Interactive: Tracking the oil spill

Could a an expert answer this question: Is it technically possible to "seat" a Navy submarine on top of the oil leak until the new device is ready to sealed?
I am thinking of the way a hen rest on the egs, covering all of them.
I apologize if it is a technically silly possibility but it will hurt not too ask.
Congratulation on the 25th aniversary of the world-wide institution called LKL.
Keep it going for many more years.

People so concerned about the well being of the environment..

But yet so careless about themselves eating unclean meats, unclean fish, birds. What a disaster! No reason to rethink one’s own life..!
Some things are just too Americana. Like getting boozed up and watching baseball.

oil rig spill
I think you are old enough to remember the milk seperator. cream comes out one spiget and milk comes out the other with the turn of a handle. Why can't they use the same idea. Scoop up the salt water and the oil together by syphon. Turn on the motor and the salt water goes back and the oil goes to a holding tank. There can't be much difference between oil and water and milk and cream

It is too bad the Republican led US Supreme Court majority has previously ruled against real punitive monetary punishment awards against Big Oil.

The fishing and tourism business's stand to lose 200 BILLION dollars across 5 States on the Gulf of Mexico and some 1 MILLION direct and indirect jobs during these difficult economic times in America.

Sadly with Big Oil's Chief Justice Roberts and his vocal majority in the US Supreme Court, those 1 MILLION people are screwed. With PR spun clean-up costs and token punitive awards trimmed down by the Republican led majority in the US Supreme Court those family's whose livelihood entirely depends on the once beautiful Gulf of Mexico are among the victims in this ongoing and expanding disaster.

The Huge Dead Zone resulting by this huge heavy Crude Oil spill could stretch thousands of miles across the once beautiful Gulf of Mexico for many years.

American's, get ready to get DRILLED at the gas pump. There is going to be widespread Unemployment thru-out America from the effects of this BP / Haliburton foobar. Nearly ALL shipping from South America come right thru that huge Dead Zone to offload. And the massive shipping up and down the Mississippi Delta traffic ALSO is going to be right in the bulls-eye of that huge crude Oil Spill.

My heart extends hope for all who live on the Gulf Coast that make their living from a clean environment in the coastal waters, bayous and marshlands, now in peril due to the oil spill. They are the kindest and most down to Earth people in the country. It's the full responsibility of BP to clean up and pay damages for the effects of their catastrophe, even if it bankrupts them. They are never to big to fail, just like those who would fail in their small businesses that line the shores and marshlands. Les bon temps roule.. hopefully, they will again soon. The best from a former Gulf Coast resident who misses that good life and that great food.

Hundreds of thousands of jobs are going to be lost directly by the BP / Haliburton Crude Oil Spill in Lousiana ALONE, some 1 MILLION directly and indirectly across the Gulf Region.

The huge Dead Zone in the once beautiful Gulf of Mexico could exist for many years placing an enormous amount of pressure on the fishing industry there to capture, consume and attempt to sell contaminated sea food.

Many Louisiana residents are going to become medically ill by eating Crude Oil contaminated fish, shrimp and shell fish this year and in the years to come.

I would imagine the Bush-Cheney Big Oil Family values and Sarah Palin-John McCain's mantra of drill baby drill would likely result in them being crude oil tarred and run out of the State of Louisiana if any of those nefarious characters showed up in their State.

Do you believe BP will pickup the entire expense costs of this BP / Haliburton Crude Oil disaster?

Hell NO, Absolutely NOT.

BP / Haliburton knows damn well that US Supreme Court Chief Justice Roberts has their back to protect them against real meaningful punitive monetary judgments to entirely offset American Taxpayer dollars being entirely used for the 200 BILLION projected COSTS from this ugly ecological human caused foobar.

American taxpayers are undoubtedly going to get screwed at the gas pumps to quickly make up the slump in Big Oil's stock profits just like Big Health Industry giants have done.

BP / Haliburton has floated 3 Billion earlier and now 7 Billion in its total expenditures in clean-up costs. That would stick American Taxpayers with 193 BILLION dollars in debt to make up. 97% unpaid by BP / Haliburton does that sound FAIR?

AND if the Big Oil supporting US Supreme Court Chief Justice Roberts and his posse of conservative majority US Supreme Jurists rule in favor of 97% unpaid by BP / Haliburton, that would FORCE American Taxpayers which had absolutely ZERO liability in this accident to pay out 197 BILLION dollars, what does that tell you about the Republican led US Supreme Court?

Larry,

My wife and I live in Tallahassee and are planning a camping trip two weeks from now on the coast in Franklin County, Florida. This site is great as it is on the water and has fantastic fishing. Due to the oil spill we are now reconsidering our plans. Why does it seem the states are protecting their piece of the Gulf. Is this not a national emergency?

Dennis C

How very sad that the states that will be most impacted by this environmental disaster are Republican-head-stuck-in-the-sand! The environment does matter, we live on the Earth and there are balances that keep us all alive.

