Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Rolling the Dice in the Gulf of Mexico

Game's On. British Petroleum has decided to gamble with a "top kill" procedure to stem the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

The risky procedure was started shortly after noon today. The idea is to pump masses of heavy liquids into the ruptured pipe in hope that will be enough to seal it off which would then allow BP to cement it over. Will it work? Nobody knows because the technique has never been attempted underwater. Some observers warn it's a gamble that carries the risk of making the spill much worse if it fails.

Nobody knows the odds but what we do know is that the "kill shot" wasn't BP's first choice. In fact they've tried a few other options before coming to this and only now, after 33-days of failure, are they taking this gamble.

You can watch BP's live video stream of the site here.

3 comments:

penlan said...

Apparently Cuba is now on target to get this oil on their shores. What a nightmare. The whole thing, from top to bottom, is a crime - BP & US. Govt.

LMA said...

I'm wondering where all this heavy "mud" which is apparently laced with chemicals will end up if the oil pressure forces it back out the pipe. In the Gulf I guess, along with all the dispersants and oil. The marshes are slowly being coated with black crude oil and everyone is screaming for the US government to "fix" it. Unfortunately, the damage that is being done won't be fixed for decades, if ever.

This is only going to be repeated if we continue drilling for oil in inaccessible spots deep in the ocean and in the Arctic. The Cons are feeding us a misinformation about strong regulations for drilling in the Arctic, while weakening environmental assessment. Is there no politician in this country that can see we are heading down the same disastrous path as the US?

The Mound of Sound said...

Latest word is that the "top kill" may have succeeded. Still too early to tell I suspect. BP's live video feed has suddenly gone down.