The Big-Oil Mess

After watching the responses of BP on stopping the oil, I believe they will do anything except seal the well forever. If the estimates are right, that hole produces 4 million dollars a day if they could only trap it all and sell it. That's why the "relief wells" are being drilled hoping that when complete they could be the producing holes in the future. I guess they see they are going to need a lot of income to cover their asses.
The Feds on the other hand are slow to bring in the cavalry because it would hurt them politically if they asked for one more cent of tax payer's money. So, most of the effort so far has been to secure the funds from BP, and rightfully so. The states affected just don't have the budget.

A few weeks ago I emailed both BP and CNN with my idea of a possible solution. Drill a hole parallel near to the gusher and lower an engineered conventional explosive. Seal that hole and let her rip. If it is close enough to the gusher it would collapse the well like a soda straw. Even if it allows some leakage, the pressure would be reduced enough to install a new assembly on top of the well. I saw on CNN the other day where another solution is to use a nuclear bomb in the same fashion. Geez, a bit overkill and typical sensationalized reporting. I wonder if we could get a Daisy Cutter to fit down a hole?

Another thought I had was to capitalize on the spill. That goo must be worth something even if it is only good for asphalt. Enterprising boat owners could outfit their rigs to collect the goo. They could then haul it to a collection barge or something and get paid for their harvest. Similar to the incentives that drive people to collect scrap metal and haul it to the yard for a $ check. I think the value could even be subsidized for more incentive and still be ahead of the expensive, complicated contracts with skimmer outfits.