Oil's Well That Doesn't End Well For This Oil Well, Part 17

The Coast Guard has given BP until the end of the weekend to come up with a plan to contain the rest of the spilling oil as Alabama beaches are now under assault by wave after wave of tarballs.

The Coast Guard initially sent a letter to BP on Wednesday asking for more details on its plans to contain the oil. BP responded, saying a new system to trap oil spewing from the well should be complete by mid-July.

That system's new design is meant to better withstand the force of hurricanes and could capture about 2 million gallons of oil daily when fully built, the oil giant said.

But Watson said he was concerned that BP's plans didn't maximize resources or "go far enough to mobilize redundant resources" in the event of an equipment failure or another problem.

"BP must identify in the next 48 hours additional leak containment capacity that could be operationalized and expedited to avoid the continued discharge of oil," Watson wrote.

BP spokesman Jon Pack said the company received Watson's letter and would respond to it as soon as possible.

Mid-July isn't going to be good enough.  But what can the Coast Guard actually do if BP doesn't go faster?  I'm thinking "not much of anything."  The reality is hundreds of thousands of gallons of oil are still escaping BP's cap, and unless another measure is put in place, the damage will spread to Florida next.

We're well past the point of simply threatening BP.