How Would You Stop or Slow Down the Gulf Oil Leak?

[liquidbase]

My idea to slow down the oil leak is to use every method that has been tried so far with little or no success simultaneously. In other words, use all the attempted plans such as the double pipe, the top hat dome, and the junk shot at the same time on the spilling pipe. Do you have an idea to stop or slow down the oil leak?

 

[Nette]

DH can't figure out why if they can thread a "straw" into it and capture some of the oil, that they can't put a big balloon on the end of the straw and inflate it like an angioplasty. But instead of removing the balloon (as you would in the angioplasty) leave it there and use it to block the leak and let the straw relieve the pressure and capture that oil.

Makes sense to me... but I don't know much about inflating balloons a mile underwater.

 

[kamik86]

Real suggestions no but while waiting for Iron Man 2 to start we went through a discussion on how every super hero we could think of would have done it (or if they would have had to call for backup because they couldn't).

It was fun, from Batman solving it as Bruce Wayne by developing a method of welding underwater without blowing up oil and selling it as a wayne tech product, Ironman doing the same thing but doing it himself to get the glory, superman just crushing the pipe so nothing could leak...

 

[DawnCt1]

I have seen different suggestions aired on Fox News from regular people, or scientists that have ideas but can't get an audience with those making the decisions. One example was intriguing. It wouldn't stop the leak but would mitigate some of the damage. It was discovered by accident by a mattress manufacturer and after some experimenting, he found he could submerge mattress material in oil contaminated water, it absorbs all of the oil and leaves the water clean. Now I have no idea if this would work but there should be a web site where someone vets these ideas, attempts to test them and moves forward. The latest I heard is that those plans to mitigate oil in the wetlands need to wait for "an environmental impact study". If that isn't the stupidest thing I have heard today!

 

[Jennasis]

Have they tried yelling at the oil?

 

[DawnCt1]

Have they tried yelling at the oil?

Yes they have....indirectly.

 

[cabanafrau]

Initially they were burning some of the oil, but not for very long at all. I've been wondering why they're not doing that for areas far from shore. I'm sure it wouldn't clear it all up, but I think it's going to have to be solved a bit here and a bit there as far as clean-up.

Shortly after the explosion there was mention of the rest of the world requiring emergency shut-off valves, which are not required in US. I find it interesting no one has stepped forward to make that policy from here on out. Surely this mess makes that decision a no brainer.

 

[Christine]

Shortly after the explosion there was mention of the rest of the world requiring emergency shut-off valves, which are not required in US. I find it interesting no one has stepped forward to make that policy from here on out. Surely this mess makes that decision a no brainer.

I heard that too and I *thought* that it was going to be policy on anything newly implemented.

 

[DawnCt1]

Initially they were burning some of the oil, but not for very long at all. I've been wondering why they're not doing that for areas far from shore. I'm sure it wouldn't clear it all up, but I think it's going to have to be solved a bit here and a bit there as far as clean-up.

Shortly after the explosion there was mention of the rest of the world requiring emergency shut-off valves, which are not required in US. I find it interesting no one has stepped forward to make that policy from here on out. Surely this mess makes that decision a no brainer.

I thought I remember that there was an emergency shut off valve that did not operate after the explosion.

 

[SandrA9810]

one of the recent debates in florida was about drilling off our coast. There was a front page article "could this happen to us?" and featured a photo of a recent rig explosion.

At first, i thought it was the golf's, until i read the paper's date of early march. And the article saying it was in australia.

Florida doesn't even have a rig, yet we still have to be concerned and worried about our waters from a rig hundreds of miles away.

Some one posted on another board about one county in florida, prepared to use straw and hay to soak up and absorb the oil before reaching shore, and covering the beaches with it.

Maybe Dawn could start producing millions and start spreading it over the ocean. It's gotta be better than that other stuff that sucks the oxygen right out of the water and probably does as much harm as the oil.

 

[legalsea]

Simple: a nuclear blast. Drop a H-Bomb on top of the gusher and see what happens.

Years ago there was a discussion about 'how to stop hurricanes'. One bright soul came up with the idea of dropping a nuclear bomb in the eye of a hurricane, saying that it would disrupt the circulating wind and hence stop the hurricane dead in its tracks.

A reporter went to a hurricane expert (I forget who) and asked said expert, on camera, "What would happen if you dropped a nuclear bomb in the eye of a hurricane?"

Expert's answer: "Well, then you would have a radioactive hurricane".

 

[MickeySP]

How about stuffing a bunch of BP executives in the rupture?!!!

 

[Myothername]

How about stuffing a bunch of BP executives in the rupture?!!!

I like that one.

We truly need a high ranking government official to take charge here. No more impact studies just do something and we will do a study later. I heard they were wanting to build an artificial barrier island off the Louisiana coast to protect the marsh but the governor, who I really like, had to wait for permission. I say just build the darn thing and get permission later. What are they going to do to you? Fire you? Just do it. Reminds me of an incident in our area after Katrina. Truckloads of ice sat waiting for days to get permission to distribute to the people who really needed it. Finally after several days the local sheriff commandeered two of the trucks and took them to the people. Yes he got in trouble later but all charges were dropped. But he got the job done.

 

[*JoGo*]

I believe Kramer was on to something with his rubber bladder... it just needed a bit of fine tuning. It's rather unfortunate that Kramerica Industries disolved.

 

[luvmy3]

I believe Kramer was on to something with his rubber bladder... it just needed a bit of fine tuning. It's rather unfortunate that Kramerica Industries disolved.

That is the first thing I thought of when I saw this thread. Karmer would know what to do!!

 

[msmouse]

How about stuffing a bunch of BP executives in the rupture?!!!

Would love to see that! Maybe then they would stop calling it a "leak" and call it what it really is. . .a "gusher". Our Louisiana governor said he was tired of waiting for permission and would risk going to jail to save our marshlands. This is just unbelievable!

 

[stevenpensacola]

Plugging this well is a very complicated undertaking:

http://gcaptain.com/forum/offshore/4805-deepwater-horizon-transocean-oil-rig-fire.html