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Deepwater HorizonGulf of Mexico Oil Spill

NSF Rapid Response Research

Partnership for Observation of the Global Oceans (POGO)Dr. David Conover

National Science FoundationJanuary 24, 2011

Seoul, Republic of Korea

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Accident Location

The Deepwater Horizon was finishing work on an exploration well named Macondo, in an area called Mississippi Canyon Block 252. After weeks of drilling, the rig had drilled over 18,000 feet below sea floor in about 5000 feet of water.

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What went wrong?

Blow up of natural gas due to:

• Weak Casing Design

• Lack of casing tieback

• Too little nitrogen-charged cement

• Premature removal of riser mud

Failure of Blow Out Preventer

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DWH GOM Oil Spill Timeline

20-April Explosion on Deepwater Horizon (DWH) drilling rig. Eleven people killed.

05-May NSF receives first Rapid Research Response proposal

20-May NSF awards first Rapid Response Grant

21-May First 2 Rapid Response cruises depart for Gulf (R/V Pelican cruise, R/V Walton Smith)

27-May Dear Colleague Letter: Rapid Response Research Grants Available for Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill Research

released by NSF

15-Jun BP announces distribution of $30 million in research money to: Louisiana State University, Florida

Institute of Oceanography, and Northern Gulf Institute.

13-July Containment cap successfully installed.

02-August “Static kill' operation begins. (Pumping heavy drilling mud and cement into well.)

13-August National Incident Command(NIC) issues directive for an Implementation Plan for Sub-Surface Oil and

Dispersant Detection, Sampling and Monitoring Strategy

18 August Don Rice, Director, Chemical Oceanography, dispatched to Unified Area Command (UAC) to coordinate

academic and federal agency research efforts

31 August-2

September

Three workshops held at Univ. S. Fla., Northern Gulf Institute, and Tulane Univ., to receive input from

academic scientists on draft Implementation Plan for sub-surface oil and dispersant detection, sampling

and monitoring

19-September Relief well complete. Macondo well officially sealed.

1-October Release of Implementation Plan for Sub-Sea and Sub-Surface Oil and Dispersant Detection, Sampling,

and Monitoring

5-6 October National Science and Technology Council's Joint Subcommittee on Ocean Science and Technology

(JSOST) sponsored PI workshop in St. Petersburg, FL.

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NSF Rapid Response Research Efforts -- Summary

Total Awarded: $19,927,128Total Number of NSF Awards: 171Total Ship Costs: >$5,000,000

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Division of Ocean SciencesDeepwater Horizon Rapid Response Research

•Estimated Number of requests: 443 •Total Number of OCE NSF Awards: 64•Total Amount Awarded: $7,318,064

•Average award processing time in OCE: 11.3 days•Average award processing time at NSF: 27.8 days

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GEO Directorate Rapid Response Research

Other NSF Directorates

89

AGS4

EAR14

OCE64

Other NSF Directorates$11,234,149

AGS$455,777

EAR$919,138

OCE$7,318,064

Total Amount Awarded per Division in GEO

Total Amount in GEO: $8.6m

Number of Grants Awarded per Division in GEO

Total Number of Grants in GEO: 81DRAFT

Breadth of NSF RAPID Awards Illustrative Examples

• CISE: Radar and radar sensor

networks assess impact on beach

soil (U TX Arlington)

• EHR: Online Clearinghouse

For Education and Networking

– Oil Interdisciplinary Learning

(OCEAN-OIL) (STEM)

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NSF Rapid Awards

• SBE: BP Horizon Oil Disaster: Media Accounts and Community Impacts (University of New Orleans)

• ENG: Gas Hydrate Formation and Inhibition at the Conditions Encountered in the Gulf of Mexico Oil Leak from the Deepwater Horizon Well (Colorado School of Mines)

• MPS: Modeling and experiments of oil-particulate mixtures of relevance to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill (UCLA)

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30-Apr 31-May 1-Jul 1-Aug 1-Sep 2-Oct 2-Nov 3-Dec

