Reality is setting in that BP's oil fix might not be a quick one.
Everyone knows BP's "top kill" failed and the newest attempt to stop the leak has been given a "slight" chance of success.
Now, attention is slowly turning to a worst case scenario. The only tried and true method of stopping the leak is a relief well, or kill well, that won't be ready until August. Based on spill estimates, if the leak continues at its current rate that would mean as much as 120 million gallons of oil in the Gulf two months from now.
That would also make it the third worst oil disaster in human history.
"I sense that they thought they could have this well killed a little quicker than they did," said Don Nieuwenhuise, PhD oil expert from the University of Houston.
The big problem with a relief well is obviously the time it takes to drill. The reason the relief well takes so long is because engineers have to basically drill a brand new well to intercept the one that's leaking thousands of feet under water and sea floor.
"The kill wells are progressing quicker than they thought but as you might suspect, as you get closer to your target things slow down. When you're looking for a seven inch target at great depth you have to be very careful you don't make a wrong turn," said Nieuwenhuise.
But even then a relief well isn't 100 percent fool proof. In the 1979 Mexican spill that eventually dumped about 140 million gallons of oil, the first relief well didn't stop the spill and a second was needed. That possibility terrifies the Gulf states.
"EveryÂ… day that this goes on is worse and worse and more significant oil laps up on our coast," said Sen. David Vitter, (R) Louisiana.
Meanwhile, Galveston County is thinking ahead to the dire possibilities. Officials installed the first oil defenses on Bolivar Peninsula Tuesday.
"This type of snare is designed to catch the oil," said Craig Kartye, with the Texas General Land Office.
Environmental experts at Rice University said two weeks ago that oil could impact coasts for five to ten years. It's impossible to know how long it would take to cleanup if oil leaks for an additional two months.
Evidence of the Exxon Valdez spill can still be found in Alaska some 20 years later. Oil from a 1986 spill in Panama is still being found. Unfortunately by comparison these leaks were nowhere near the size the Gulf disaster could grow to.
Everyone knows BP's "top kill" failed and the newest attempt to stop the leak has been given a "slight" chance of success.
Now, attention is slowly turning to a worst case scenario. The only tried and true method of stopping the leak is a relief well, or kill well, that won't be ready until August. Based on spill estimates, if the leak continues at its current rate that would mean as much as 120 million gallons of oil in the Gulf two months from now.
That would also make it the third worst oil disaster in human history.
"I sense that they thought they could have this well killed a little quicker than they did," said Don Nieuwenhuise, PhD oil expert from the University of Houston.
The big problem with a relief well is obviously the time it takes to drill. The reason the relief well takes so long is because engineers have to basically drill a brand new well to intercept the one that's leaking thousands of feet under water and sea floor.
"The kill wells are progressing quicker than they thought but as you might suspect, as you get closer to your target things slow down. When you're looking for a seven inch target at great depth you have to be very careful you don't make a wrong turn," said Nieuwenhuise.
But even then a relief well isn't 100 percent fool proof. In the 1979 Mexican spill that eventually dumped about 140 million gallons of oil, the first relief well didn't stop the spill and a second was needed. That possibility terrifies the Gulf states.
"EveryÂ… day that this goes on is worse and worse and more significant oil laps up on our coast," said Sen. David Vitter, (R) Louisiana.
Meanwhile, Galveston County is thinking ahead to the dire possibilities. Officials installed the first oil defenses on Bolivar Peninsula Tuesday.
"This type of snare is designed to catch the oil," said Craig Kartye, with the Texas General Land Office.
Environmental experts at Rice University said two weeks ago that oil could impact coasts for five to ten years. It's impossible to know how long it would take to cleanup if oil leaks for an additional two months.
Evidence of the Exxon Valdez spill can still be found in Alaska some 20 years later. Oil from a 1986 spill in Panama is still being found. Unfortunately by comparison these leaks were nowhere near the size the Gulf disaster could grow to.
