This site is designed to help researchers and Yale students find primary sources related to slavery, abolition, and resistance within the university’s many libraries and galleries.
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Blowout: The Deepwater Horizon Disaster
A Survivor Recalls His Harrowing Escape; Plus, A Former BP Insider Warns Of Another Potential Disaster
(CBS) The gusher unleashed in the Gulf of Mexico continues to spew crude oil. There are no reliable estimates of how much oil is pouring into the gulf. But it comes to many millions of gallons since the catastrophic blowout. Eleven men were killed in the explosions that sank one of the most sophisticated drilling rigs in the world, the "Deepwater Horizon."
Play CBS Video Video Deepwater Horizon's Blowout, Part 1
Scott Pelley speaks to one of the survivors of the deadly Deepwater Horizon oil rig blast who was in a position to know what caused the disaster.
Video Deepwater Horizon's Blowout, Part 2
Scott Pelley investigates the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion that killed 11, causing the ongoing oil leak in the waters off of Louisiana. One survivor talks about his harrowing escape and what happened after he got off the burning rig.
Video Extra: Mike Williams On Andrea's Rescue
Mike Williams, the chief electronics technician aboard the Deepwater Horizon, learns the fate of Andrea.
(CBS)
Photo Essay Oil Spill Threatens Wildlife
As the Gulf oil spill spreads towards the mainland, more than 400 species of wildlife are in serious danger
This week Congress continues its investigation, but Capitol Hill has not heard from the man "60 Minutes" correspondent Scott Pelley met: Mike Williams, one of the last crewmembers to escape the inferno.
Extra: Mike Williams on Andrea's Rescue
Extra: "I'm Gonna Die Right Here"
Extra: "As I Got To The Next Door, It Exploded"
Extra: "It Was A Ranging Inferno
Extra: "We Were In Bad Trouble"
Extra: "We're Gonna Burn Up Or We're Gonna Jump"
Extra: "I Must Be Dead"
Extra: Capturing The Disaster
Extra: Warning Signs
CBSNews.com: Complete Coverage
Photos: Gulf Oil Spill Threatens Wildlife
Truthout: Article on WhistleblowerHe says the destruction of the Deepwater Horizon had been building for weeks in a series of mishaps. The night of the disaster, he was in his workshop when he heard the rig's engines suddenly run wild. That was the moment that explosive gas was shooting across the decks, being sucked into the engines that powered the rig's generators.
"I hear the engines revving. The lights are glowing. I'm hearing the alarms. I mean, they're at a constant state now. It's just, 'Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep.' It doesn't stop. But even that's starting to get drowned out by the sound of the engine increasing in speed. And my lights get so incredibly bright that they physically explode. I'm pushing my way back from the desk when my computer monitor exploded," Williams told Pelley.
The rig was destroyed on the night of April 20. Ironically, the end was coming only months after the rig's greatest achievement.
Mike Williams was the chief electronics technician in charge of the rig's computers and electrical systems. And seven months before, he had helped the crew drill the deepest oil well in history, 35,000 feet.
"It was special. There's no way around it. Everyone was talking about it. The congratulations that were flowing around, it made you feel proud to work there," he remembered.
Williams worked for the owner, Transocean, the largest offshore drilling company. Like its sister rigs, the Deepwater Horizon cost $350 million, rose 378 feet from bottom to top. Both advanced and safe, none of her 126 crew had been seriously injured in seven years.
The safety record was remarkable, because offshore drilling today pushes technology with challenges matched only by the space program.
Deepwater Horizon was in 5,000 feet of water and would drill another 13,000 feet, a total of three miles. The oil and gas down there are under enormous pressure. And the key to keeping that pressure under control is this fluid that drillers call "mud."
"Mud" is a manmade drilling fluid that's pumped down the well and back up the sides in continuous circulation. The sheer weight of this fluid keeps the oil and gas down and the well under control.
