Oil Spill Probe Looking at Abandoned Wells

(AP)  A lead congressional committee investigating the Gulf of Mexico oil spill has broadened its inquiry, now checking if tens of thousands of abandoned oil and gas wells are leaking or even being monitored for leaks.

Committee members wrote in a letter Thursday to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar that they were responding to an Associated Press investigation released last week on the 27,000 abandoned wells in the Gulf. The AP reported that the wells are not routinely inspected when plugged or subsequently monitored for leaks.

"These wells could pose an additional danger to the Gulf Coast environment and economy," wrote U.S. Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass., who heads the subcommittee on energy and environment. They asked for details on the number of wells as well as leaking and inspection requirements. They asked for an initial reply by Monday.

Special Section: Disaster in the Gulf

Some wells have been abandoned in the Gulf since drilling first began in federal waters in the 1940s. Oil companies leave them behind when they are done using them to explore or produce.

Of 50,000 wells ever drilled in the Gulf, 23,500 have been permanently abandoned, the AP reported. Another 3,500 are classified as "temporarily abandoned," but some have been left in that condition since the 1950s without the full safeguards of permanent abandonment.

Petroleum engineers say that even in properly sealed wells, cement plugs can fail over the decades and the metal casing that lines the wells can rust. Even depleted production wells can repressurize over time and spill oil if their seals fail.

BP PLC was temporarily abandoning the Deepwater Horizon well when it blew out on April 20, killing 11 workers.

In response to the AP investigation, leading environmental groups have called for the government to study the possible extent of leaking wells, to conduct work inspections and to monitor abandoned wells over the years.

Sen. Mark Udall, D-Colo., sent a separate letter last week asking Salazar whether regulators have authority to conduct inspections of abandoned wells. He said regulators may ultimately need to check industry paperwork more carefully or inspect the work themselves.

On Thursday, Kendra Barkoff, a spokeswoman for the Interior Department, said the agency was reviewing the latest congressional request. She added that "without question, we must raise the bar for all offshore oil and gas operations."

She gave few details but said the agency is evaluating "a series of options" to make sure that well operators can afford the costs of abandonment. Oil and gas companies eventually will have to spend at least $3 billion to perform permanent plugging on wells in federal waters, according to estimates of the newly named U.S. Bureau of Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement, which regulates offshore drilling.

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In its investigation, the AP found a series of past warnings about the risks at abandoned wells. The Government Accountability Office, which investigates for Congress, warned that leaks could cause an "environmental disaster." The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has estimated that up to 17 percent of abandoned wells are improperly plugged on land.

[abbe91]

It's a start. Let's hope that the party of "No" won't stop it. I have my doubts.

[alphaa10000]

MAN-MADE HAZARDS

AP reports, "Petroleum engineers say that even in properly sealed wells, cement plugs can fail over the decades and the metal casing that lines the wells can rust. Even depleted production wells can repressurize over time and spill oil if their seals fail..."
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Since the coastal drilling began in the 1940's, technology has not kept pace, nor has planning shown environmental foresight.

Whether oil gushes into the gulf at the rate of thousands of barrels daily, or more slowly from each abandoned well, the potential cumulative damage of some 27,000 permanently or temporarily abandoned wells is serious impact on wildlife.

And since there is no active program to monitor the abandoned wells, many of which have repressurized, it is conceivable a detectable oil spill will be found by the first monitoring program put in place by congress.

What is needed is a better, and time-insensitive method of sealing abandoned gulf wells. Like mountaintop removal, these abandoned wells are man-made hazards to the natural environment that will not simply fade away.

[jxknowles]

They aren't inspected and they pose additional threats to the gulf. That is a fact. What are we, as a nation, going to do about it?

[TimSmithson]

- nothing is fixed and never will be- by the time the pipes stay at the bottom of the ocean as long as the titanic- there will be oil everywhere with no way to stop it... this disaster is going to be sitting on the bottom of the ocean slowly eroding the metal into nothing- oil will gusing again- we just don't care - for now our generation is safe- yaaa!!!!! doesn't anyone think of the next generation- live for today, we are leaving no world to live tomorrow...

[alphaa10000]

IN THE PAY OF THE OIL LOBBY

TimSmithson said, "nothing is fixed and never will be- by the time the pipes stay at the bottom of the ocean as long as the titanic- there will be oil everywhere with no way to stop it..."
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Few people were thinking about all this while BP, Exxon and Shell assured us it was all about "Energy for the Future!" and asked for a taxpayer handout (a tax break to the oil industry!) recently renewed by the Best Congress Money Can Buy.

Can you imagine! In the midst of the worst oil spill disaster in US history-- one clearly caused by BP negligence and disregard for safety-- congress gives Big Oil money like it was an armed robbery in broad daylight.

In fact, it was. Sen. Bernie Sanders (Independent, VT) introduced a bill to remove the 2005 GOP congress-awarded tax break to oil, coal and gas industry. Yet, two-to-one, the august senators reaffirmed their allegiance to oil money for their campaigns-- not to the American people.

A better use of the current taxpayer funding of welfare-for-industry would be to oversee an aggressive cleanup operation in the gulf for old wells-- some may be still leaking.

In the massive 1979 Ixtoc I blowout-- also caused by a failed blowout preventer-- some 3.3 million barrels of oil were released. Due to Ixtoc I's location, evidence of the spill was deposited primarily on the beaches of Mexico, although some reached Texas sands.

Wildlife recovers at various rates, dependent in part on water temperature. For every 10 degrees Celsius, natural processes happen twice as fast. For some species, recovery in the gulf will be markedly faster than for similar species in Alaska's Prince William Sound.

Yet, this does not wipe the environment clean, by any means. Despite a difference in recovery rate, a spill is a major disaster wherever it happens-- and no matter how rhapsodic Rush Limbaugh becomes contemplating the eternal resilience of Nature.

Limbaugh's is an argument of convenience on behalf of GOP patrons in the oil and gas industry, not admiration of Nature, in any sense. If he recognized the BP Gulf Gusher and the Ixtoc I for what they are, Limbaugh would be a lot less sanguine.

[alphaa10000]

"For every 10 degrees Celsius INCREASE, natural processes happen twice as fast..."

[gptmaster]

Hopefully we find ways in the future to clean up spills faster.
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