BP dispatches steel 'dome' to help clean-up in Gulf of Mexico
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Energy giant British Petroleum (BP) on Wednesday dispatched a steel "dome" in an unprecedented attempt to bring the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico under control.
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A boat is seen clearing up the leaked oil, which was caused by an explosion of a BP oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico, on May 5, 2010. British Petroleum (BP) executives admitted on Tuesday that good solutions are still being sought to tackle the Gulf of Mexico oil spill while U.S. officials are weighing a new method to clean up the mess with dispersant chemicals injected underwater. [Xinhua/Reuters photo] |
The dome, a giant steel containment device, left Port Fourchon, Louisiana, Wednesday on a barge for the ruptured undersea oil well some 52 km off Venice, Louisiana, where the container will be placed over the leaking well.
"If all goes according to plan, we should begin the process of processing the fluid and stop the spilling to the sea on Monday," Doug Suttles, BP's chief operating officer, said Wednesday.
BP said it already stopped one of the three leaks in the wrecked wellhead.
The newly built 100-ton container will collect the leaking oil, which would be sucked up to a drill ship on the surface, according to BP.
If this attempt proves successful, BP said, it would deploy a second smaller dome to deal with another leak.
But Suttles admitted that the technique has never been attempted at the depth of these leaks at some 5,000 feet below sea level.
The dome is expected to reach the well site in 12 hours and will be placed in position after several days.
Meanwhile, efforts are also underway above and below the surface of the Gulf of Mexico to stop oil leak to protect the U.S. coast.
Workers have deployed miles of protective booms to block the huge slick and used dispersants to try to break up the thick oil as it slowly drifted toward shore.
Two specially equipped "burn rigs" set fire to patches of crude oil near the undersea gusher, a BP executive said Wednesday afternoon.
Booms, skimmers and chemical dispersants are being used to corral and break up the oil before it hits the sensitive wetlands of Louisiana or the beaches of Mississippi, Alabama and Florida farther east.