The tension in every drilling operation is between doing things safely and doing them fast; time is money and this job was costing BP a million dollars a day. But Williams says there was trouble from the start - getting to the oil was taking too long.
Williams said they were told it would take 21 days; according to him, it actually took six weeks.
With the schedule slipping, Williams says a BP manager ordered a faster pace.
"And he requested to the driller, 'Hey, let's bump it up. Let's bump it up.' And what he was talking about there is he's bumping up the rate of penetration. How fast the drill bit is going down," Williams said.
Williams says going faster caused the bottom of the well to split open, swallowing tools and that drilling fluid called "mud."
"We actually got stuck. And we got stuck so bad we had to send tools down into the drill pipe and sever the pipe," Williams explained.
That well was abandoned and Deepwater Horizon had to drill a new route to the oil. It cost BP more than two weeks and millions of dollars.
"We were informed of this during one of the safety meetings, that somewhere in the neighborhood of $25 million was lost in bottom hole assembly and 'mud.' And you always kind of knew that in the back of your mind when they start throwing these big numbers around that there was gonna be a push coming, you know? A push to pick up production and pick up the pace," Williams said.
Asked if there was pressure on the crew after this happened, Williams told Pelley, "There's always pressure, but yes, the pressure was increased."
But the trouble was just beginning: when drilling resumed, Williams says there was an accident on the rig that has not been reported before. He says, four weeks before the explosion, the rig's most vital piece of safety equipment was damaged.
Produced by Solly Granatstein and Graham Messick
© MMX, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.
via cbsnews.com
Worry that Gulf of Mexico oil spreading into major current
By The Associated Press
May 17, 2010, 8:36AM
Oil and gas spews from a yellowish, broken pipe 5,000 feet below the surface of the Gulf of Mexico. The stream occasionally can be seen becoming lighter as natural gas mixes into the gusher.
BP said Monday it was siphoning more than one-fifth of the oil that has been spewing into the Gulf for almost a month, as worries escalated that the ooze may reach a major ocean current that could carry it through the Florida Keys and up the East Coast.
BP PLC chief operating officer Doug Suttles said Monday on NBC's "Today" that a mile-long tube was funneling a little more than 1,000 barrels -- 42,000 gallons -- of crude a day from a blown well into a tanker ship. The company and the U.S. Coast Guard have estimated about 5,000 barrels -- 210,000 gallons -- have been spewing out each day. Engineers finally got the contraption working on Sunday after weeks of failed solutions -- however, millions of gallons of oil are already in the Gulf of Mexico.
Crews will slowly ramp up how much oil the tube collects over the next few days. They need to move slowly because they don't want too much frigid seawater entering the pipe, which could combine with gases to form the same ice-like crystals that doomed the previous containment effort.
As engineers worked to get a better handle on the spill, a researcher told The Associated Press that computer models show the oil may have already seeped into a powerful water stream known as the loop current, which could propel it into the Atlantic Ocean. A boat is being sent later this week to collect samples and learn more.
"This can't be passed off as 'it's not going to be a problem,'" said William Hogarth, dean of the University of South Florida's College of Marine Science. "This is a very sensitive area. We are concerned with what happens in the Florida Keys."
View full sizeA graphic representation by BP of the effort to insert a tube into the worst of the two remaining leaks spewing crude oil from the floor of the Gulf of Mexico.
BP PLC engineers remotely guiding robot submersibles had worked since Friday to place the tube into a 21-inch pipe nearly a mile below the sea. Crews got it working after several setbacks.
BP failed in several previous attempts to stop the leak, trying in vain to activate emergency valves and lowering a 100-ton container that got clogged with icy crystals. They have used chemicals to disperse the oil. Tar balls have been sporadically washing up on beaches in several states, including Mississippi where at least 60 have been found. But so far, oil has not washed ashore in great quantities.
Hogarth said a computer model shows oil has already entered the loop current, while a second shows the oil is 3 miles from it -- still dangerously close. The models are based on weather, ocean current and spill data from the U.S. Navy and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, among other sources.