Cruise dates

Pelican

Pelican

Pelican

Walton Smith

Cape Hatteras

Cape Hatteras

Cape Hatteras

Endeavor

Oceanus

Atlantis

Atlantis

Atlantis

Cape Hatteras

Endeavor

Total NSF Ship Days – 224R/V Pelican - 12R/V Cape Hatteras - 61R/V Walton Smith - 22R/V Endeavor - 34R/ Oceanus - 46R/V Atlantis - 49

NSF Ship Rapid Response Research Effort

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NSF Rapid Response Research Effort

Number of grants

Official Start Date

First Rapid

proposal submitted

First Rapid grant

awarded

First publication from Rapid Grant

Research

DWHGOM

Oil Spill

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

31-Mar-06 30-Apr-06 31-May-06 30-Jun-06 31-Jul-06 31-Aug-06 30-Sep-06 31-Oct-06 30-Nov-06

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Publications from Rapid Response Research – OCE Awards

August 19, 2010 (online). R. Camilli et al., Tracking Hydrocarbon Plume Transport and Biodegradation at Deepwater Horizon. Science Express. 10.1126/science.1195223

Subsurface hydrocarbon survey findings indicate the presence of a continuous plume of oil that persisted without substantial biodegradation.

September 16, 2010 (online). D. Valentine et al. Propane Respiration Jump-Starts Microbial Response to a Deep Oil Spill. Science Express. 10.1126/science.1196830

Investigation of dissolved hydrocarbon gases at depth.Propane and ethane may promote rapid hydrocarbon respiration by low-diversity bacterial blooms, priming bacterial populations for degradation of other hydrocarbons in the aging plume.

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Publications from Rapid Response Research – OCE Awards

January 6, 2011 (online). J. Kessler et al., A Persistent Oxygen Anomaly Reveals the Fate of Spilled Methane in the Deep Gulf of Mexico. Science. 10.1126/science.1199697

Methane was the most abundant hydrocarbon released.Methane and oxygen distribution measurements suggest bacterial bloom respired nearly all the released methane.By analogy, large-scale methane releases from hydrate in the deep ocean are likely to be met by a similar rapid methanotrophic response.

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Research Initiatives Funded by BP DWH GOM Oil Spill

$500M commitment over 10 year period to support independent research

Initiative currently being overseen by Gulf Coast governors

First round of funding announced June 15 2010:

$5M to Louisiana State University, with total of $10M over 10 years to LSU

$10M to Florida Institute of Oceanography (FIO) hosted by University of South Florida

$10M to Northern Gulf Institute (NGI), a consortium led by Mississippi State University

Subsequent funding includes:

$5M to a consortium in Alabama

$10M to National Institutes of Health

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NSF Rapid Response ResearchGrants to Gulf Coast States

Number of Grants Awarded to Gulf Coast States

Total number of grants: 75

Total Amount Awarded to Gulf Coast States

Total Awarded Gulf Coast States: $9,028,792

Note: Alabama and Louisiana are EPSCOR states

Rest of U.S.91

Alabama11

Florida21

Lousiana20

Mississippi12

Texas11

Rest of U.S.$10,403,432

Alabama$1,167,545

Florida$2,668,367

Lousiana$2,523,177

Mississippi$1,692,685

Texas$977,018

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Renewal of Rapid Response Proposals

Covered in GPG Section II.D.1.:

“Renewed funding of RAPID awards may be requested only through submission of a proposal that will be subject to full external merit review. Such proposals would be designated as “RAPID renewals.”

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NSF and the Federal Response• Co-led science summits, listening sessions

• Program Officer on scene at Unified Area Command

• NSF, NOAA shared resources – staff, researchers, ships

• Co-Led interagency PI Conference, 10/2010, FL

• “Lessons Learned,” Other Analyses of RAPID

• Beyond RAPIDs

– Continue research via core programs

– Ongoing participation in interagency efforts

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In Conclusion

These tragic events, the loss of life and damage to the environment, serve as a poignant reminder that we must ever be prepared to respond.

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