Open Thread

July 10th, 2010 11:45 AM

For general discussion and debate. Possible talking point: Will ten times be the charm in the Gulf?

Undersea robots manipulated by engineers a mile above were expected to begin work Saturday removing the containment cap over the gushing well head in the Gulf of Mexico to replace it with a tighter-fitting cap that could funnel all the oil to tankers at the surface. If all goes according to plan, the tandem of the tighter cap and the tankers could keep all the oil from polluting the fragile Gulf as soon as Monday. But it would be only a temporary solution to the catastrophe unleashed by a drilling rig explosion nearly 12 weeks ago. It won't plug the busted well and it remains uncertain that it will succeed...The hope for a permanent solution remains with two relief wells intended to plug it completely far beneath the seafloor. 

Will they ever get this capped, or is the only REAL solution to bomb it closed?