Beleaguered BP hit another snag Wednesday morning in its attempt to cap the undersea gusher responsible for the worst oil spill in U.S. history.Nice to see our best and brightest are on the job, eh?
The blade of a diamond wire cutter being used to slice off the damaged riser pipe got stuck -- much like a saw on a tree limb -- and stalled the "cut and cap" operation, said U.S. Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, the federal government's point man on the Gulf oil spill.
Allen, however, said he did not see it as a huge problem and expected the maneuver to continue.
BP's goal is to free the saw -- described as a giant deli slicer -- and put in a new blade if needed to finish the second cut later Wednesday, Allen said at a news conference.
The operation involves remote-controlled robots used to sever the damaged riser pipe. Engineers then plan to place a custom fit cap over the well stub.
Allen said how snugly that cap fits and stops oil from gushing depends on how smoothly the riser pipe is cut.
"It's a question of how much precision we can bring to it," he said.
At this point, the federal government would be doing BP a huge favor by taking over the company, as it is I don't want my taxpayer dollars used to any operation this completely incompetent. Let the stock price drop until ExxonMobil or Royal Dutch Shell can buy them out, then let them worry about dealing with what's left of the company.
Well what would you suggest they do?
ReplyDeleteHe wants the feds to take over remember? That'll fix it!
ReplyDeleteshhh you're ruining my perfect segway into trolling :-P
ReplyDeleteSegue.
ReplyDeleteA mind is a terrible thing to waste.
Touche Allan
ReplyDeleteIt's actually the Blackberry that auto corrected that for me.
(Fair warning if I ever tell you to "duck yourself" you'll know it struck again)