The Coast Guard said observations Thursday failed to confirm a report by an Alabama newspaper of oil billowing to the surface near the site where BP’s Macondo well blew out last year.
After the report in Mobile’s Press-Register, the Coast Guard deployed a boat to Mississippi Canyon 252, the federal block about 40 miles off the Louisiana coast where the well is located, and also conducted an aerial survey of the site by helicopter.
“Both observed nothing,” said Capt. Jonathan Burton, who is based in Morgan City, La.
BP, in addition, said neither a vessel it had on the scene late in the day nor a science vessel on site throughout the day reported seeing any oily sheens.
Even so, the British oil giant sent a remotely operated vehicle down Thursday night to inspect the Macondo wellhead a mile beneath the Gulf surface, and the oil giant found no evidence of a leak, according to a company release.
“BP confirmed through a standard visual wellhead inspection that there is no release of oil from the Macondo well,” the release said. “In addition, BP also conducted a visual inspection of the Macondo relief well confirming the same result.”
The company did notice “small, intermittent bubbles were observed emanating from cement ports at the base of the wellheads,” but the company added that they were likely “nitrogen bubbles, a residual byproduct of the nitrified foam used in setting the wells’ surface casing cement.”
Press-Register reporters visited the site by boat Tuesday, photographed oil on the surface and had a sample tested that showed similarities with the crude spilled from the BP well last year.
BP’s Macondo well blew out on the evening of April 20, 2010, killing 11 workers aboard the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig and triggering the nation’s worst oil spill. Over 87 days, the well gushed nearly 5 million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico before it was sealed.
Last week, BP responded to online reports suggesting the well was leaking again by saying, “None of this is true.” The company stood by the statement Thursday, saying it welcomed the chance to test any sheens found in the area.
The Coast Guard’s Burton said sheen sightings are common in the Gulf. Last year, the Coast Guard followed up on 2,231 reports of sheens, many of which turned out not to be oil.
He said the sheen observed by the Press-Register team may have come from natural seeps on the seafloor, which are prevalent in the area near Macondo. It also might have come from within the sunken Deepwater Horizon rig or other equipment that was damaged in the accident.
Oh Lord, another act of God
I dunno, to me “report” (especially in the way it was worded in the title) implies some kind of vetted document from a government agency or competent and knowledgeable organization.
I think a more appropriate title at this point would be this:
“Rumor: BP Macondo well may be leaking again.”
There, fixed that for you.
Ah yes, “Blame BP” is the new hue and cry. Every little sheen in the GoM will be blamed on them from now on. Doesn’t matter that the USCG annual reports clearly show that nearly 80% of oil in/on the water comes from ship bilges.
Told ya BP wouldn’t have spent a bucket full of money running submersibles around last week if there wasn’t a reason. Let’s see some THIRD PARTY (not BP or the Feds) video of the well head. And… if someone admits the well is leaking… that translates to GUSHING. BP, NOAA and The USCG aren’t the most accurate at estimates… Hey… when in doubt, get a second opinion. In this case get 12 opinions.
Will BP have to clean it up if it’s a natural seep? Federal government duh-mmies….
The source of this sheen could have come from any place. Guess we’ve not been able to bash BP in a few weeks…. this story is long over due.
More fuel to keep the Gulf drilling ban in place.
The correct way of addressing the report is to send non-BP experts to investigate. Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.
Adler, I thought the mantra was “blame Obama”, like last time.
Why not just send an ROV down to examine the wellhead? Should be standard operating procedure anyway.
“More fuel to keep the Gulf drilling ban in place.”
You mean the ban that never existed? It was a moritorium on deep water drilling. There was never a ban on pulling oil out of the gulf. Get your fact straight.
Adler wrote:
“Every little sheen in the GoM will be blamed on them from now on.”
No, how about blops of oil popping up to the surface within a mile of the Macondo wellhead?
Watch the video — they pop up all around the boat.
There are many natural oil leaks in the gulf. That’s what happens in fields/ocean beds with oil under them. I’ve neither seen nor heard any evidence that this is from the Mancando well.
Thanks for giving a detailed report instead of a 1-paragrapher. It does eliminate rumors without causing panic.
Just turn the camera on. Duh…
I typically side with industry in this anti-capitalist world we live in today…but you must admit it’s quite ironic that the sheen is above the Macondo location…
I love when the guy in the video says, “Look, there’s lots of oil popping up around the boat’s engines!”
The 1st anniversary effect.
Like any super structure sunk in despair it will leak oil.
Please remember the Pearl Harbor and the U.S.S. Arizona. She still leaks oil/fuel after all these decades.
Numbnuts !!!
On the video, Why did they not report their exact GPS coordinates?
Wouldn’t that be useful information?
itisme
That’s a great idea. I’ll e-mail those reporters to see if they had that info.
http://blog.al.com/live/2011/08/scientists_oil_fouling_gulf_co.html
ChunkyLover
You are a num nut. What interest groups do you think are behind these rumors? May be someone is looking for more free handouts?
“Coast Guard, BP find no Macondo oil leak”
I seem to recall that headline from the day after the sinking last year.
Not that ironic Chunky/Lover. Natural oil seeps and sub-surface oil reservoirs tend to go together.
What is it with all of the Chronicle writers???? Why do you all hate BP so much???? They have brought good jobs to this area and for the most part they have been a good neighbor…. Accidents happen when you have people involved…. Would be willing to bet that it wasn’t BP people who caused the Marcado incident…. They were from another company…. But for you all if BP was any where in the area it was their fault….
Quick Question. Which has more oil? The Gulf of Mexico or the Rio Grande? Enquiring minds want to know. But the answer is quite clear.
Hey BB, there are oil seeps all over the sea floor in the Gulf. In fact world-wide, oil seeps pump more crude into the oceans on an annual basis than has ever been spilled.
But, keep crying wolf.
What fascinates me is that nobody seems to be saying that the “natural seeps” in the Macondo field could have been caused by faulty drilling. They drilled at least two wells there, and the first one (which they drilled prior to Deepwater Horizon) failed. I saw an article yesterday which quoted BP in the early days of the disaster admitting they had damaged the sea floor.
And sure, BP creates a lot of jobs. But the clean energy sector officially creates more (and better paying) jobs than big oil as of this year.