Timeline of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill (May 2010)

Following is a Timeline of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill for May 2010.

Before May 1

May

May 1–5

Cofferdam[1] containment dome under construction at Wild Well Control in Port Fourchon, Louisiana on April 26. Wild Well has built all of the containment devices used in the spill to date.[2]
"Top Hat" being deployed on May 11.
Q4000 in back right and the Discoverer Enterprise in the foreground on May 26 during the failed top kill procedure. The Q4000 is directly over the blowout preventer.
Lafourche Parish, Louisiana President Charlotte Randolf and President Obama inspect tarballs on Port Fourchon, Louisiana beach on May 28.
  • Obama meets with fishermen and Coast Guard in Venice, Louisiana. Oil discovered in the South Pass.[4]
  • Transocean's Development Driller III started drilling a first relief well. High winds and rough waves rendered oil-catching booms largely ineffective.[5]
  • BP says it will pay cleanup costs. Fishing areas remain closed.[4]
  • Shares of Nalco Holding Company jump 18% in one day after it is revealed its dispersant products are being use for cleanup.[6]
  • BP proposes a containment dome.[4]
  • BP announces that the smallest of three known leaks had been capped allowing the repair group to focus their efforts on the remaining leaks.[7]

May 6–10

  • A 125-tonne (276,000 lb) container dome is lowered over the largest of the well leaks and pipe the oil to a storage vessel on the surface.[8]
  • BP begins drilling a relief well.
  • BP closing stock price 49.06[9]
  • Breton National Wildlife Refuge closed to public.[10]
  • Secretary Alan Levine of the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals, Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality Secretary Peggy Hatch, and Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Secretary Robert Barham sent a letter to BP outlining their concerns related to potential dispersant impact on Louisiana's wildlife and fisheries, environment, aquatic life, and public health. Officials requested that BP release information on their dispersant effects.[11]
  • BP reports that methane is freezing at the top of the dome making it ineffective.[4]
  • Unified Command noting low level flights above Breton National Wildlife Refuge issues press release reminding the media that low level flights above wildlife refuges is prohibited by law above all refuges.[12]
  • After failed containment dome BP announces plans to apply five feet in diameter containment vessel nicknamed "top hat".[13] BP announces strategy of trying to push mud and debris down the tube to clog it. The strategy is nicknamed "junk shot."

May 11–15

  • BP, Transocean and Halliburton officials testify before Congress blaming each other for the incident.[14]
  • MMS and Coast Guard Joint Investigation Team chaired by USCG Capt. Hung Nguyen and MMS employee David Dykes begin a Joint Marine Board of Investigation into the accident holding the first hearings at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Kenner, Louisiana where they interview survivors. The investigation is to report its findings in nine months from its convening on April 27.[15]
  • BP in its regulatory filing says a blowout in its relief well could result in a release of 240,000 barrels a day.

[16]

  • BP releases first public video of leak and others say the leak is significantly higher than what BP has been saying.[17] One estimate says it could to be 20,000–100,000 barrels (840,000–4,200,000 US gallons; 3,200–15,900 cubic metres) a day.[17][18]
  • MMS reports that after re-inspecting all deepwater oil and gas facilities on the outer Continental Shelf it had found no major violations.[19]
  • More than 70 lawsuits have been file against BP.[20]
  • BP inserts 4-inch (100 mm) wide riser into the 21-inch-wide burst pipe. It is initially dislodged when a underwater robot collides with the pipe. BP closing stock price 48.6[9]
  • Construction of a new permanent riser to replace the temporary riser begins. The installation for the new riser is targeted for June 15.[23]
  • Coast Guard and EPA authorize use dispersants underwater, at the source of the Deepwater Horizon leak.[24]

