
New Estimate for an Oil Leak: A Thousand Times Worse Than Rig Owner Says - matt2000
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/25/climate/taylor-energy-gulf-of-mexico.html
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dang
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20266878](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20266878)

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SwellJoe
I have a growing concern that even when (if) reasonable heads prevail and
we're able to implement sane climate policy in most developed nations,
corporations with a vested interest in externalizing costs will simply ignore
the law and self-report compliance while actively covering up evidence of non-
compliance. This isn't a theoretical thing, we've already seen it happening.
It's widespread in fossil fuels (nearly every major player has had disasters,
often directly causing human death and injury, in recent years caused by
cutting corners, neglect, failure to comply with regulations, etc.), but also
in the automotive sector (VW), animal agriculture (e.g.
[https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/sep/20/north-
caroli...](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/sep/20/north-carolina-hog-
industry-pig-farms)), and others.

Even with our current dangerously lax regulation of these externalities,
corporations are doing everything they can to skip out on their
responsibilities, and often getting away with it with barely a slap on the
wrist. So, what happens when the policies get a lot stricter (I'm being
optimistic and assuming the current anti-science rule will somehow end and
we'll get some responsible leadership that understands we don't have time to
cut emissions gradually any more...we missed that chance by a decade or more)
and companies just say, "nah, we're going to keep doing what we were doing"?

In this case, I have no doubt the company knew what they were spewing into the
ocean for 14 years, or at least had a good hunch. There's tons of data
involved in off-shore wells. And, yet, nobody will go to jail for the
immeasurable harm they knowingly caused. Nobody will answer for it, and the
executives probably went on to drilling new dangerous wells, while their
financial backers probably continue to invest in fossil fuels and profit from
it.

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GuiA
A few options: shame the companies, confront the executives, boycott the
products, organize with your coworkers and strike if your employee engages in
such practices, write your elected representatives, write poetry or paint
pictures about how angry they make you

But don’t give up

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SwellJoe
I guess we can try those before we start googling guillotine plans. But, let's
keep our options open.

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viraptor
Something that's not mentioned in the article: why wasn't it detected/measured
at the source/destination? They say the leak is from "bundle of undersea pipes
ruptured" \- so this is an active line and someone's losing $6.3k/day
according to these estimates, or $32M over the time of the leak. Did nobody
notice the difference (either in volume or in billing) - is this a rounding
error for them?

With no experience in oil transport, I'd expect them to measure things like
that, even if just to find the leaks.

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samfisher83
Subsea multiphase flow measurement is very hard. The equipment is really
expensive. For full range multiphase flow measurement you probably need a
nuclear source for density measurement which companies don't want to put down
there. When oil comes out of the ground it isn't just oil. There is gas and
water as well. TO figure out what is what it takes a multi-phase meters.

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sterlind
You seem knowledgeable. Do you know what radioisotope they'd need for accurate
density measurement? Are there non-nuclear gamma ray generators that could be
used instead?

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saagarjha
I’m not knowledgeable, but I’m curious why you have such a specific question:
is this something that you’re interested in, or is this something that you
have a practical use for?

~~~
sterlind
_stifles mad scientist laugh_ idle, extremely specific curiosity

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cheeze
This is the kind of stuff that makes me think "we're all doomed."

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kingkawn
Crime Against Reality

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gesman
This is paywalled article.

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AdamJacobMuller
[http://archive.is/6bP6b](http://archive.is/6bP6b)

