By James R Owens
The explosion that sank the Deep Water Horizon oil rig did more than allow oil to flow unfettered from a well, it also caused a crack in the Gulf seabed. The cracked seabed cannot be capped or plugged, leaving only two alternatives according to experts, nuke it, or let it flow until it runs out of oil. The relief well will not stop the leak because the sea floor itself is leaking in at least 18 different areas.
While BP agrees to put $20 billion in an escrow account to cover damages to the gulf region, and while President Obama visits the region and pays lip service to a world audience on television, both know the Gulf region is rich in oil reserves and the last thing they really want to do is stymie America’s ability to feed oil to the world’s thirsty consumers.
There is no partisan politicking that matters here. Sure the GOP will use this against Obama, just as the Democrats used the Iraq War against Bush. When all is said and done both sides are really on the same side, and it’s us against them.
The Crack
A renowned Russian scientist, who was called to the Deepwater Horizon site just days after the explosion, says oil is not just leaking from the well bore site, but from 18 different locations on the fractured seabed in the Gulf of Mexico.
The scientist, Anatoly Sagelevich, said he and others, who inspected the site on the seabed in a deepwater submergence vehicle, were required by the US government and BP to sign a secrecy document. The document forbids them from saying anything about their findings to Americans or to the news media.
Senator Bill Nelson of Florida seemed to confirm the cracked seafloor claim in an interview with MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell. Nelson told Mitchell the government was looking into reports “that the well casing itself is actually piercing … underneath the seabed.” He then confirmed to Mitchell oil was gushing up in several places in the seabed.
The Nuclear Option
Matthew Simmons, George W Bush’s top energy czar, has reported to the media that a “giant leak in the seafloor exists.” Simmons warns that the only way to stop the leak is to allow the well to run dry, which would take about 30 years, or by “nuking the well.”
President Obama claims the nuclear option is not being discussed, however, both Russian and American experts are advocating the nuclear measure “before all is lost.”
The former Soviet Union used nuclear weapons on five occasions to cap blown-out surface wells, four of which were successful. Details of these incidents are documented in a US Department of Energy report concerning the USSR’s use of nuclear weapons for peaceful purposes.
According to Sagelevich, America’s concerns are not with the environment as much as it is with the interruption of oil production in the Gulf Region. It seems our government is more concerned about oil than the land we live on or the seas that surround us. The Gulf of Mexico remains the only oil producing region able to increase its production.
Sagelevich also said the toxic agents BP used to disperse the oil spill can be absorbed into the atmosphere, and into the clouds that can drop toxic rain and kill any plant life it happens to fall upon.
I watched Congress question BP CEO Tony Hayward today and thought to myself, “this looks like a man who is considering suicide.” If in fact he is doing so, it would prove he has a conscience, and somehow I find that difficult to grasp. One thing is for sure, he is worried about the fallout from all of this, and he bloody should be.
