BP's Lines of Defense

Robert Dudley's letter to highlighted BP's lines of defense during replacement of the containment cap with a new stacking cap. The replacement operation is described in the video below:



The unofficial first line of defense is the use of toxic dispersants. Dudley states:

Consistent with prior approvals obtained from the Unified Area Command subsea dispersants will be utilized at the LMRP flange during the flange removal and replacement operations.

The plan is optimized to pump, when operationally possible, 12 gal/min of subsea dispersant into the exiting oil stream using a wand placed approximately 4 feet inside the top of the LMRP.

BP's official first line is skimming:

Skimmers doubled their collection to 25,500 oily barrels of water. It's not clear the percentage of oil and water, but let's hope it's higher than 10% oil, a prior figure.

The second line involves dispersants and controlled burning:


BP relied on these strategies, prioritizing them well over skimming, which comes back in as the third line of defense:


The final line is:

Once the stacking cap is successfully installed, BP will a tool to test the integrity of the well and flow can be collected until relief wells are successful.