BP 'may stem oil leak with golf balls and tyres'
 

BP officials desperate to stem a huge oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico are considering stuffing the well with golf balls and tyres, it was revealed.

BP Chief Operating Officer Doug Suttles said the so-called "junk shot" of debris was one option after previous attempts to stem the flow failed.

A growing slick from the BP-leased rig is threatening an environmental disaster along US coasts.

Some 5,000 barrels (210,000 gallons) of oil a day are flowing into the sea.

Mr Suttles said it may be possible to stem the flow by blocking the well's failed blowout preventer.

"We have some pipe work on the blowout preventer, and if we can open certain valves on that we could inject basically just rubber and other type of material into [it] to plug it up, not much different to the way you might plug up a toilet," he said.

Admiral Thad Allen of the US Coast Guard said it could plug the main leak.

"They're going to take a bunch of debris, shredded up tyres, golf balls and things like that, and under very high pressure shoot it into the preventer itself and see if they can clog it up and stop the leak," he told CBS television.

However, experts have warned that any further damage to the blowout preventer - a huge valve system meant to turn the oil off - could see it shooting out at 12 times the current rate.

The full story here http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/8672181.stm

Well I Just hope it works and they can stop the oil

Sounds like desperation at this point.

hmmm i think taking the heads of BP and shoving their fat asses in the hole would be a better idea.

that doesnt sound good... 12 times.... man

Some of these guys should get time behind bars for fucking up the ocean :mad:

:1orglaugh:1orglaugh

no kidding eh? exactly what sort of emergency is this?

I sure hope it works and we don't read the next news headling stating, "Junk shot failed... tons of tire debris and golf balls now floating in the ocean"

Good because that usually where my golfballs end up, in the water

Naaah ... They will get a bonus tough ....

There's a lot of discussion as to whether the "current rate" of 5000/day is even accurate. Some peg it at 25000/day. So there's less downside risk to trying wacky stuff like this.

Jamming another BOP on top of the "failed" one is viable too. But again they're concerned about increasing the flow to try that.

Those blaming BP, I heard from a very decent source who knows the oil industry that it's not BP's fault, but they are at the moment playing it perfectly as if it was, they have this scenario already and are doing the best they can. Anyway thats what I heard.

six days ago the spill could be seen from SPACE!!!

http://www.treehugger.com/nasa-oil-s...th-photo01.jpg


hate to imagine what it looks like from the same vantage point now...

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010...ulf-mexico.php

how do you mean?

But, why golf balls and tires? Any junk will do it.

Is it the people who built the rig ?

That this is all going on at close to a mile below the oceans surface...

I've been trying to fathom it but I cannot wrap my head around it. That is so far down.

Such a fucking nightmare.

I love it! :1orglaugh:1orglaugh

It's about the distance from the north rim of the Grand Canyon to the south rim...straight across and that is a long distance.

mother fuckers will ruin nature

they could stuff it full of tampons for all i care, just plug the fucking hole.