Re: NOAA Office of Response & Restoration - Oil Spill "Hot Spots"
Posted by alligatorob on 4/25/2010, 11:19 am
Yes, it does now look like it is leaking oil.  The leakage estimate is leaking about 1,000 bbl/day see http://response.restoration.noaa.gov/topic_subtopic_entry.php?RECORD_KEY(entry_subtopic_topic)=entry_id,subtopic_id,topic_id&entry_id(entry_subtopic_topic)=809&subtopic_id(entry_subtopic_topic)=2&topic_id(entry_subtopic_topic)=1  It will take a few days before the magnitude of this spill is understood, how long it continues to leak will make a big difference on its impact.

Just to put this into perspective the most recent National Academy of Sciences estimate of natural seepage into the Northern Gulf of Mexico is somewhere between about 800 and 2,000 bbl/day see http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=10388&page=191  So if the 1,000 bbl/day estimate turns out to be right it will be significant but no more than naturally seeps out.  See http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=36873 for some NASA photos of natural oil seeps a bit south west of where the blowout occurred.  Also this is fairly small compared to releases from blowouts that occured in the 60s and 70s, prior to implementation of the safety standards we have today.   Probably the biggest blowout in the Gulf was the IXTOC I in 79/80, it released about 3.5 millon barrels into Mexican waters over a 9 month period (average about 12,000 bbl/day).  See http://response.restoration.noaa.gov/book_shelf/26_spilldb.pdf  In comparision the 1993 release from a collision of two barges and a freighter in Tampa Bay released about 8,000 bbl in a single day, see http://www.baysoundings.com/sum03/spill.html

I don't want to down play the potential for this new release having a significant impact, but so far it has not and unless the leak increases or is prolonged the impact should not be great.

Just so you can compare the numbers in all these citations, 1 bbl (barrel) of oil = 42 gallons or about 0.14 tonne or 0.16 cubic meters of oil.
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Concern over oil spillage - Beachlover, 4/23/2010, 2:56 am
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