BP seeks yet another way to stop oil leak as protests loom

(News Today) - BP seemed to be getting criticism from every angle as the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico entered its 45th day Thursday and every effort to stop the historic flow is still failing.

As the oil company was getting increased scrutiny from Congress and the president, a grassroots campaign dubbed Seize BP planned demonstrations in more than 50 cities to start Thursday.

"From Florida to Seattle, Washington, from Hawaii to New York, all over California and many, many states across the country, people will be taking to the streets over the next week to demand that the assets of BP be seized now," said Richard Becker, a member of the San Francisco chapter of the group. "We know millions of people are deeply concerned about what's going on in the Gulf right now and we expect large numbers of people to come out to the protests."

Sentiment like this has seemed to grow as more and more oil from the underwater gusher has made its way to or near coastal areas of Louisiana, Florida and other gulf states.

Making matters worse, BP announced Wednesday it had abandoned its latest plan to use a massive diamond wire cutter to cut the pipe spewing oil.

BP engineers had hoped that the cutter would cut the pipe making it easier for them to place a cap on it.

The diamond wire cutter plan was dumped after the device got stuck midway through the pipe. It was freed and taken to the surface, Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen said.

The next move will be to use the same sheer-cutting device that made a successful cut on the riser Tuesday. The only issue with that cutter is the rougher surface left by that cut will not accommodate the tight seal needed for installation of the lower-marine riser package that BP wanted to use the stop the gusher.

BP engineers now plan to use a different device called a "top hat" instead.

As BP went back to the drawing board, shifting weather patterns threatened to push more oil toward the shores of Mississippi, Alabama and Florida.

Mississippi reported weathered oil and tar balls on barrier islands Tuesday, and Florida Gov. Charlie Crist warned Wednesday that the white sands of the Panhandle could start seeing crude wash ashore "in a day or two."

In Louisiana, where oily sludge has been fouling coastal marshes for two weeks, state officials said the White House has given its blessing to a plan to dredge up walls of sand offshore and BP agreed to fund the $360 million construction cost.

U.S. officials raised concerns about the long-term environmental effects of what would effectively amount to building dozens of miles of new barrier islands off the state's coast, but Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and other officials had pushed for approval of the plan as a last-ditch effort to prevent further damage.

"It's very difficult if not impossible to clean it up out of the marsh," said Billy Nungesser, president of Louisiana's Plaquemines Parish, which includes the mouth of the Mississippi River. "That's why we need this first line of defense, and we're going to work hard, very quickly, to get that berm out there to give us the maximum protection and give us a fighting chance."

On Day 44 of the disaster, National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration extended fishing restrictions deeper into the Gulf and eastward along the Florida Panhandle.

The latest order means 37 percent of the Gulf is now closed to fishing due to the spill, and it moves the boundaries of the restricted zone eastward to just south of Navarre, Florida, and southward to the edge of the Dry Tortugas, off Key West.

Concern has spread southward. The head of the Department of the Environment and Natural Resources in Mexico said Wednesday that five states in Mexico are monitoring the oil spill in the event it reaches land in the country, according to the state-run news agency Notimex.

BP's latest attempt to curtail the flow comes after several failures, including a closely watched bid to use heavy drilling fluid and cement to shut down the well.

The well erupted after an explosion and fire on the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig on April 20 that killed 11 people. The rig sank two days later, leaving up to 19,000 barrels (798,000 gallons) of oil a day pouring into the Gulf, according to federal estimates.

The gusher may not be shut until August, when BP expects to complete relief wells that will take the pressure off the one now spewing into the Gulf.

BP, rig owner Transocean Ltd. and oilfield services company Halliburton have blamed each other for the disaster. But BP, as the well's owner, is responsible for the costs of the cleanup under federal law. The company said it has spent more than $1 billion to clean up the spill.

At the same time, BP has taken a beating in the halls of government, drawing the ire of members of Congress, officials in the Gulf states and the Obama administration, which announced Tuesday that a criminal investigation of the spill was underway.

Source : CNN

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