We already know BP is erecting gigantic steel and cement boxes which they hope to place over the leaks on the seabed. The boxes will have long vacuum hoses attached to their tops (like childrens' sippy cup straws) to pump the out-of-control oil gushers to ships waiting on the surface.
That still does not address how to permanently stop the volcanic rush of oil (5,000 barrels estimated per day at this time) into the boxes which are hastily being built. And please keep in mind this type of fix has never been tested on a oil break this size.
If that's the good news, what's the bad news?
Now comes news today from BP that it might take "three months" to drill down to the broken well and inject cement to stop the flow permanently.
Question: What happens if the vacuum box containers do not work?
Answer: We can kiss watersports and beaches good-bye in the Gulf of Mexico and most likely the Eastern Seaboard of America this summer. You can also say good-bye to the Great Recession recovery and any hope for a bottom in home prices in the Sunshine State anytime soon.
Three more months? Jesus H. Christ.
From the Times today "BP says stemming oil flow will take three months":
The fight to cut off the flow of oil feeding the giant oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico could take three months, BP said today.
The oil giant launched a new front in its battle to contain the spill, as engineers began drilling a relief well designed to cut off the leaking oil permanently.
The new well, which is in 5,000 feet of water, is planned to intercept the existing well at 13,000 feet — about two miles — below the seabed. It will be used to inject cement to cap the one that is leaking.
Drilling began on Sunday at 3pm local time, after days of delays caused by poor weather conditions. However, BP confirmed that the operation would take “some three months” to complete.
The operation, which will cost an estimated $100 million, is being undertaken by a second rig called Development Driller III, which BP towed to the site last week.
“This is another key step in our work to permanently stop the loss of oil from the well,” said BP group chief executive Tony Hayward.
“At the same time we are continuing with our efforts to stop the leak and control the oil at the seabed, to tackle the oil offshore and to protect the shoreline.”
An estimated 1.6 million gallons of oil are thought to have leaked from the site of the BP-leased Deepwater Horizon rig, since an explosion on April 20 which killed 11 workers.
Sarah Palin just yesterday was urging viewers on Fox to continue to believe in "Drill, Baby, Drill!" And Bill Kristol is telling his readers that we need to build the oil rigs closer to shore. (See my post earlier today "Heckuva Case of Oral Diarrhea, Brownie + 7 Stupidest Statements About The Growing Oil Amoeba In The Gulf Coast".)
If this is what passes as intelluctualism from the Fringe Right, you can bet upcoming elections are not going to go well for the Tea Party crowd.
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