Winnipeg company to help pinch Gulf oil pipe
Has deepsea hydraulic shear that could slow massive BP oil leak
Last Updated: Thursday, May 20, 2010
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A Winnipeg-based company is using its expertise and tools to try to slow the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico.
LBT Enterprises makes a deepsea hydraulic shear that can go more than a kilometre below the ocean floor to squeeze or cut a pipe.
Company owner Leon Trudeau said the tool will be used to try to pinch closed the pipe that's been leaking oil from a BP oil well about 80 kilometres off the coast of Louisiana.
"Nobody knows what's going to happen," he said. "They've never had a situation like this."
"All my technology is made for cutting … but now, it's just the opposite. We've got to pinch it. We can't cut it."
If the attempt works, it will only provide a temporary fix, and there's also concern that pinching the pipe could cause a valve to explode, Trudeau said.
Seafood-rich area impacted
The area where the broken pipe has been spewing oil since late April is home to hundreds of species of fish, birds and other wildlife along the Gulf Coast, one of the world's richest seafood grounds, teeming with shrimp, oysters and other marine life.
The pipe had been attached to the BP-leased Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, but broke when the rig exploded on April 20 and sank two days later.
On Thursday, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal said the oil has reached the state's wetlands.
"The oil is no longer just a projection or miles from our shore," he said, noting more than 54 kilometres of shoreline in nine coastal areas have been affected.
BP conceded Thursday that more oil than it estimated is gushing into the Gulf from the pipe, located 1,500 metres below the water's surface.
Company spokesman Mark Proegler said a 1.6-kilometre-long tube inserted into the leaking pipe over the weekend is capturing 950,000 litres a day — 150,000 litres more than BP and the U.S. Coast Guard earlier estimated was gushing into the sea.
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Has deepsea hydraulic shear that could slow massive BP oil leak
Last Updated: Thursday, May 20, 2010
Article Link
A Winnipeg-based company is using its expertise and tools to try to slow the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico.
LBT Enterprises makes a deepsea hydraulic shear that can go more than a kilometre below the ocean floor to squeeze or cut a pipe.
Company owner Leon Trudeau said the tool will be used to try to pinch closed the pipe that's been leaking oil from a BP oil well about 80 kilometres off the coast of Louisiana.
"Nobody knows what's going to happen," he said. "They've never had a situation like this."
"All my technology is made for cutting … but now, it's just the opposite. We've got to pinch it. We can't cut it."
If the attempt works, it will only provide a temporary fix, and there's also concern that pinching the pipe could cause a valve to explode, Trudeau said.
Seafood-rich area impacted
The area where the broken pipe has been spewing oil since late April is home to hundreds of species of fish, birds and other wildlife along the Gulf Coast, one of the world's richest seafood grounds, teeming with shrimp, oysters and other marine life.
The pipe had been attached to the BP-leased Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, but broke when the rig exploded on April 20 and sank two days later.
On Thursday, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal said the oil has reached the state's wetlands.
"The oil is no longer just a projection or miles from our shore," he said, noting more than 54 kilometres of shoreline in nine coastal areas have been affected.
BP conceded Thursday that more oil than it estimated is gushing into the Gulf from the pipe, located 1,500 metres below the water's surface.
Company spokesman Mark Proegler said a 1.6-kilometre-long tube inserted into the leaking pipe over the weekend is capturing 950,000 litres a day — 150,000 litres more than BP and the U.S. Coast Guard earlier estimated was gushing into the sea.
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