ROVs find oil leak near Deep Water Horizon well head

By on October 21, 2012
(Credit: NASA Goddard / Rob Gutro)


Two remotely operated vehicles monitoring the Deep Water Horizon oil spill site found oil was leaking from a containment dome near the well head, according to a Deep Water Horizon Joint Information Center news release.

Video analysis from the ROVs revealed that the containment dome, used in a failed attempt to cap the spewing well head, leaks oil. Analysis of the leak shows that 100 gallons of oil leak from the dome each day.

The 40-foot dome failed to stop oil flow from the ruptured well so workers moved it approximately 500 meters from the well head. Oil is still in the dome from the attempt to stop the oil leak.

A sheen of oil on the surface of the ocean initiated the ROV deployment from a construction vessel in the Gulf of Mexico.

The robots inspected areas directly around the well and found no other oil leakage.

Samples from the inspection will be analyzed by BP, Transocean and the U.S. Coast Guard.

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