Commission Report Slams Government's Oil Spill Response

[thundley4]

A presidential commission's reports on the Deepwater Horizon oil spill criticize the Obama administration for "underestimating" the amount of crude flowing into the Gulf, which in turn "undermined public confidence in the federal government's response."

The National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling, formed just weeks after the April oil rig explosion, released a series of four papers Monday, each deeply critical of the federal government's handling of the disaster.

"By initially underestimating the amount of oil flow and then, at the end of the summer, appearing to underestimate the amount of oil remaining in the Gulf, the federal government created the impression that it was either not fully competent to handle the spill or not fully candid with the American people about the scope of the problem," read one report.

In the early days of the spill, the government said about 1,000 barrels of oil was flowing daily into the Gulf. As the spill stretched over a span of months, federal officials revised that number frequently. But it was always significantly lower than the 60,000 barrels that scientists said was actually spilling daily at the disaster's height, according to a report.

Commissioners said responders were affected by a "sense of over-optimism" that the spill was smaller that it was and that BP could handle it with minimal help.

  AOL/PoliticsDaily

Not a word of criticism about the stupidity of spraying water on an oil fire like the Coast Guard did.

[Eupher]

  AOL/PoliticsDaily

Not a word of criticism about the stupidity of spraying water on an oil fire like the Coast Guard did.

I'm no firefighter, but it seems to me it's a little impractical to spray foam or some other smothering agent on a fire of that size. Additionally, the function of the water is to cool the apparatus down. Having the fire spread due to the burning oil floating on top doesn't appear to me to be much of a concern.

The damn rig sank anyway, despite what they did, so it was a moot point. But I can see the wisdom in using water on that particular fire if that's all they had at the time. 

[thundley4]

I'm no firefighter, but it seems to me it's a little impractical to spray foam or some other smothering agent on a fire of that size. Additionally, the function of the water is to cool the apparatus down. Having the fire spread due to the burning oil floating on top doesn't appear to me to be much of a concern.

The damn rig sank anyway, despite what they did, so it was a moot point. But I can see the wisdom in using water on that particular fire if that's all they had at the time. 

There was some talk that using so much water on the fire, instead of foam may have caused the rig to capsize, sink and eventually cause the breaking of the line.

[Thor]

Thundley, were you USN?? (I can't recall at the moment). Shipboard & aircraft firefighting, we put out JP5 fires with water only. It can and has been done for years. The foam, which is comprised of animal blood, (and edible), is pretty expensive. It also takes special equipment to facilitate the use of that foam.  I went through firefighting school four times. Boot Camp, my first sea tour, my second sea tour and my last sea tour. It's possible, but unlikely that the water caused the rig to capsize. After all, they're designed to weather tropical storms, etc. I'd be willing to wager that it was some mechanical defect that caused it to capsize.

[thundley4]

USN on a sub, but I never had fire fighting training.  It was from several articles I read where I got the info about the water causing the rig to capsize.

[Thor]

USN on a sub, but I never had fire fighting training.  It was from several articles I read where I got the info about the water causing the rig to capsize.

Not even in boot camp??

I can't argue with the articles you've read, but it doesn't make a lot of sense to me.

[JohnnyReb]

From the articles I read, the Coast Guard used a large volume of high pressure water to fight the fire. The large volume of water flooded 2 of the legs that float the rig causing it to capsize.