What Happens in the Not Too Distant Future When BP Gives Up?

[tekisui]

I have long lost all faith in BP's ability. They have been trying long shots from day one, and failed all along the way. Thad Allen still says BP is the one with the expertise and the equipment to stop the leak.

What is the next step if BP admits they don't have a solution? Even the relief well is not a guarantee. BP is responsible for stopping the leak, we all understand that. And, they have given the date of the end of August to have the relief well going. They will undoubtedly get that time to try anything.

During that time or after that, what if BP cannot stop the leak? Do we just wait for the reserve in the well to empty?

[JuniperLea]

1. We may not have another choice...

If the scientists at BP can't stop this thing, who can? This well should have never been... a relief well should have been part of the initial drilling. BP has lied, has paid out a ton of money to investors, and has orchestrated a compelling dog and pony show. I think they are killing time until they can save the well with a relief well.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

2. No one could have predicted that long shots would fail.

[eleny]

3. Then they admit that they lied about being ready for such a disaster

I hope that this would mean they admit complete liability and that their "suits" go to prison.

And I hope it wakes Americans up to the fact that vigilant regulation is everything. And that Reagan ef'd them.

[Poll_Blind]

4. Make BP executives eat oil-killed animals till they, themselves, die. It's what Jesus'd do.

Seriously though, it's an interesting question because everything I've been hearing says nobody except BP and their cronies have even have the technology to do these sorts of things. So if they give up, I mean, you have this fucking mega-toxic volcano just going off forever.

And that's obviously not going to be a viable solution because it's pretty clear that this could actually kill off most complex life in the Gulf of Mexico if it goes on for much longer. That not only means the animals, who suffer the most, but the humans who depend on them, the dollars and tax revenue from fishing licenses, I mean....it's huge.

Can't wait for the reserve in the well to be empty. If we do, we're talking seriously fucking up the livelihoods of a sizable portion of humanity (assuming this will eventually leave the gulf and affect eastern South America, Atlantic fishing and possibly the West Coast of Africa).

So throwing up one's hands is not an option.

I don't know what options there are. I'd love to see BP seized like they were run by motherfucking Saddam Hussein because this is harming the United States a SHITLOAD more than anything HE ever did.

PB

[Ruby the Liberal]

5. One guy is claiming it will spew for 24 years

Lets hope this is the worst of the worst of the worst case scenarios.

Video at: http://www.businessinsider.com/matthew-simmons-dylan-ratigan-deepwater-2010-5

[Statistical]

6. Relief well is the proven method to seal blowout. Everyting else is a long shot.

Longshots by definition normally fail.

Should BP just sit back and wait 70 more days for relief well or is trying something, even longshots better than nothing?

[tekisui]

9. Not sure longshots are better than nothing.

Some can make the problem worse in the interim. The relief well, while proven successful in other instances, is not a guarantee. I wonder if there is any data on relief well success rates drilled after a blowout a couple of miles deep?

[Statistical]

10. Ixtoc I was 29,000 ft deep. Deep Horizon was 36,000 feet deep.

Rather similar geographies. Deep Horizon has the disadvantage of being in mile deep water and Ixtoc I had advtange of being in 100 ft deep water. Still what ultimately resolved the Ixtoc I spill wasn't anything done in the shallow well it was a relief well.... after 9 months.

[tekisui]

12. Here's hoping for a good August.

:-(

[lunatica]

7. If they can't stop the leak then we won't have anything to lose

Because it will leak until it runs dry. That could be years since it's evidently one of the largest oil deposits in the world. We will have to do something drastic because we'll simply have no choice. We bomb it. Or nuke it so that everything fuses together. If that doesn't work it will keep on gushing anyway.

Simply letting it keep gushing would be impossible if we want any life on the planet. It will get into the Gulf Stream and the ocean currents will eventually take it all over the planet, and even if the oil itself wasn't everywhere it would kill off most sea life just like falling dominoes because the food chain would be decimated. It would disrupt the oxygen making plants by killing them and it would probably affect evaporation off the oceans which would affect the weather.

This gusher is very bad news. But I think it will be stopped or redirected somehow. It may be very difficult but it isn't impossible given how advanced engineering has become.

[IcyPeas]

8. stuff it with CEO Tony Hayward and the rest of the swamp rats

[FiveGoodMen]

11. Tie a rope to Tony's ankles and suspend him over a tank full of oil.

Lower him until he has to bend upward to avoid inhaling the oil.

Leave him there till he can't hold himself up anymore.

Enjoy.

[mynameiswhat]

13. They will not just STOP. they will continue or someone else will.

No one will just sit around while this keeps gushing.