Has been difficult to get to the heart of just what structure is in place on the bottom. Apparently the main valve body is still attached to the sea floor. The busted 21" pipe spewing oil comes after the non-operational valve body.

WTF has taken these idiots so long to cap the leak? I understand the pressure at depth issues. I understand due diligence to avoid making the leak worse. But those valve bodies have multiple ingress points.

There is nothing to save on the bottom, no salvage value. A Chernobyl encasement should have been in progress for weeks already.

James Carville blasting the Obama admin. over the oil spill response.

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Politics/b...ry?id=10746519







More BP negligence coming into the light.

Truitt Crawford, a roustabout for drilling rig owner Transocean Ltd., told Coast Guard investigators about the complaints. The seawater, which would have provided less weight to contain surging pressure from the ocean depths, was being used to prepare for dropping a final blob of cement into the well.

"I overheard upper management talking saying that BP was taking shortcuts by displacing the well with saltwater instead of mud without sealing the well with cement plugs, this is why it blew out," Crawford said in his statement.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_gulf_oil_spill

This.

I don't know to what extent they're doing this but yes this would be a logical move. I also wonder why at least the relief well operations aren't being done in parallel. That may not be possible, don't know.

I admit to knowing little about the technical challenges of capping this thing but you seem to believe that the operation is being run by incompetents. If the newest plan doesn't work then they're talking mid August at a minimum to drill relief wells. I can't imagine this spill continuing like this for nearly 3 more months minimum. Ugly, ugly.

its pretty easy to say "why can't they get this done" and "fools" when you know nothing of the engineering and logistics.

I for one always thought some upside down funnel of some sort with a pipe at the top to siphon the oil seemed like the most obv solution.

Isn't that what the giant 4-story "outhouse" they tried a few days ago was?

In hindsight, that big crescent moon was a design flaw.

http://www.theatlantic.com/science/a...y-tried/57300/

As Pvn said they have already tried the "funnel" type method...

I hear BP is really throwing money at the situation...My roommates brother from Boston is in Alabama now, having been contracted by BP, waiting for oil to hit.

He was one of a mass of people they are sending to the region. BP paid for his flight, hotel, meals everything and they are guaranteed at least 12 hours work every day no matter how many hours they put in each day. This as well as getting paid time and a half for any work over 40 hours...Thing is my roommates brother doesn't have an engineering degree or any for that matter (dropped out to play poker professionally) so you can see just how desperate BP is.

I really thought the 2-story one was gonna work, though.

NB4 cartoon of underwater robot stuffing $100 bills in the hole.

From day 1, what needed to be done, was the well hole needed to be plugged. There was no fire to deal with. They drill and cap wells all the time.

The structure on the bottom was compromised and couldn't be trusted for production. What they finally started today was what should have been in progress 2 to 3 weeks ago, fill the pipe with mud to control the flow, then concrete.

The geologic and hydraulic engineering has been done before, this ain't their first wet hole. What is it about the Gulf of Mexico that causes people to feel the need to sit and chat in meetings as opposed to just getting the job done. Big impossible things get done all the time, Nimitz order the Enterprise to sea in 3 days when she needed 3 months in drydock, and survived Midway.

Too much talk, not enough action and everyone is scared ****less of litigation. Damages are naturally mitigated when you stop the bleeding sooner than later.

BP should hire you.

FYP

"In Photos: Haunting images of the gulf oil disaster"

Uh oh, WaPao turning on Obama.

Five questions for Obama on the oil spill

2. BP is now in the position of making many of the key decisions on how to deal with it -- a situation that is drawing growing criticism. White House officials note the administration is following a process established under the 1990 Oil Spill Act, which was passed in response to the Exxon Valdez incident; they also concede that the government, effectively, has no choice but to let BP take the lead because it lacks the equipment and expertise to do the job. In at least one instance in which the federal government has attempted to overrule BP, which was over its use of dispersant chemicals that the Environmental Protection Agency says are too toxic, the company has not complied. What do you say to those who say too much control has been ceded to BP? And what kind of changes, if any, should be made in the process for dealing with future oil spills?


When will Obama start taking questions from the media on this disaster? Maybe he's just not that engaged.

BPGlobalPR sums it up pretty well

I thought they've been drilling the relief well the whole time?

So if this doesn't work does Obama nuke it? He is trying to reduce our stockpile anyways, right?

Not sure if this has been posted, but here is a live feed (not from a commercial website or streaming video.

BP robocam live feed

I realize this may be a premature comment but it seems like what they did is making the oil flow 10x worse. Check the feed.

I'm in no way qualified to interpret the data. However, I was watching this feed a few hours ago. It appears to me that the major plume(s) were a great deal darker earlier.

My assumption would be that the mud is mixing with the oil, turning the plumes a lighter color. Not sure what that means in terms of how it's changing the actual volume of oil that is flowing though.

Watching the video isn't going to tell you anything unless you know what you're looking at/for.

I'd agree with Slacker that its most likely a ton of mud coming out that they're shooting into the hole. I hear the mud is very expensive.

the BP site b4 the top-kill said something along the lines of "it will take 2-3 days, if it works and it one cannot judge by looks if the process is working" so I guess we will have to wait and hope...

It could take up to 20 hrs for drilling mud to fill the bore hole to a depth of 3000'+. All the time mud and oil mixture will continue to blow from the leak due to geologic pressure. It should become a control of the stream. Then the plan is pump a 3000'+ concrete plug that should seal the well.