BP Gulf Oil Spill:Did Firefighters Help Sink the Deepwater Horizon Rig?

ABC News The Blotter ^ | July 28, 2010 | Brain Ross

[penelopesire]

"In the chaotic aftermath of the explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, a poorly orchestrated effort to knock down the towering blaze may have inadvertently led to the sinking of the platform, according to interviews and documents obtained by the Center for Public Integrity and shared with ABC News.

As part of an ongoing government investigation, Coast Guard officials are trying to reconstruct the initial response to the rig explosion that unleashed one of the worst environmental disasters in U.S. history. One concern surrounds the use of briny seawater instead of fire-retardant foam to drench the rig. The Coast Guard confirmed that Capt. Hung M. Nguyen, who is heading the investigation, is examining whether the decision to spray salt water across the burning platform overwhelmed the ballasts that kept the rig afloat, changing its weight distribution and causing it to list, and then sink."

[ltc8k6]

Did the Federal Government Cause the BP Oil Spill?

http://www.redstate.com/erick/2010/07/28/did-the-federal-government-cause-the-bp-oil-spill/

Firefighters Flooded Rig, Caused Oil Spill, Suit Says

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-07-15/firefighters-flooded-rig-caused-oil-spill-suit-says.html

[deep trout]

As much as I don’t like B.O., this problem was in effect with the “Valdez”. USCG is not up to the task in a fast moving situation nav/arch wise. They don’t have the nav/arch
horsepower available at a momoents notice, won’t pay for it because they use government purchasing low bid process.
Their software is lowbid, therefore low quality.
They are brave at rescue.
Long and short, the rig did not have to sink I have been told by the best.
deeptrout

[LonePalm]

Lets see now , , , if you put enough water inside the boat it will continue to float. Right. On the other hand, what is the first thing you do not do for a grease/oil fire? I know, I know, you put water on it! Sheesh.

Not putting water on grease fires only applies to kitchens. In the case of shipboard fires, when Aqueous Film Forming Foam(AFFF) is not available, a spray of water is used rather than a solid stream. This deprives the fire of heat causing it to go out.

The reason you do not put water on a kitchen grease fire is that the additional latent heat in the oil will flash the water to steam spreading the flaming grease.

See my tag line.

Garde la Foi, mes amis! Nous nous sommes les sauveurs de la République! Maintenant et Toujours!
(Keep the Faith, my friends! We are the saviors of the Republic! Now and Forever!)
LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)

[Lucky9teen]

And more from the box of...things that make you go hmmmmm....

[aruanan]

Modern rigs have computerized loading and stability software programs on board, some software is better than others.

Especially when it's not on fire.

[screaminsunshine]

It is well that you do not.

[UCANSEE2]

JUST SO everyone understands.

The Coast Guard did not do the firefighting.The firefighting was done by private contractors hired by BP. The Coast Guard was only there to do search and rescue.

The Rig was going to sink, no matter what. The ballasts, or floats, were damaged and leaking severely. The bilge pumps quit the moment the power went out. The fires and explosions had their toll. It was only a matter of time.

If the firefighters had used foam instead of water, it really wouldn't have made that much difference. This rig is made to stand hurricanes, pouring rain, and high-seas. Water pour on it is like water on a duck.

Here is a picture. These floats are under water the whole time the rig is in place (and not on the deck of a ship). More Water isn't going to do a thing to them. If those floats are compromised though, the rig sinks.

[dennisw]

If the rig had not sunk the oil gusher would have been much easier to tame. So the story goes. Did the rig sink due to the firefighting efforts? Remains to be seen

[justa-hairyape]

Short video from this morning showing wreckage on the seafloor in the vicinity of the Macondo.

Sea Floor Wreckage

[penelopesire]

Most of that makes perfect sense. One question though. The four support legs..are they hollow or solid? I could see them filling up with water if they were hollow and some breach was made in the explosion. In some of the pictures, the rig looks to be listing to one side before it went down hours later.

Thanks for your post.

[penelopesire]

Thanks for the link.

[AFPhys]

Sorry, sir.... there were NOT people on the burning structure when the CG got there with the fire boats. They were long gone by then. CG didn’t know what they were doing, and they alone sunk the DH through inept response and dumping millions of gallons of dead weight onto the deck and everywhere else.

[UCANSEE2]

The four support legs..are they hollow or solid?

Hollow, more or less. Hoses, lines, cables, etc. run through them. But they are designed to vent the water from the top deck, back to the ocean.

I believe that is what you can see on one of the legs. A large grilled vent.

[UCANSEE2]

Sorry, sir.... there were NOT people on the burning structure when the CG got there with the fire boats. They were long gone by then. CG didn’t know what they were doing, and they alone sunk the DH through inept response and dumping millions of gallons of dead weight onto the deck and everywhere else.

I hate to tell you this, sir, but you are completely wrong.

The COAST GUARD did not do the firefighting.

It's even stated as such in the ARTICLE. Maybe you should give it a look.

[AFPhys]

Thank you for your much more accurate post. I must modify my previous post to reflect that the excessive flooding of DH shortened the time of it sinking. However, that shortening may well have been very severe due to mismanagement of the fire response.

[penelopesire]

The grill doesn’t look low enough in the structure to drain all of the water. It may be more for access and heat and/or gas escape.

It would appear that some of the concern is over the salt in the water as well. I wonder why? I would surmise that salt water is heavier than foam, but not sure.

[UCANSEE2]

the rig looks to be listing to one side before it went down hours later.

One of the floats was damaged by something during the explosions. Jagged pieces of steel would be shot like bullets in all directions.

Remember, it wasn't just the oil, it was also the fuel in tanks for the generators, and barrels of fuel stored to use in the generators, and any other gas or diesel powered motor.

Once it was on fire good, there was no power, so bilge pumps were not operating.

It became just a matter of time before the rig listed over and sank.

[penelopesire]

So the living quarters...are they on other platforms connected to the rig? That doesn’t look big enough to house the workers. As you can tell, I don’t know much about rigs etc.

[UCANSEE2]

Here's another view, in the water.

[UCANSEE2]

As you can tell, I don’t know much about rigs etc.

Neither do most people in the United States, or on here.

Everything I know, I learned since the Rig sank.

I just have more time to look things up and read than most.