As a result of the Government Scientific Technical Team Meeting of 27 August 2010, BP is authorized to run the risk of re-starting the gushing flow from the Macondo well blow-out, or, worse, blowing up another rig, in my opinion, through following the instructions of a one page directive addressed to Bob Dudley, Chief Managing Director, BP Group, and signed by T.W. (Thad) Allen, National Incident Commander Deepwater Horizon Response. An exact duplicate of the directive can be accessed on www.deepwaterhorizonresponse.com .
The well is capped and cemented with the gushing flow finally stopped for several days, yet it appears someone is so eager to take a look at the faulty BOP they are willing to run the risk of tugging on the BOP to lift it when it may still be attached to "hanging drill pipe" which could compromise the integrity of the new cement plug with disastrous result.
The directive actually stipulates things, such as, "first be attempted with a controlled lift to minimize the risk of raising the the well central casing and casing hanger seal !!! and " A replacement BOP shall be placed on the Macondo well as quickly as possible to minimize the time the well is open to the sea without a sealing barrier at the top of the well." How does one determine the amount of control and the lifting force to assert before the moving of something that can break the cement plug seal? What actual length of time is "quickly as possible" and how does that help if the blow-out flow is again released because of the "tugging" on old BOP which is still attached to the wellhead and "hanging drill pipe".
It is incomprehensible to me that the vague instructions of that lame directive are deemed adequate to authorize such a serious and precarious operation and it borders on criminal negligence to continue these operations without even the precautionary step of having on standby a system such as that depicted on www.dwoc.info to, at least, catch the leaking oil before it spews into the environment.