Hogarth said it's still too early to know what specific amounts of oil will make it to Florida, or what damage it might do to the sensitive Keys or beaches on Florida's Atlantic coast. He said claims by BP that the oil would be less damaging to the Keys after traveling over hundreds of miles from the spill site were not mollifying.
Damage is already done, with the only remaining question being how much more is to come, said Paul Montagna, from the Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies at Texas A&M University.
"Obviously the quicker they plug this the better, but they are already having a tremendous effect on the environment," he said. "In the end, we have to figure out how much is actually pouring into the Gulf."
BP had previously said the tube, if successful, was expected to collect most of the oil gushing from the well. Officials still hope to collect most of it when the tube is working at full capacity.
Two setbacks over the weekend illustrate how delicate the effort is. Early Sunday, hours before a steady connection was made, engineers were able to suck a small amount of oil to the tanker, but the tube was dislodged. The previous day, equipment used to insert the tube into the gushing pipe at the ocean floor had to be hauled to the surface for readjustment.
The first chance to choke off the flow for good should come in about a week. Engineers plan to shoot heavy mud into the crippled blowout preventer on top of the well, then permanently entomb the leak in concrete. If that doesn't work, crews also can shoot golf balls and knotted rope into the nooks and crannies of the device to plug it, Wells said.
The final choice to end the leak is a relief well, but it is more than two months from completion.
Veterinarians Erica Miller, right, and Heather Nevill clean a Brown Pelican Saturday at the Fort Jackson Wildlife Rehabilitation Center at Buras. The bird was rescued after being exposed to oil in an oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico caused by the explosion of BP's Deepwater Horizon oil platform.
Top officials in President Barack Obama's administration cautioned that the tube "is not a solution."
"We will not rest until BP permanently seals the wellhead, the spill is cleaned up, and the communities and natural resources of the Gulf Coast are restored and made whole," Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano and Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar said in a joint statement.
Meanwhile, scientists warned of the effects of the oil that has already leaked into the Gulf. Researchers said miles-long underwater plumes of oil discovered in recent days could poison and suffocate sea life across the food chain, with damage that could endure for a decade or more.
Researchers have found more underwater plumes of oil than they can count from the well, said Samantha Joye, a professor of marine sciences at the University of Georgia.
The hazards of the plume are twofold. Joye said the oil itself can prove toxic to fish, while vast amounts of oxygen are also being sucked from the water by microbes that eat oil. Dispersants used to fight the oil are also food for the microbes, speeding up the oxygen depletion.
"So, first you have oily water that may be toxic to certain organisms and also the oxygen issue, so there are two problems here," said Joye, who's working with the scientists who discovered the plumes in a recent boat expedition. "This can interrupt the food chain at the lowest level, and will trickle up and certainly impact organisms higher. Whales, dolphins and tuna all depend on lower depths to survive."
Oil has been spewing since the rig Deepwater Horizon exploded April 20, killing 11 people and sinking two days later. The government shortly afterward estimated the spill at 210,000 gallons a day, a figure that has since been questioned by some scientists who fear it could be far more. BP executives have stood by the estimate while acknowledging there's no way to know for sure.
Steve Shepard, who chairs the Gulf Coast group of the Sierra Club in Mississippi, said the solution by BP to siphon some of the oil is "hopefully the beginning of the end of this leak."
He, like others, is worried that much more than the estimate is leaking and that the long-term damage is hard to measure.
"We have a lot to be worried about," he said. "We are in uncharted territory."
via nola.com
Angelique Kidjo: Music with passion
- Story Highlights
- Grammy Award winning singer from Benin launched her career as a 6-year-old
- Left political turmoil of Benin to move to Paris; now lives in Brooklyn, New York
- Stage presence has attracted many accolades and popularity with fellow musicians
Music with passion 7:27
Grammy Award winning singer songwriter Angelique Kidjo reflects on her success over the past year.
