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[Mishy]

So, has this been cleared up yet?

[Aqizzar]

So, has this been cleared up yet?

Ah... Ah ha ha... Ah ha...

No.  No it has not been cleared up yet.  So many links and stories I should be adding.  Hmm...

[jaked122]

Edit:  If that post was a joke, then I'm sorry, disregard the rest of what is said.  I assumed it wasn't in light of the posts that followed it.

Considering that this has never happened before, and that there is no known cause and there are no known contributing factors, it's quite reasonable to investigate sabotage.

Umm.... WHAT?  You may live on the coast,  but that doesn't mean that you know what you're talking about.  Offshore rigs have sunk numerous times in history;  we have had NUMEROUS blowouts, both on and offshore.  I personally know 2 people that have died in blowouts.

Here's a few things to back this up:
2001- World's then largest offshore rig sinks, 10 people killed
Last week, an offshore rig sank
Another one, in 2001

The list goes on and on.  This is not an isolated incident.  Offshore drilling is just as fraught with perils as land drilling;  unfortunately, the stakes are much higher offshore.  This means that an offshore rig failing has a much higher impact than on land.

And BP being the only one that doesn't use that type of preventer...  I don't have a whole lot of experience offshore specifically,  so I can't comment directly.  However, I will say that BP, in my experience, has a much higher safety standard than most.  The company I am working for RIGHT NOW has dropped their bids on contracts solely because BP got involved,  and that increased our safety overhead.

the stakes are no higher, although it is just that it is harder to access the oil well when you have to swim to it.

[RAM]

If the Gulf was drained, what would the effects of the air pressure be?

[Grakelin]

That depends on what you're draining the Gulf into.

[Sensei]

HFS.

[smigenboger]

We could drain it into Canada, freeze it, and sell the resulting fish-popsicles to the Japanese.

[MetalSlimeHunt]

And risk the ire of the Mounties? Canada may be lacking in badass, but this is because all of their alloted badass has been poured into the Mounties. We can't take that. The USA's badass hasn't been that concentrated ever since Audry Murphy died.

[RedWarrior0]

And risk the ire of the Mounties? Canada may be lacking in badass, but this is because all of their alloted badass has been poured into the Mounties. We can't take that. The USA's badass hasn't been that concentrated ever since Audry Murphy died.

Chuck Norris.
BARAKA OBAMA.
We distract them with Twilight, and if that doesn't kill them, we send in Chuck Norris.

[MetalSlimeHunt]

And risk the ire of the Mounties? Canada may be lacking in badass, but this is because all of their alloted badass has been poured into the Mounties. We can't take that. The USA's badass hasn't been that concentrated ever since Audry Murphy died.

Chuck Norris.
BARAKA OBAMA.
We distract them with Twilight, and if that doesn't kill them, we send in Chuck Norris.

That plan has at least a moderate chance of tearing North America asunder. So what are you waiting for, start making calls!

[RAM]

That depends on what you're draining the Gulf into.

I was more think about what the air pressure would be at the site of the leak if all the water was gone...

[nenjin]

On the plus side, if the whole gulf is going to explode and flood half the lower 48, and kill most life on Earth....at least we won't have to wait long for. They said if something spectacularly horrible happens, it will happen in six months or less.

That shit about New Orleans is just sad though. City wiped out by a hurricane, slow to recover and now they've all been breathing toxic levels of gasses for probably two months now.

[RAM]

On the bright side, they have long needed a state to convert into a giant prison...

[The Architect]

Yea, so we can make a live performance of one of those so-bad-they're-good "Escape from ___" movies!

[nenjin]

I don't know if this has been posted but....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adiZE3cwYDM&feature=player_embedded

Basically the EPA has found levels of toxic gasses in Gulf Coast states that are about 1000x higher than what they consider to be safe concentrations. Some of these gasses they rate for safety as low as 4 parts per billion....and they're finding levels in the 1000's.

The only thing that is slightly comforting to me is that this is effectively what happens when you have major volcanic activity near large population centers. A ton of highly toxic gas drifts into populated areas. What still sucks is that BP may have effectively set off a geological event that may not have happened for 100s more years. The Gulf may not go boom....but half the coast may feel the effects for generations from a huge vent of natural, toxic and corrosive gasses in their back yard.