to one of four rehabilitation centers where they are assessed, stabilized, and cleaned if it is determined they can withstand the stress. About 1.5% of the dead birds total represent live birds that subsequently died in captivity. For a list of the 38 federally protected species under the Endangered Species Act that could be impacted by the oil spill go to this link. The translocation of sea turtle eggs to Kennedy Space Center for protection from the oil spill is deemed a success. About 15,000 hatchlings have been released to the sea from the more than 28,000 eggs that were transported by FedEx trucks to Kennedy. FedEx donated its services. A total of 278 nests were translocated which is less than the 700 planned. Shipments stopped when the Gulf waters were declared safe enough for sea turtle hatchlings to survive without assistance. The translocation success rate so far is slightly better than normal conditions where predators take a large portion of each hatching.
{9.14.10}Reports are that the Macondo relief well is within about 50 vertical feet of intercepting the capped blowout. Drilling the well resumed yesterday. Drilling the final feet of the relief well has been fitful since the Macondo well was capped on July 15th. Some industry experts questioned the necessity of a bottom kill operation. The government official overseeing the spill response said last month that the final bottom kill would take seven days. There have been numerous holds on drilling for weather and pressure testing as well technical evaluations of the effect of interception on the damaged well bore and associated equipment. The failed blowout preventer was successfully removed and replaced on September 4th. The US Justice Department is treating the recovered BOP as evidence and restricting access to it aboard the Helix Q4000 drilling ship. Moving the heavy piece of equipment to shore has also been delayed. The federal government is insisting BP follow plug and abandon procedures which will add extra steps to the process and push back the final well sealing until the end of September, five months since the Deepwater Horizon platform was destroyed.
Theories of how the gas from the reservoir escaped up the well to the drilling platform follow two possible scenarios: through an annulus or small space between well casing and surrounding rock strata, or a failed cement plug that allowed the gas to escape up the well bore itself. BP prefers that latter scenario since it may allow shifting more blame to Halliburton, its cementing contractor, in on-going litigation. Some experts have questioned the safety of the well casing design used by BP. It its report on the accident released last Wednesday, the oil giant blamed the wind, sand, and stars for possible causes of the disastrous accident that killed 11 people and permanently damaged a vast marine ecosystem. British Petroleum is the Mississippi Block 252 federal lessee and therefore has the primary legal responsibility for public safety and regulatory compliance.