VIDEO
via edition.cnn.com
2010 PEARL POETRY PRIZE
$1,000 & BOOK PUBLICATION
Judge: Christopher Buckley
GUIDELINES
MANUSCRIPTS should include a title page with the author's name, address, phone number, and e-mail address; an acknowledgment page listing previously published poems; a table of contents, 48–64 pages of original poetry; and an SASE for reply or return of manuscript. Manuscripts should be unbound, typed, pages numbered, and name should appear on title page only. Clear photocopies and computer print-outs are acceptable. We will consider simultaneous submissions, but ask that you notify us if your manuscript is accepted elsewhere.
PRIZE: In addition to publication and the $1,000 cash prize, the winner also receives 25 copies and a foreword by the finalist judge.
ELIGIBILITY: Open to all poets, with or without previous book publication. Students and friends of the judge are not eligible for this year's competition.
ENTRY FEE: $20 per manuscript, payable to Pearl Editions.
JUDGING: The selection of manuscripts for final judging will be made by the editors of Pearl. All entries are read anonymously.
SUBMISSION PERIOD: May 1 – June 30th postmark. The winner will be announced and manuscripts returned after the first of next year.
SEND SUBMISSIONS TO: Pearl Poetry Prize, 3030 E. Second Street, Long Beach, CA 90803.
via pearlmag.com
To the Lighthouse Poetry Publication PrizeAward: $1000 and publication of collection by Red Hen PressDeadline: August 31, 2010 postmarkJudge: Alice QuinnPage Limit: 48 to 96 pagesFee: $20 per entryAnnouncement Date: December 15, 2010
AROHO's To the Lighthouse Poetry Publication Prize will be awarded for the best, unpublished poetry collection by a woman. Submit 48 to 96 pages of poetry postmarked by August 31, 2010. The $20 reading/entry fee is payable by check or money order to A Room of Her Own; please indicate “To the Lighthouse PPP” in the memo line. Include an SASP [self-addressed stamped postcard] with your package for notification of receipt. Your name and address should appear on the cover sheet only, along with the manuscript title, and your address and telephone number. The award amount is $1000 and publication of your poetry collection by Red Hen Press. The winner will be contacted by phone or email prior to the web announcement date.
Send manuscript along with SASP, cover sheet, and check (postmarked 8/31/2010) to:
A Room Of Her OwnAttn: To the Lighthouse PPPPO Box 778Placitas, NM 87043
via aroho.org
POETRY COMPETITION
FOR EDUCATING KENYAN ORPHANS (EKO)
Charity No.111697
17th July 2010
Poet JOHN HEGLEY will be JudgingJohn Hegley is a regular sell-out at The Edinburgh Festival. He has performed at the Montreal Comedy Festival, the USA Comedy Festival in Aspen, with Ulrika Jonsson & Anita Dobson inThe Pyjama Game and on BBC R4's Hearing With Hegley.
John is widely known as one of the country's most innovative comic poets with several best-selling volumes of poetry to his name.
PRIZES
First Prize £1000
Second Prize £500
Third Prize £300
Fourth Prize £200PRIZE PRESENTATIONS
There will be a reading given by John Hegley at the Rook Lane Chapel, Bath Street, Frome, Somerset BA11 1DN.
The winners will receive their prizes and be able to read their poems at the reading on the 17th July 2010.
___________________________
There are two ways to enter the competition:
- You may enter directly online - just click this 'Online Form' link, and follow the ONLINE FORM instructions.
- Or you can download an entryform by clicking HERE
Alternatively, you may request that an entry form be posted by sending a SAE to:
Competition Organiser,
Educating Kenyan Orphans,
Glen View,
Church Street,
Coleford,
Radstock,
Somerset,
BA3 5LZ.THE RULES
- The competition is open to anyone aged 17 or over.
- Poems must not exceed 30 lines (not including title).
- Entries must be in English.
