[KaiserJeep]

I can tell you that this has been the #1 news story for two days. Every night the stations are trying to top each other with video of oiled birds, oiled dolphins, oiled sea otters, etc. 105 miles of shoreline are closed to fishing and shellfishing.

They are in the mechanical containment and collection phase now, using floating booms, vacuum cleaners, and human hands with absorbent materials. Supposedly they have collected 20-25% of the spill as of last night. At some point they will switch to pressure washers and solvents, and we will find out if they learned anything after the BP spill in the GOM.

[ROCKMAN]

"...we will find out if they learned anything after the BP spill in the GOM." I'm not sure if there's much learned from Macondo that can be applied to the CA spill. As nssty as it is the CA spill is a somewhat routine industrial accident. They've known how to collect spilt oil and clean up wildlife for a long time. The big issue would be investigating the company that operated the pipeline and find the cause: negligence, human error, "act of God", etc.

[ROCKMAN]

Here's something the might learn from this incidence: don't let the feds make the rules in your state. Saw this on the news scrawl this morning: the leak would not have been so large if there had been an automatic cur off valve. Apparently in the 80's CA was trying to put such rules into effect. But the company argued that the feds had authority and they didn't require the safety valve.

Just one more good reason why Texas and La don't allow the feds to make the oil/NG rules in their states. Both states have regulations much more protective then the feds rules. Consider the EPA oversight: the stares can set their own rules or turn over the control to the EPA. KY is one of those states that gave up oil/NG regulation to the EPA. When I drilled in KY I reported to the EPA...in Atlanta. All I had to do was mail them a form stating I was following the fed regulations. Didn't really matter if I lied on the forms: no fed inspectors in the state checking up on me. If the landowner didn't catch me I could get away with anything. I wonder how many states that have has problems with the illegal dumping of frac fluids turn the enforcement of those regs over to the feds?

[KaiserJeep]

Rockman, I was thinking of the analysis of the Macondo spill cleanup where the bottom line was that the cleanup solvents killed more wildlife than would have perished from the oil itself.

Sometimes we forget that natural oil seeps have been occurring for millions of years, and that around such natural petroleum leaks the wildlife has adapted to the presence of oil, and that there is a natural process that turns liquid oil into tar balls and even bacteria that break down seeping oil.

So the basic idea is they need to limit the cleanup efforts to what helps not hurts, and there is no such thing as getting back to "the way the beach used to look" in a relatively short time - it will be decades before the area looks clean again and you would want to eat fish or shellfish caught there. So you just keep charging those responsible for the damaged environment for 2-3 generations.

Because after all, Macondo is not over - nor for that matter is the Exxon Valdez spill.

[onlooker]

http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/california-o ... -predicted
Another oil spill. Dire forecasts for the environment around that area. Maybe somebody here can answer just how long lasting and how bad are these big oil spills like the one that happened off on the Gulf and also Exxon Valdez. would appreciate input from anyone who can speak with authority on this. It just happens too often especially if the consequences can last for a long time. they did say I am sorry.

[Alaska_geo]

Rockman, I was thinking of the analysis of the Macondo spill cleanup where the bottom line was that the cleanup solvents killed more wildlife than would have perished from the oil itself.
............
So the basic idea is they need to limit the cleanup efforts to what helps not hurts, and there is no such thing as getting back to "the way the beach used to look" in a relatively short time - it will be decades before the area looks clean again and you would want to eat fish or shellfish caught there. So you just keep charging those responsible for the damaged environment for 2-3 generations.

Because after all, Macondo is not over - nor for that matter is the Exxon Valdez spill.

KaiserJeep is correct on several points. Spill response & cleanup is very environment specific. What is appropriate in one area might be counterproductive in another.

For example, a lot of rocky beaches in PWS were washed with hot water after the Exxon spill. But these beaches are rocky because they get pounded by storms all winter long, which do a good job of cleaning them. A few organisms survive the oil, and after the winter storms help regenerate the area. Hot washing effectively sterilizes the area, and finishes off whatever the oil didn't kill. Many hot washed areas took longer to come back than areas that were left alone.

Other low energy areas in the Sound are critical habitat (marshes, salmon spawning streams, etc. You have to move fast, and boom them off BEFORE the oil reaches them. But this means you need to have identified them in advance and have a plan, and equipment ready before a spill. The current PWS response plan is amazingly detailed.

One lesson from Macondo is that you need a lot of people trained up to run a response like that. I'm currently getting trained up to help with the PWS spill Incident Management Team. A whole lot of folks from various AK oil companies will drop our normal jobs and help staff the IMT. At a training presentation recently, one of the folks who was heavily involved in the Macondo response said that they "built the equivalent of a Fortune 500 company in 30-45 days." Clearly many things didn't work as well as they should have. One of the biggest learnings of Macondo was it helps if you have a good plan and trained people in place BEFORE the accident.

