Origin of Deepwater Horizon Riser Insertion Tube Option, as Well as the Idea of Capping the End of the Leaky Riser

The idea of attaching a hose to the leaky Deepwater Horizon riser and siphoning the oil off to a waiting vessel on the surface did not initially come from inside The Bunker. Instead, it came from me. I suggested this procedure to Unified Command which, as you know, includes BP, as early as April 29. On the same day I forwarded my suggestion to NOAA as well. The riser insert tube option is basically a refinement of my original idea.

I guess the big question is, why did it take so long, i.e. the better part of two weeks, to run with my idea? I suspect the answer lies in the fact BP were wedded to the concept of the dome, which of course failed in the end. Had my proposal been implemented earlier, while the dome was under construction, for instance, think how much oil might have been prevented from entering the marine environment.

This just looks like yet another case of colossal incompetence on the part of the polluter, aka the Responsible Party, with respect to this particular incident response operation. Precious time was lost while the company fooled around with an option in which they themselves publicly showed scant confidence, all the while ignoring a simple, straightforward and rather obvious solution that was staring them in the face. It’s scandalous, really.

I have repeatedly sought acknowledgement of my part in solving this problem from the authorities and BP. So far, the only response I get is from Unified Command, in the form of a form email informing me, in so many words, that my suggestion has been reviewed and rejected because it is impractical. This is an insult to my intelligence, really, as well as a slap in the face.

And for the record, my first suggestion to Unified Command, forwarded to them on April 25, was to cap the end of the leaky riser pipe, something they managed to do over a week later, again without any acknowledgment that the idea basically came from me after I had seen photos of the leaky pipe end on the web.