- Entries can be on any subject.
- The name of the poet must not appear on the manuscript.
- All poems are judged anonymously.
- Each poem must be given a title.
- Poems must not have been previously published.
- Poems must be the original work of the author.
- There is no restriction on the number of poems submitted by each applicant.
- Poems may not be altered after they have been submitted.
- Poems must be typed only on one side of A4 paper.
- No Trustees or relatives of Trustees may enter the competition.
- Prize winners who wish to attend the reading by John Hegley must find their own way to Frome, and arrange accommodation if required.
COPYRIGHT: The copyright of each poem remains with the author.
THE CLOSING DATE: Poemsmust arrive by email, online submission or post by the 7th.June 2010.
FEES: Each poem submitted will cost £5.00 including subsequent poems. Only sterling ( cheques,postal orders or money orders will be accepted) . Please make cheques payable to: Educating Kenyan Orphans.
RESULTS: The winners will be personally notified on or by the 5th. July 2010.
RECEIPTS: Receipt of postal entries will only be confirmed if a SAE/postcard is enclosed.
Artists On The Cutting Edge: Jayne Cortez-->
29 minutes
***R RATING - language *** New York poet Jayne Cortez reads a selection of her award-winning work, which vividly reflects the energy, passions, rhythms and tensions of modern urban life from an African-American femininst perspective. (#3123)
via uctv.tv
'Inside Buffalo' documentary tells history of Black Soldiers in Italy in WWII
The film ‘Inside Buffalo’ is the documentary of Afro-Italian director Fred Kudjo Kuwornu that tells the story of the forgotten ‘Buffalo Soldiers’.
These soldiers were African American foot soldiers of the 92nd Infantry Division who valiantly fought side-by-side with Italian partisans against the Nazis along the Gothic Line, mainly in Tuscany. Read the full story about the film here.
According to the Deutsche welle Kuwornu worked as a DJ and TV producer, until American movie director Spike Lee inspired him to become an independent filmmaker. In 2008, Lee was shooting a feature film on location in Tuscany, based on a novel about black American soldiers. Kuwornu worked as an extra on the feature film. It became the starting point for a very personal voyage of discovery for Fred Kuwornu culminating in his documentary 'Inside Buffalo'.
Kuwornu's father is Ghanaian and his mother is from Tuscany, making him one of the few mixed race Italians growing up in northern Italy in the 1970s. He is planning on doing more films on topics like racism, dialogue and human rights in the future.The film '‘Inside Buffalo’ reminds of the story of the French Black soldiers 'Le Tirailleurs Senegalais' (Senegalees Riflemen)'. These soldiers were deliberately removed from the unit that led the Allied advance into the French capital. They were removed because British and American commanders wanted to ensure that the liberation of Paris on 25 August 1944 was seen as a "whites only" victory. Read the whole post here.
Shouldn't we have Black European History month?
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See all 75 CommentsYou made a major point about the rubber from the annular which was circulated out of the well after a procedural error.
- The annular is designed to 'strip' pipe in and out of the well;
- It is not unusual for rubber to come off the annular element after pipe has been stripped through it under pressure (this is a cause for concern, but not a 'show stopper').
- There are two annulars in the BOP, so if one fails there is another;
- If the annular element failed, this would be obvious in bi-weekly pressure tests, which must be signed and available for MMS inspection;
- Most (not all) pressure tests are performed against the pipe rams, not the annular, because the large rubber element in the annular gradually compresses under pressure, masking the bahavior of the rest of the system.
Mike Williams' description of his escape from the inferno was riveting; he was truly fortunate, and I congratulate him in his wise choices during the incident, and his escape.
However, talking to him about the accident is similar to asking a flight attendant why a plane went down - he/she may be an expert and very experienced in their area of expertise, but has no idea about piloting the plane/rig.
Talk to the driller; talk to the BP or Transocean rig supervisor. Talk to the subsea engineer about the control pod which may have failed before the incident. Don't talk to the electrical technician.
