Oil Accidents Waiting To Happen (PHOTOS)

While many are calling the Gulf oil spill an "unprecedented disaster,' the causes of the disaster are not unique, as oil developments around the world are notorious for cutting corners and cutting costs, while sacrificing safety and environmental protection. Based on past incidents and careless behavior by the companies involved, we've compiled some sites, from oil rigs to oil sands, that could be accidents waiting to happen. Which do you think is the most precarious situation?

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Deepwater Nautilus, Gulf Of Mexico

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According to the Institute for Southern Studies, Shell Oil is operating a rig in the Gulf of Mexico that is virtually identical to BP's Deepwater Horizon. Both rigs were built in South Korea by Hyandai Heavy Industries for Transocean LCD. Their technical specifications match up across the board, meaning the Nautilus could have the same design flaws as the Horizon, such as the failure of the blowout preventer, which could have shut off the gushing well.

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According to the Institute for Southern Studies, Shell Oil is operating a rig in the Gulf of Mexico that is virtually identical to BP's Deepwater Horizon. Both rigs were built in South Korea by Hyandai Heavy Industries for Transocean LCD. Their technical specifications match up across the board, meaning the Nautilus could have the same design flaws as the Horizon, such as the failure of the blowout preventer, which could have shut off the gushing well.

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Comments

[barnybilt]

10:03 PM on 05/23/2010

You know what happened to cause this blowout and spill?

Drilling in five thousand feet of water by companies who weren't prepared for the problems.

You know what their doing now? Drilling two more wells as relief wells next to the one that blew out.

What happens if the same thing happens on one of those wells?

I haven't heard one person ask that question.

[Quwhellyicquid]

10:27 AM on 05/22/2010

What we need are politicians and corporate CEOs that know how to lie better. That's what was nice about Bush: he was just so adorable. He could put a nice smile on all of the crimes. The liberals are just such a bummer all of the time being so serious and everything.

Look, until Obama does something akin to having balls - like mandating geothermal in all US houses, there's no point in getting pissed about oil spills: they're just going to keep on happening and no one is going to do anything about it. We are stuck with it.

[cache]

10:18 AM on 05/22/2010

My fellow citizens of american and the world, the blame lies with us and the great unmentionable topic. Overpopulation. There are far too many people placing extreme stress on our planet. It is naive to think we can continue to rely on carbon based fuels as a source of energy for an ever increasing population. They are not renewable, we are doing tremendous damage to our environment while extracting them, and currently undergoing a great experiment without a control group on the effects of massive human based carbon release. God help us if we get this wrong, and it looks like we are.

[Jeanpaul Jonker]

08:07 AM on 05/22/2010

Interesting pieces, what intriges me is that the focus of these and many similar articles is that you zoom in on foreign (oil) companies and closing an eye to the local ones which will be as bad as the rest of the pack. Why not nail Transocean or Halliburton big time in the news.... We don't need anything in support of BP, because they are to blame, as well are the US firms involved in this case. We have seen similar press approaches it with toyota recall attention versus recalls of US vendors which happened in the same time. Seems that focussing on the wrong (evil) outside world/companies combined with an increasing doses of protectionism is the recepy for US politics and journalism to distract people's attention from the trouble in US's own backyard and US companie's behavior. So please keep putting the spotlight on big oil for their behavior but don't turn your head away for local enterprises when you do so.

[leroysgame]

05:47 AM on 05/22/2010

Okay, WHERE IS THE NAVY? Underwater experts! On the payroll! Here is an issue of domestic and international concern and we do not take the control away from the guilty parties and bring in the people who should be overseeing everything. Then next time…wait for it…THEY would be the experts and would not have their own best interests at heart! Why don’t we let the criminals preside over their own trials while we are at it.The government should have been prepared with products that would have saved the animals and environment. The wetlands could be safe if the laboratory tested and approved product demonstrated in the background of this video had been on hand! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5oZ8baaBOY

[MrEthiopian]

03:32 AM on 05/22/2010

Oil profits are through the roof and demand for oil isn't going to die down any time soon, all companies need to fix all infrastructure and all problems., simple as that. If they don't comply, Have every employee audited by the IRS, fine them on every last issue ( even if HR doesn't post minimum wage flyer) , have the coastguard board, contain and investigate all on board -stop work and inspect weekly, create a no-fly zone50 miles around any rig - no more helicopters going to and from, you need to take a boat in and out. All these wonderful enhancements could be done under the guise of terrorism protection , since the word was attacked by BP and continues to terrorize our ocean we need to take decisive actions to stem this type of terrorism and make sure it doesn't happen again.