And you are correct that Prince William Sound still hasn't fully recovered.

[Apneaman]

Oil well out of control in North Dakota
Sheen reported on river in western part of the oil-rich state.



"BISMARCK, N.D., Oct. 20 (UPI) -- An oil well in western North Dakota is out of control at least three days after a spill was reported, the state Department of Health reported.

The Health Department said it was notified of the spill by Oasis Petroleum, which said it lost control of the well Saturday night local time. Bill Suess, a spill manager for the department, was quoted by the Grand Forks Herald as saying about 1,760 barrels of oil were recovered so far from the well site.

"It's a significant leak," he said.

There was no statement on the spill from Oasis Petroleum. The Health Department said light sheen was observed on the White Earth River a little less than a quarter mile away from the well."


http://www.upi.com/Business_News/Energy ... 445343843/

[Apneaman]

AP Exclusive: Drilling boom means more harmful waste spills


"Five years ago, a broken pipe soaked the land with as much as 420,000 gallons of oilfield wastewater — a salty and potentially toxic drilling byproduct that can quickly turn fertile land into a dead zone. The leaked brine killed every sprig of grama and bluestem grasses and shinnery shrubs it touched.
For the Johnsons, the spill is among dozens that have taken a heavy toll: a landscape pockmarked with spots where livestock can no longer graze, legal fees running into the tens of thousands and worries about the safety of the area's underground aquifer.
"If we lose our water, that ruins our ranch," Justin Johnson said. "That's the end of the story."
Their plight illustrates a largely overlooked side effect of oil and gas production that has worsened with the past decade's drilling boom: spills of wastewater that foul the land, kill wildlife and threaten freshwater supplies.
An Associated Press analysis of data from leading oil- and gas-producing states found more than 175 million gallons of wastewater spilled from 2009 to 2014 in incidents involving ruptured pipes, overflowing storage tanks and other mishaps or even deliberate dumping. There were some 21,651 individual spills. And these numbers are incomplete because many releases go unreported.
Though oil spills tend to get more attention, wastewater spills can be more damaging. And in seven of the 11 states the AP examined, the amount of wastewater released was at least twice that of oil discharged.
Spilled oil, however unsightly, over time is absorbed by minerals in the soil or degraded by microbes. Not so with the wastewater, also known as brine, produced water or saltwater. Unless thoroughly cleansed, a costly and time-consuming process, salt-saturated land dries up. Trees die. Crops cannot take root."

more

http://bigstory.ap.org/article/39786bbf ... ste-spills

[Subjectivist]

North Dakota oil well owned by Oasis Petroleum Inc blew out over the weekend and has yet to be capped, leaking more than 67,000 gallons of crude so far and endangering a tributary of the Missouri River, state officials said.

The cause of the blowout remains unknown, though state officials surmise it may have been caused by hydraulic fracturing of a nearby well in a situation referred to in the industry as "communication" between wells.

Thick gray smoke rose from the Helling Trust 11-15H well site on Monday afternoon as dozens of tractor-trailers hauled in vacuum trucks and other cleanup equipment. Oasis is trying to cap the well by pumping in a thick mixture of mud and clay, state officials said.

The blowout happened at 11 p.m. local time on Saturday. The company worked all weekend to regain control of the well, including flying in staff from its Houston headquarters, but so far efforts have been unsuccessful, according to state and local officials.

The well is about 15 miles south of White Earth, North Dakota, in Mountrail County, one of the more-prolific oil-producing regions in the state.

Unlike most blowouts, this one did not produce a geyser of crude but a smaller burst roughly 5 feet (1.52 m) in height that sprayed oil onto the well pad. Some of the oil pooled onto the pad and some was carried by a light wind to the White Earth River, a tributary of the Missouri River, roughly 850 feet (260 m) down a nearby cliff.

"This is not your typical blowout," said Bill Suess of the state's Department of Health.

A light sheen of oil was spotted on the nearby river, and a Reuters reporter counted at least 16 absorbent booms that had been installed in an attempt to keep the oil from moving downstream.

Roughly 84,000 gallons of saltwater, or brine, also leaked from the well, state officials said. Crude oil extracted from the state's Bakken shale formation typically contains high concentrations of brine that must be separated.

The well, more than 4 miles (6.4 km) long, has produced nearly 10 million gallons of oil since coming online in 2011, according to state records.

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-oasis ... IO20151019