May 16–20

  • A new tube is inserted into the pipe and some oil is pumped to surface ship. Transocean's GSF Development Driller II started drilling second relief well.
  • BP begins burning off gas with the Discoverer Enterprise.[4]
  • BP says it will release a live feed of the leak hours after receiving a request from Congressman Edward Markey. Supporting his position is Steve Wereley from Purdue University who says the leak may be 70,000 barrels (2,900,000 US gallons; 11,000,000 litres) a day. BP America President Lamar McKay defends the company's estimates noting the higher estimates are "theoretically possible...But I don't think anyone who's been working on this thinks it's that high."[25]
  • Chris Oynes, Regional Director for the Gulf of Mexico Outer Continental Shelf,[26] announces his early retirement from the MMS.[27]
  • BP CEO Tony Hayward stated at its respond to Ken Salazar that the environmental impact of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico would be "very, very modest".[28]

May 21–25

  • BP begins live underwater video broadcasts of the leak.[33]
  • BP closing stock price 44.58[9] following pressure from Congressman Ed Markey.[25]
  • Flow Rate Technical Group established to "scientifically validated information about the amount of oil flowing from BP s leaking oil well."[34] The average daily oil collection rates is 2,000 barrels (84,000 US gallons; 320,000 litres) a day.[35][36]
  • BP rebuffs EPA order to change its dispersants. BP says that if oil reaches the shore, it would do more environmental harm than if it were dispersed off the coast. It notes that corexit is the only product that is available in sufficient quantities to deal with the spill. Further BP which has now deployed a third of the world's dispersant supply against the spill[39] said suggesting alternatives (or even detailing the chemicals that make up corexit) would expose confidential business information which it legally can keep private.[40]
  • BP says it currently has no plans to use explosives on the well. It also flatly denies it ever considered using a nuclear bomb on the well as some suggested.[41]
  • Tom Sesler an official blogger on the BP website reporting from Houma (30 miles north of the Gulf) says, "Much of the region's other businesses - particularly the hotels - have been prospering because so many people have come here from BP and other oil emergency response teams."[42]
  • BP official says BP would like to retrieve the 325 ton blow out equipment from the sunk Deepwater Horizon.[43] Transocean confirms will meet the legal obligations of a dividend that was approved at the annual general meeting on May 14, 2010[44]
  • Transocean holds memorial at the Jackson Convention Center in Jackson, Mississippi for crew members.[45]

May 26–31

  • BP announces plan to force feed heavy drilling mud in a project called "top kill".[46]
  • Doug Brown, the chief mechanic on the Deepwater Horizon, testifies at the joint U.S. Coast Guard and Minerals Management Service hearing that a BP representative overruled Transocean employees and insisted on displacing protective drilling mud with seawater just hours before the explosion.[47]
  • Obama visits Louisiana again.[4]
  • In a regulatory filing, BP claims to have spent a total of $930 million.[58]
  • BP closing stock price 42.95[9]
  • Bureau of Land Management Director Bob Abbey named interim director.[59]
  • Obama reverses a Fall 2009 position and authorizes the International Association of Drilling Contractors to visit Cuba. Repsol YPF has a 5-year lease to begin exploratory drilling off the Cuban coast in Gulf of Mexico deepwater later in 2010.[60] The United States embargo against Cuba forbids economic ties between the countries. Newspaper articles have noted that if there were an accident U.S. companies could not legally provide assistance.[61]
  • BP declares Top Kill is a failure and moves on to their next contingency option, the Lower Marine Riser Package (LMRP) Cap Containment System. The operational plan first involves cutting and then removing the damaged riser from the top of the failed Blow-Out Preventer (BOP) to leave a cleanly cut pipe at the top of the BOP’s LMRP. The cap is designed to be connected to a riser from the Discoverer Enterprise drillship and placed over the LMRP with the intention of capturing most of the oil and gas flowing from the well. During the cutting of the pipe, the diamond blade saw became stuck but was eventually freed later. BP had to use shears instead and the cut is "ragged",[62][63][64][65] meaning the cap will be harder to fit.[66]
  • New Orleans Times-Picayune publishes article outlining the difficulties of using relief wells noting that the wells first have to hit the original well bore that is only a foot wide and then has to make sure it can control the output once it hits the well bore so that it doesn't create a duplicate problem. The original well has already shown it has unpredictable gas bubbles. It notes the Ixtoc I oil spill which was finally stopped by the two relief well approach after nine months and 22 days. Ixtoc was in 150 feet of water and had a depth of 11,625 feet.[67]
  • BP announces plan to slice the leaking pipe, placing a cap on it and channeling the oil to surface ships.[4] Robert Reich writes a column on the Huffington Post saying the United States government should temporarily takeover BP much as it did with AIG and General Motors. He notes the government currently has a minimal ability to make BP do what the government wants or even report accurately on its actions.[68]