BP's disaster will cost us, Americans, and indeed the World, wildlife, fish of all kinds. The Oceans and its life will pay the price for the greed of Big Oil and the .......ignorance and lack of care of the American people!

We MUST conserve. We MUST support our President's plan for Green energy, or live with the consequences of our .......... ignorance and greed!

I am wondering if it wouldn't have been wiser to just let the rig burn until they could figure a way to shut off the oil. Was that a possibility?

Larry, I've been reading that peat moss will absorb the oil. Why can't bales of peat moss be dropped from the air at the front edge of the oil slick and preserve the environment...as well as, the bales of peat moss can be "picked up" or "harvested" and keep the oil from reaching the valuable parts of the Gulf coast. I'm so concerned and upset about this disaster, I just want to present this to whomever is listening!

Why do they not bring in tankers of liquid nitrigen and freeze the oil pipe line coming out of the ground so they can cut the pipe and cap with a valve?

Who knows when this will eventually get cleaned up & settled. What a catastrophic mess.....it doesn;t seem as if anyone knows what to do!!!! These poor people whose lives are at a total standstill....... somebody needs to help them...they've lost their livelihood for who knows how long..th environment will be a mes for a long,long time. Big business t'aint it just fine!!!!

Larry,

When will you have experts on your show – rather than people with only opinions?

The smartest OTC guys in the world are currently in Houston for the Offshore Technology Conference.

Where are you and your cohorts so that you can report on the facts? Reported from people who do this every day? All across the world?

I AGREE WITH WHAT SMITH IN OREGON SAID. THE CONSUMERS WILL END UP FOOTING THE BILL THRU HIGHER PUMP PRICES. AND THE OIL COMPANYS WILL STILL COME UP WITH PROFITS.

SO SAD THAT THIS HAS HAPPENED. WE DONT HAVE TO WAIT FOR GLOBAL WARMING TO DESTROY THE EARTH THE OIL INDUSTRY IS DOING IT FOR US. BLAME GAME ALREADY ON BOARD, WHERE WERE THEY 2 YEARS AGO WHEN BUSH WAS OUT . I FEEL SO ANGRY AT THIS INDUSTRY . ALTERNATIVE ENERGY IS THE ONLY ANSWER. BREAK THE ADDICTION. PUT THE 6 BILLION DOLLARS OF PROFIT INTO RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES. BYE BYE BIRDS, TURTLES, SHRIMP,LIVELY HOODS, BEAUTIFUL AREA, NOW MAY BE A NASTY MUCKY DEADLY SOUP.

I am told by an industry professional that "A small tactical nuclear device on the seabed would fuse the earth and seal the well, like cauterizing a wound. Now that the BP role is usurped by the Dept. Defense it is an option that I am sure is being considered."

Any chance that is being considered, rather than the construction of concrete towers that may take two or more weeks?

Regarding liability for the oil rig accident and probable environmental and economic disasters, it shouldn't matter to the public whether Haliburton and Transocean and a host of other contractors did the work for BP. BP should be responsible for their well. If they want to sue any of their contractors to get back some or all of the money they have to pay for the damage they did, that is their business.

The government agency that regulates this industry needs to have stricter regulations and inspections. Nuclear regulators require triple redundancy and diversity on safety systems that automatically activate in case of an accident. In the oil well case it seems the failure of a single safety device was sufficient to turn an accident into a calamity. The accident at the Three Mile Island reactor unit that put a brake on nuclear power had much less consequences than are predicted for this oil spill.

@Lucy Henke

The "industry professional that told you the use of "A small tactical nuclear device" would seal the open well-head on the sea floor has been watching too many movies of the "Wrong Kind". Tell him to start reading bedtime stories and sleep on his suggestion for a while...a long, long while.

@Gary Whalen

That would have been a whale of an idea if the rig wouldn't have toppled due to the heat weakening the support structure and falling into the water and tweaking the shutoff valves which caused them to fail.

BP fought getting a back up cut-off valve because they said it was TOO expensive. I think it cost $500,000. Former President Bush backed them. This is another example of our government serving corporations and not protecting the environment, nor the people. The regulatory laws put in place after the Great Depression got rescinded under Clinton and Republicans writing the bills, thus causing the economic collapse. People are suffering. However, the big corporate executives made out like bandits. Our government needs to serve the people NOT corporations. The Gulf may not recover in our lifetime. Both Republicans and Democrats serve corporations! Republicans and Democrats need to quit fighting each other and vote in people that will serve them -NOT CORPORATIONS.

@Ernest

That would work except ice melts in, at the or just above freezing temperatures of the water at 5000 ft. in the gulf. It's salt water.The liquid nitrogen nitrogen required would be enormous and would only serve to starve the oxygen from the water, a problem that is already out of control from the fertilizer laden runoff that enters the Mississippi River from Minnesota to the Gulf Of Mexico. It's an environmental disaster on its own. Who would work in water that would be -196C..312F degree, the temperature of liquid nitrogen, water anyway? Good thought though ...beats nuking the situation..

