Deadline
after deadline has passed, and the U.S. government is growing
tired of waiting for BP's supposed
relief efforts that don't seem to be working. After one
failed attempt at a dome and a relief well that could take until
August, BP
executives are saying they have more options to explore, and
that the governments efforts would not produce any different results.
"We
won't quit until we get this job done," said Doug Suttles, BP's
chief operating officer. "We're doing everything we can."
Interior
Secretary Ken Salazar said BP has "from day one, frankly, not
fulfilled the mission it was supposed to fulfill" and "if
we find that they're not doing what they're supposed to be doing,
we'll push them out of the way."
"In
terms of not trusting BP, there's nobody--nobody--who is more
devastated by what has happened and nobody that wants to shut this
off more than we do and learn what happened so this never happens
anywhere, to anyone, anywhere in the world again," said Robert
Dudley, BP's managing director.
BP's next
attempt at plugging the leak will be put to the test on
Wednesday, where a thick, viscous fluid that is twice the density of
water will be pumped into the core site of the leak. This will
hopefully lead to the final stage of sealing the well permanently
with cement.
Suttles
said that if this attempt
fails, BP's other options include placing an even smaller dome
over the leak (for the third time), installing a blowout preventer,
trying a "junk shot" (where rubber and other substances are
used to plug the well), and the final solution being the relief well
that could take up to 80 days to complete.
Two
Obama administration officials went to Louisiana Monday
to evaluate the response to the BP oil spill. In addition, Salazar
and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano will attend a
flyover of affected areas as well as meet with BP representatives.
Louisiana state and parish leaders, such as St. Bernard Parish
President Craig Taffaro, demanded that the federal government allow
them to "dredge up walls of sand to close the channels between
the Gulf and coastal estuaries."
"Either
the Coast Guard has to side with its American citizens and protect
its communities, or it has to side with a major world corporation
named BP and betray American citizens in that process," said
Taffaro.
In
addition, Coast Guard Rear Adm. and federal on-scene coordinator Mary
Landry said the barrier
island project, which is a $350 million blueprint to repair
Louisiana's barrier islands, is still under review.
Environmental and officials are reviewing the impact this project may
have on "endangered and threatened species."
In
response, Plaquemines Parish President Billy Nungesser pointed to an
oil-covered pelican nesting ground and replied, "Is it affected
now?"
