http:\/\/www.miamiherald.com\/2012\/05\/25\/2817313\/regulators-to-test-anti-spill.html<\/p>\n
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
\nNEW ORLEANS — An oil spill consortium set up after the BP spill to develop methods for containing deep sea spills will do a drill with its state-of-the-art equipment this summer.<\/p>\n
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said in a news release the Marine Well Containment Company will see how stacking caps could be dropped over an out-of-control well and safely used to plug a blowout.<\/p>\n
The consortium will be required to move a capping stack from its on-shore base to the seabed of the Gulf, the Interior Department said.<\/p>\n
The consortium was formed after the 2010 BP spill with the mission of stocking state-of-the-art spill-fighting equipment for the Gulf if another such disaster occurs.<\/p>\n
Interior officials said a second consortium developing other containment equipment, the Helix Well Containment Group, will do a similar exercise at an unspecified date.<\/p>\n
Tougher drilling rules passed after the BP spill require oil companies to prove they can control a blowout similar to the April 20, 2010, incident at the Macondo well where 11 workers were killed in explosions that sank the drilling rig Deepwater Horizon.<\/p>\n
Salazar said other measures put into place should prevent a blowout from occurring again, but he said making sure the industry has effective capping stacks on hand should another blowout happen is important.<\/p>\n
“One thing Deepwater Horizon taught us is that you must always be ready to respond to the worst-case scenario,” Salazar’s statement said. “This exercise is an opportunity to deploy systems, test readiness, and train under real-time conditions.”<\/p>\n
James Watson, the director of the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, said his agency has tested MWCC and capping stacks already. But he added “putting them through their paces in the deep waters of the Gulf will give us added confidence that they will be ready to go if needed.<\/p>\n
Read more here: http:\/\/www.miamiherald.com\/2012\/05\/25\/2817313\/regulators-to-test-anti-spill.html#storylink=cpy<\/p>\n
Special thanks to Richard Charter<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
http:\/\/www.miamiherald.com\/2012\/05\/25\/2817313\/regulators-to-test-anti-spill.html THE ASSOCIATED PRESS NEW ORLEANS — An oil spill consortium set up after the BP spill to develop methods for containing deep sea spills will do a drill with its state-of-the-art equipment this summer. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said in a news release the Marine Well Containment Company will see how stacking caps could … Continue reading Miami Herald: Regulators to test anti-spill equipment in Gulf<\/span>