June

References

  1. ↑ "Gulf of Mexico | Deepwater Horizon | Incident". Bp.com. Retrieved 2010-06-15.
  2. ↑ "Wild Well mum on BP containment struggle". Financialpost.com. Retrieved 2010-06-13.
  3. ↑ "US oil production, shipping unaffected by spill so far". Agence France-Presse. 2010-05-01. Retrieved 2010-05-04.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Deepwater Horizon Rig Disaster - TIme - wsj.com - Retrieved June 3, 2010
  5. ↑ Borenstein, Seth; Breed, Allen G. (2010-05-02). "Oil spill grows, with little success stopping flow". Chicago Sun-Times. Associated Press. Retrieved 2010-05-03.
  6. ↑ "Nalco Holding's shares rise after BP cleanup news". Chicago Breaking Business. Retrieved 2010-06-07.
  7. ↑ Fausset, Richard (2010-05-05). "Gulf oil spill: Smallest leak sealed off". L.A. Times Blogs. Retrieved 2010-05-05.
  8. ↑ Winning, David (2010-05-03). "US Oil Spill Response Team: Plan To Deploy Dome In 6–8 Days". The Wall Street Journal, Dow Jones Newswires. Dow Jones & Company. (subscription required). Archived from the original on May 7, 2010. Retrieved 2010-05-05.
  9. 1 2 3 4 "BP plc (ADR): NYSE:BP quotes & news - Google Finance". Google.com. Retrieved 2010-06-06.
  10. ↑ Handwerger, Bradley (May 7, 2010). "Officials close Breton National Wildlife Refuge". wwltv.com. Associated Press. Retrieved 2010-05-12.
  11. ↑ "Louisiana Officials, Attorney Want More Information From BP Concerning Spill". BayouBuzz. 08-05-2010. Check date values in: |date= (help)
  12. ↑ "Unified Command for the BP Oil Spill | Press Release: Stop Flights Over Wildlife Refuge". Deepwaterhorizonresponse.com. 2010-05-08. Retrieved 2010-06-21.
  13. ↑ "'Top hat' dome at Gulf of Mexico oil spill site – BP". BBC News. 12-05-2010. Retrieved 2010-05-14. Check date values in: |date= (help)
  14. ↑ "BP, Halliburton, Transocean Blame Each Other in Gulf Oil Spill". Bloomberg Businessweek. 2010-05-10. Retrieved 2010-06-06.
  15. ↑ "Coast Guard, Minerals Management Service co-chair investigation into Deepwater Horizon Mobile Offshore Drilling Unit incident". Deepwaterinvestigation.com. Retrieved 2010-06-17.
  16. ↑ Carroll, Joe (2010-05-11). "BP's Relief Wells Bring Risk of an Even Bigger Oil Spill in Gulf of Mexico". Bloomberg. Retrieved 2010-06-21.
  17. 1 2 Harris, Richard (2010-05-14). "Gulf Spill May Far Exceed Official Estimates". National Public Radio. Retrieved 2010-05-14.
  18. ↑ Goldenberg, Suzanne (2010-05-14). "Scientists study ocean footage to gauge full scale of oil leak". The Guardian. London. Reuters. p. 29. Retrieved 2010-05-18.
  19. ↑ "Unified Command for the BP Oil Spill | MMS inspection report of deepwater rigs in Gulf of Mexico". Deepwaterhorizonresponse.com. Retrieved 2010-06-21.
  20. ↑ Brown, Tom (2010-05-13). "Gulf of Mexico oil spill spawns tide of lawsuits". Reuters. Retrieved 2010-06-23.
  21. ↑ Webb, Tim (13 May 2010). "BP boss admits job on the line over Gulf oil spill". London: guardian.co.uk. Retrieved 13 May 2010.
  22. ↑ "Transocean Ltd. Affiliates File Limitation of Liability Petition" (Press release). Transocean. 2010-05-13. Retrieved 2010-06-11.