BP will not be held liable. Take that to the bank.

For all of you out there who aren't from the oil patch.. Here is something very important to consider. If you will all read what BP is saying about the incident, you will notice that they are saying that they will pay for the CLEANUP... but make no mention of the liabilities. Since the Exxon Valdez, the Government entered in to a deal to limit the total liability of the oil company to $75 million. That's it, and no more. BP will not pay one red cent more than this for all the economic harm they do. Take that to the bank. To make matters more interesting, you should note that the oil leak is below the drilling platform were the meter is. The reason that this is significant is that until the oil passes through this meter, IT BELONGS TO THE GOVERNMENT from whom the well site was leased. The oil being spilled belongs to the US government, a fact the the Obama administration, not coming from the deep water drilling business, may not be aware of just yet. BP's and Halliburton's lawyer's are just sitting back smiling right about now, smoking a big old cigar waiting for someone to figure that one out and save them the PR problem of having to point it out. In short, BP has relatively limited liability and the government, who really owns the oil... is stuck and won't be collecting anything form BP for anything beyond capping the well and cleaning up the oil to some extent.

Hey Larry
I have an idea on how to contain this oil on or just below the surface...could be a life saver....but I have no idea on how to go about contacting the right people to let them know. This idea is very simple....would need some research but i'm very confident it will work not only on this spill but any future catstrophes like this. I've completed some tests on a smaller scale and the results were amazing.....BP should know about this

@

This is shameful and a crime on the environment and humanity. What's up with them!...........:-(

Hi Larry,
In you book, do you talk about your ancestry, I have done a check and your name ( King ) is a sept of the following clan:

CLAN MacGregor
Septs, ( Entitled to wear the clan tartan. )
Black, Caird, Comrie, Fletcher, Gregor, Gregorson, Gregory, Greig, Grewar, Grier, Grierson, Grigor, Gruer, King, Leckie, Lecky, MacAdam, Macara, Macaree, MacChoiter, Maccrouther, Macgrewar, Macgrowther, Macgruder, Macgruther, Macilduy, MacLeister, MacLiver, MacNee, MacNeish, MacNie, MacNish, MacPeter, Malloch, Neish, Nish, Peter, White, Whyte.

I think you would look great in a kilt to show off your Scots or Scots/Irish heritage.

If you need help with the kilt ( I have kilt, will travel.)

( You don't get a second chance to make a first impression. )

Yours Aye,

Jock

@ Michael, yes I fully agree with your astute comments on why it is entirely likely that BP will push the enormous burden of real Total Costs caused by this huge Crude Oil spill (estimated at 200 Billion dollars) onto the American taxpayers.

If you read my previous comment in that regards you'll also note the prior Republican led and owned US Supreme Court majority jurists supporting Exxon's limited liability against punitive damages that were entirely supported by lower courts and federal appeals courts.

US Supreme Court Chief Justice Roberts appears to be a good friend of Big Oil and BP undoubtedly knows he has their back and their interests at heart.

And just as sweeping Energy and Cap and Trade regulations and reforms were scheduled to be debated and voted on in the US Senate to place the brakes on Big Oil, Big Coal and America's addiction on fossil fuels the Republican party pushed the Arizona State Immigration law forward in a bum rush fire sale.

I for one do not think this sudden State Immigration law by the Republican lawmakers in Arizona was a coincidence as the deep sea Oil spill created one of the largest heavy crude Oil ecological disasters in modern history.

It appears entirely to be a planned and orchestrated effort by the Republican lawmakers to force the Obama administration away from working on and passing strong and sweeping regulations on Big Oil, Big Coal and America's addiction to burning fossil fuels.

The $75,000,000,000 damages beyond the cost of cleanup is only if BP is NOT found negligent for the spill. Congress is talking about upping that to $10,000,000,000 and BP has reportedly made $6,000,000,000 in the first quarter this year. Let's sit back and see which side of the aisles support the increase in damages. Any guesses? Look for the ones with the oily slicked back hair for some clues...

correction...$75,000,000...got a bit carries away with zeroes...was thinking about all those zeroes in D.C.

OIL? YOUR A NEWS MAN! DON'T HIDE MAGNETIC MOTORS!! DON'T LIE ABOUT THEM!! MAGNETIC MOTORS IS THE ONLY WAY!! The BIBLE say's the planet will rock before JESUS comes! SOON LARRY SOON! THINK MAGNETIC MOTORS!! ROCK THIS PLANET JESUS!! SEE YA SOON JESUS MY BROTHER!!!!!!!!! LOVE YA!!!

such a sad situation. So many people will lose their livelihood not to mention the catastrophe to the environment! I hope there is some law to sue PB. This should be a clear sign not to drill off shore.

mary-jane

Love the name...there are thousands of rigs in the Gulf of Mexico..and thousands who live there make decent livings on them. They do have good safety measures, for the most part, and I don't think anyone can recall such a screw up like this or even near this tragic in the gulf. I am hopeful the extent of the damage done is not as bad as the possibilities...