Dude...where were you in Aug? You spent so much time telling us the insurance companies were the worstest people in the world, and totally didn't speak out against oil in the water. Did the cat have yer tongue? Crikee, these blokes even speak some form of English as a first language.
Yer silence was deafening back then. Outta sight, outta mind...ain't our water.
It's a little late to get self-righteously pious.
Montara oil spill
Satellite image of the oil slick in the Timor Sea, September 2009.
Location Timor Sea, off the northern coast of Western Australia
Date August 21, 2009 to November 3, 2009
Cause
Cause Leak from the Montara wellhead platform
Operator PTT Public Company Limited
Spill characteristics
Volume 1.2 to 9 million gallons total
Area 6,000 km2 (2,300 sq mi)
The Montara oil spill was an oil and gas leak and subsequent slick that took place in the Montara oil field in the Timor Sea, off the northern coast of Western Australia. It is considered one of Australia's worst oil disasters.[1] The slick was released following a blowout from the Montara wellhead platform on August 21, 2009, and continued leaking until November 3, 2009, when the leak was stopped by pumping mud into the well and the wellbore cemented thus "capping" the blowout.[2][3] The West Atlas rig is owned by Atlas Drilling, and operated by PTTEP Australasia, a subsidiary of PTT Exploration and Production (PTTEP) which is in turn a subsidiary of PTT, the Thai state-owned oil and gas company was operating over on adjacent well on the Montara platform. The Montara field is located off the Kimberley coast, 250 km (160 mi) north of Truscott airbase, and 690 km (430 mi) west of Darwin.[4][5][6] Sixty-nine workers were evacuated from the West Atlas jackup drilling rig when the blowout occurred.[5]
The Australian Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism estimated that the Montara oil leak could be as high as 2000 barrels/day, five times the 400 barrels/day estimated by PTTEP Australasia.[7] After flying over the spill site, Australian Greens Senator Rachel Siewert claimed the spill was far greater than had originally been reported.[8] WWF-Australia also claimed that the spill was worse than originally expected.[9][10]
The first four attempts to plug the oil leak by PTTEP failed, but the fifth attempt succeeded on November 3, 2009, when PTTEP pumped approximately 3,400 barrels of mud into a relief well to stop the leak.[2][3][11]
On November 1, 2009, during an attempt to plug the leak, a fire broke out on the West Atlas drilling rig.[12] On November 2, PTTEP said that the fire appeared to be burning off the oil and thereby preventing further leakage into the sea.[13] The fire was largely extinguished when the leak was stopped.[2][14] Once safety criteria was met, a specialist team boarded the Montara wellhead platform and the West Atlas to assess the damages.
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