BP sends giant box to contain Gulf of Mexico oil spill

[link to news.bbc.co.uk]

Wouldn't it have been a better idea if B.P. had just not been irresponsible, capitalist prostitutes in the first place?

[link to news.bbc.co.uk]

The dome will be lowered 5,000ft (1,500m) under water to funnel leaking oil to the surface

A ship carrying a giant metal containment box has arrived at the site where a sunken oil rig has been leaking oil into the Gulf of Mexico.

Oil giant BP says it is hopeful the 90-tonne device will help to contain the oil and funnel it to a tanker.

The US is to carry out a controlled burn of some of the leaked oil to stop it from getting closer to the shore.

The spill was set off by an explosion that destroyed the Deepwater Horizon rig off Louisiana last month.

Eleven rig workers died in the explosion, and the ensuing oil leak has since been threatening several southern US states.

US authorities were on Thursday investigating reports that the oil spill had reached the Chandeleur Islands off Louisiana's coast.

Complicated operation

Remote-controlled submarines will now be used to lower the containment device over the leak.

The operation to fix the massive funnel in place is expected to take two days, and a further two days will be required to connect it to a ship above via a drill-pipe.

If the operation is successful, BP hopes to begin pumping oil to the surface early next week.

BP has never deployed such a structure at a depth of 5,000ft (1,500m) and difficulties may occur, said BP Chief Executive Tony Hayward.

Mr Hayward gave no prediction as to when the oil leak would be stopped, or how much the clean-up operation will ultimately cost.


HOW THE OIL FUNNEL WORKS

The funnel is a 40ft tall iron box, weighing 98 tonnes
It will be placed over the leak, 5,000ft down on the seabed
BP hopes it will collect 85% of the leaking oil and pipe it to the surface

He denied his company had been slow to react to the disaster, saying BP had mobilised immediately to contain the threat, and adding that it was working with US authorities to contain the spill.

"It's a military operation and we are thinking of it as a battle on three fronts: beneath the sea, in the sea, and on the shore," said Mr Hayward.

He said efforts to protect the southern US coastline were going well, with 100 ships involved in an operation to skim oil from the sea's surface - including 20 of the world's largest skimming vessels.

Thousands of feet of boom were being used as a barrier to contain the slick and a small air force was deploying dispersants, he added.

Some 4,000 volunteers were being paid $10 an hour to help defend the beaches, he said.

A sheen of oil has already reached the shore in parts of Louisiana, but officials say coagulated crude oil is not expected to reach coastal areas until the end of the week.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said the oil slick was not expected to move much in the next several days.

Wildlife concerns

Earlier, BP said it had managed to seal the smallest of the three leaks spilling oil into the Gulf of Mexico.

As long as we are extracting resources in demanding conditions there will occasionally be accidents like this

Oil is still gushing into the sea at a rate of about 800,000 litres (176,000 imperial gallons) a day, but officials say working with only two leaks makes tackling the spill easier.

Favourable weather conditions have now allowed crews to begin burning off more of the oil where it is most heavily concentrated, AP said.

A burn was last tried on 28 April when thousands of litres of oil were successfully removed.

Concerns for the impact of the burn on wildlife in the area have been dismissed by the body co-ordinating the response to the spill.

BP has told members of a US congressional committee that up to 9.5m litres a day could spill if the leaks worsen.