  23. ↑ http://www.deepwaterhorizonresponse.com/posted/2931/BP_COO_Letter_to_Federal_On_Scene_Coordinator.653727.pdf BP COO Letter to Federal On Scene Coordinator
  24. ↑ "Unified Command For The Bp Oil Spill | Coast Guard And Epa Approve Use Of Dispersant Subsea In Further Effort To Prevent Oil From Reaching U.S. Shoreline". Deepwaterhorizonresponse.com. Retrieved 2010-06-21.
  25. 1 2 Font size Print E-mail Share 34 Comments (2010-05-19). "BP Bows to Pressure for Oil Leak Livestream". CBS News. Retrieved 2010-06-12.
  26. ↑ "Dr. Chris Oynes". GulfBase. Retrieved 2010-06-13.
  27. ↑ the CNN Wire Staff (2010-06-03). "Federal official overseeing offshore oil development to retire early". CNN.com. Retrieved 2010-06-13.
  28. ↑ Mason, Rowena (2010-05-18). "Gulf of Mexico oil spill: BP insists oil spill impact 'very modest'". Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 2010-05-20.
  29. ↑ "Salazar Divides MMS's Three Conflicting Missions". Doi.gov. Retrieved 2010-06-20.
  30. ↑ "Unified Command for the BP Oil Spill | Florida Keys tar balls not linked to Deepwater Horizon/BP oil spill". Deepwaterhorizonresponse.com. Retrieved 2010-06-21.
  31. ↑ "EPA scolds BP in Gulf oil spill: dispersant is too toxic, change it". CSMonitor.com. 2010-05-20. Retrieved 2010-06-07.
  32. ↑ Paul Quinlan (2010-05-24). "Secret Formulas, Data Shortages Fuel Arguments Over Dispersants Used for Gulf Spill". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-06-07.
  33. ↑ Suzanne Goldenberg (2010-05-20). "BP switches on live video from oil leak". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 2010-06-09.
  34. ↑ Ongoing Timeline – Deepwaterhorizonresponse.com – Retrieved June 15, 2010
  35. ↑ Dittrick, Paula (2010-05-21). "BP captures varying rates in gulf oil spill response". Oil & Gas Journal. PennWell Corporation. (subscription required). Retrieved 2010-05-22.
  36. ↑ "AP Top News at 10:50 a.m. EDT". Associated Press. 2010-05-17. Retrieved 2010-05-17.
  37. ↑ "Weekly Address: President Obama Establishes Bipartisan National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling (White House Office of the Press Secretary, May 22, 2010)". Whitehouse.gov. 2010-05-22. Retrieved 2010-06-01.
  38. ↑ "Executive Order- National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling" (Press release). Whitehouse.gov. 2010-05-22. Retrieved 2010-06-01.
  39. ↑ Suzanne Goldenberg (2010-05-05). "Dispersant 'may make Deepwater Horizon oil spill more toxic'". London: The Guardian. Retrieved 2010-06-07.
  40. ↑ Roosevelt, Margot; Cole, Carolyn (2010-05-23). "BP refuses EPA order to switch to less-toxic oil dispersant - Los Angeles Times". Articles.latimes.com. Retrieved 2010-06-07.
  41. ↑ Nuclear Option on Gulf Oil Spill? No Way, U.S. Says (New York Times, June 2, 2010)
  42. ↑ "Reporting from the Gulf | Reports from the Gulf". BP. 2010-05-24. Retrieved 2010-07-02.
  43. ↑ "NYT: Raising remnants of oil rig still on agenda - The New York Times- msnbc.com". MSNBC. Retrieved 2010-06-10.
  44. ↑ Transocean Inc. "Transocean :: News". Deepwater.com. Retrieved 2010-06-17.
  45. ↑ Media Advisory - May 21, 2010
