Despite my earlier articles suggesting the promise of the Containment Dome... the latest attempt at ceasing the never ending stream of oil has been a bust. After the 14 days it took to build the dome, 3 days to move it out to sea, and 12 hours to lower it down a mile into the ocean- it was ice that put a stop to the whole operation.

According to the article that I read a few hours ago, the ice that caused the complication was a mixture of gas and water at freezing temperatures and high pressures called hydrates. These hydrates are reportedly common problems with offshore drilling, and had been possible obstacles since the beginning of the whole operation. Yet, despite recent news that this is all common knowledge. I hadn't heard anything about it in the several articles I've read on the subject in the past few days...

(Officials are going to have to wait until Monday to move forward with the containment and weigh their options as to what to do next. Some of the ideas on the table right now are to melt the ice with warm water and try again, or to prevent icing inside the dome with a mixture of hot water and methanol.)

Two other recent developments surrounding the spill: (1) The cause has been determined to be a methane gas bubble. Apparently, as the bubble (another common occurrence in drilling) shot up through the pipes, it grew in size and burst through several seals- causing the almost irreparable damage that we are dealing with today. (2) Tar has reached the shores of Dauphin Island, only 3 miles off the coast of Atlanta. This has so far put a damper on beach-goers and caused quite a scare- but cleanup has been quite easy so far.

- Amber

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100508/ap_on_bi_ge/us_gulf_oil_spill