I posted before that I believe this is BP's tragedy, caused by a bad attitude starting at the top. But if you're going to talk about the proximate causes, get someone who knows what they're talking about.
- BP inspected the rig and all the equipment before hiring it;
- BP reviewed and approved all safety procedures on the rig;
- BP reviewed and approved all pressure testing and equipment testing procedures for the BOP;
- BP witnessed all routine and nonroutine pressure tests, drills, procedures, etc. performed on the rig;
- BP prepared and supervised all downhole procedures used on the well;
- BP stipulated the conditions under which the cement would have been designed and tested;
- BP prepared the placement and pumping procedures for the cement plugs (as well as the casing before that);
- BP supervised the placement and pumping operations for the cement plug;
- BP supervised all operations on the drilling rig.
As your Berkley professor said at the last of his statement - Tony Haywood's attempt to shift responsibility makes me sick. That attitude, from the very top, poisons an organization, and is a recipe for disaster. We've now had 4 for BP in, what 6 years? Texas City refinery; North Slope corrosion; Thunderhorse; now Macondo. Is it time to toss the bums out of US waters?
I'm a retired drilling engineer with 40 years' experience, most offshore and most in 'deep' water, although the definition of 'deep' has changed radically over those 40 years.
Mr. Williams is a very brave man!
I just wanted to take a moment to applaud your organization. It took courage to air the segment with Mike Williams on your show "60 Minutes". On behalf of the entire crew here at Whale Tails Chips and everyone involved in ocean conservation thank you for bringing the truth to light. It was shocking and disgraceful to learn what had been going on with that drilling attempt just weeks before the whole thing blew. Kudos to 60 Minutes for some great reporting. Now let's see where this all ends up. BP had better not get a pass on anything connected to this situation.
Years ago British Petroleum shortened its name to BP and began promoting itself as the environmentally-friendly oil company with their $200 million Ogilvy & Mather ad campaign. BP transformed its corporate brand insignia from a shield to a wholesome natural sunburst.
BP appears to be fake, while Mike Williams is the real deal.
Somehow all of this corporate criminal activity and behavior that shows no conscience for humans, for animals and for our planet. My heart goes out to all of the families who lost loved ones. All of the wildlife and all of natured that is being tortured and destroyed. After the murders we have all of those people who live along the coast who have lost their livelyhoods, way of life, and the sadness of seeing what they love being destroyed by people who did their jobs in a negligent and criminally irresponsible manner.
BP In Haste to Complete and Move on with Drilling Program-
As an old rig supervisor, I am impressed with Williams' account of events leading to disaster. He is not familiar with drilling and cementing but has been around enough to give a good account. But where is Cameron in all this series of errors. The BOP belongs to them - it must be guaranteed by them and any rig personnel must keep them advised of any problem so they can help. The battery problem, the faulty pod, the pulling out of the annular seal - also some modification to the BOP to help in testing. You really did not have a functional bop again. And then the shear rams could not cut the drillpipe it was supposed to shutoff! Why? What safeguard you had if you had to shear the pipe and move off with the drilling vessel? It was a comedy of errors.
Pulling rubber through a BOP is a criminal act - and could only be corrected by bringing the well under control and replacing the rams or bop. This is the only safeguard from disaster if the well kicks violently or there is a breakage above the bop.
As the well started to flow back - displacing to salt water was an unthinkable advice. Mud should have been circulated until the gas bubbles were removed. But was the rig and circulating systems geared for handling a flow back of gas? As soon as gas spread over the deck, the engines started to speed up.
I do not know of the new Nitrogen 'Fluffy' Cement but would say that it appears as another Halliburton salesman technique to peddle fast setting cement. I would not go with that untried cementing scam in a deep offshore well - drilling in 5000 ft of water.
Let see what comes out of the inquiry.
MURDER or Serious Negligence - which one is it?
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See all 75 Comments