  46. ↑ Bluestein, Greg (2010-04-25). "BP engineers draw up plans for 'top kill'". Associated Press. Retrieved 2010-04-25.
  47. ↑ David Hammer (2010-05-26). "Hearings: BP representative overruled drillers, insisted on displacing mud with seawater". Times-Picayune. Retrieved 2010-05-26.
  48. ↑ "New estimates on offshore drilling ban costs | Loren Steffy | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle". Blogs.chron.com. Retrieved 2010-06-07.
  49. ↑ Font size Print E-mail Share 47 Comments (2010-05-27). "Obama Extends Moratorium on Offshore Drilling". CBS News. Retrieved 2010-06-07.
  50. ↑ Plungis, Jeff (2010-05-29). "Shell Said to Have Most Rigs Affected by Deep-Water Pause; Nexen Has One". Bloomberg. Retrieved 2010-06-22.
  51. ↑ "Flow Rate Group Provides Preliminary Best Estimate Of Oil Flowing from BP Oil Well". U.S. Department of the Interior. 2010-05-27. Retrieved 2010-05-30.
  52. ↑ Weisman, Jonathan; Chazan, Guy; Power, Stephen (2010-05-27). "Spill Tops Valdez Disaster". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2010-06-01.
  53. ↑ Bluestein, Greg; Nuckols, Ben (2010-05-27). "Gulf leak eclipses Exxon Valdez as worst US spill". Associated Press. Retrieved 2010-06-01.
  54. ↑ "Flow Rate Group Provides Preliminary Best Estimate Of Oil Flowing from BP Oil Well". Deepwater Horizon Response - Official Site of the Deepwater Horizon Unified Command (Press release). Deepwater Horizon Incident - Joint Information Center. 2010-05-27. Retrieved 2010-05-29.
  55. ↑ Shear, Michael D.; Eilperin, Juliet (2010-05-27). "MMS chief Elizabeth Birnbaum ousted, officials say". Washingtonpost.com. Retrieved 2010-06-16.
  56. ↑ ELANA SCHOR of Greenwire (2010-06-24). "BP Continues to Use Surface Dispersants in Gulf Despite EPA Directive". NYTimes.com. Retrieved 2010-06-25.
  57. ↑ Dispersant Monitoring and Assessment Directive - Addendum 3 - May 26, 2010 - epa.gov
  58. ↑ "BP: Gulf spill response has cost it $930M so far". The Sun News. Associated Press. 2010-05-28. Retrieved 2010-05-29.
  59. ↑ "MMS Press Release". Mms.gov. 2010-05-28. Retrieved 2010-06-16.
  60. ↑ "Contingency Plans for Cuba Oil Spill". Havana Times.org. 2010-05-28. Retrieved 2010-06-22.
  61. ↑ "International sensitivities: What if BP oil spill heads for Cuba?". CSMonitor.com. 2010-06-11. Retrieved 2010-06-22.
  62. ↑ "Update on Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill - 29 May". BP. 29 May 2010. Retrieved 30 May 2010.
  63. ↑ "Containment Contingency Option - LMRP Cap". BP. 29 May 2010. Retrieved 30 May 2010.
  64. ↑ "Kent Wells Tech Update - 24 May 2010". BP. 24 May 2010. Retrieved 30 May 2010.
  65. ↑ "BP slices pipe in 'significant step forward'". 3 June 2010.
  66. ↑ Bluestein, Greg (2010-06-03). "BP cuts pipe, plans to lower cap over Gulf spill". News & Observer. Associated Press. Archived from the original on June 6, 2010. Retrieved 2010-06-03.
  67. ↑ "Drilling relief wells to stop Gulf oil leak poses challenges". NOLA.com. Retrieved 2010-06-21.
  68. ↑ "Robert Reich: Why Obama Should Put BP Under Temporary Receivership". Huffingtonpost.com. 2010-06-01. Retrieved 2010-06-07.
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