[mesomorph]

02:17 AM on 05/22/2010

so they still doing that Doomsday Clock thing?

[rougebaisers]

02:16 AM on 05/22/2010

There is no more vile industry on this planet. This madness must end.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TNV89PxS-I

[Zeroes]

02:05 AM on 05/22/2010

I like the BP brainwashing of America on their green-ness.

[Zeroes]

02:03 AM on 05/22/2010

British Petroluem has the worse safety record in the world on record. British Petroleum has been destroying the world for years. Tony (CEO) states...there is a little spill in the Gulf...go figure.

[rollingrock]

12:36 AM on 05/22/2010

Nice Obama-ism!

“Oil rigs today generally don’t cause spills. They are
technologically very advanced.”
--B. Obama April 2, 2010

[swordnose]

01:25 AM on 05/22/2010

do you have a problem with that statement? Generally they don't. Generally, car engines don't catch fire, but if you ever saw a burning engine you would know that it can happen.

[rollingrock]

01:59 AM on 05/22/2010

Burning car engines don't destroy entire oceans do they?

Try again.

[Zeroes]

02:04 AM on 05/22/2010

I guess Barry was wrong...

[Ascoli]

07:48 AM on 05/22/2010

I guess you're an idiot.

[opprobrious]

11:20 PM on 05/21/2010

And that water they take from the Athabasca River? It comes from the Athabasca Glacier. How ironic.

http://www.global-greenhouse-warming.com/melting-athabasca-glacier.html

[horhay]

03:06 AM on 05/22/2010

Here's a closer view of the Athabasca Glacier in 2005 and a marker of where it was in 1992.

http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=7679

[ztck5356]

11:04 PM on 05/21/2010

Anybody remember that commercial with the American Indian and tears running down his face when he looks at the environment now? That's how I feel about this spill. Then today, park officials in the Great Smoky Mountains euthanized a female bear that bit a stupid photographer on the foot because he got to close to him with his camera. The bear was just acting like a bear, but the photographer was acting like an idiot and now the bear is dead for his stupidity. Read the story:
http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2010/may/21/bear-that-bit-hiker-euthanized/

[guest0987]

11:44 PM on 05/21/2010

I remember the commercial and feel the same way, except I'm letting out more than one tear. This is horrible and I feel as if no one in d.c. really cares. And about the bear, yes we kill animals just for trying to defend themselves. Aren't we smart???

[swordnose]

01:00 AM on 05/22/2010

The bear you're referring to I feel very bad for,but there's a self proclaimed momma bear from Wasilla that I wouldn't mind seeing getting the same treatment.

[Renee27]

10:56 PM on 05/21/2010

Nore -

Former BP Insider Warns Of another Potential Disaster - The Atlantis

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNkuWuicFJE

“… a group of Democratic lawmakers called on the Interior Department to shut down the Atlantis, BP’s second-largest oil and gas rig in the Gulf of Mexico. The Atlantis operates in 7,000 feet of water, 2,000 feet deeper than the Deepwater Horizon.”

http://www.democracynow.org/2010/5/20/fmr_epa_investigator_scott_west_us

[HKB]

10:25 AM on 05/22/2010

MMS did an audit on this project in the summer of 2009 - the dot org group didn't like the results and took it to congress --- the irony of it all - on April 20th when the Horizon blew up - the MMS was doing another audit on Atlantis

Atlantis is about documentation - seems to me the MMS guys should have been on-site when they were closing up the Horizon - maybe they would have had the smarts to shut it down --- but most likely not, they would have been the first to jump in the life boats

[onlythetruthcounts]

09:16 PM on 05/21/2010

In the movie There Will Be Blood, it was a 'good' thing when you were covered with oil.