The cutting edge technology being used to corral the oil gusher:

The containment vessel is lowered into the Gulf of Mexico at the site of the Deepwater Horizon rig collapse, Thursday, May 6, 2010.

ON THE GULF OF MEXICO -- A mission to the bottom of the sea to try to avert a wider environmental disaster progressed early Friday as crews said a a 100-ton concrete-and-steel box was close to being placed over a blown-out well on the Gulf floor in an unprecedented attempt to capture gushing oil.
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A steel pipe will be installed between the top of the box and tanker. If all goes well, the whole structure could be operating by Sunday.

"We haven't done this before," said BP spokesman David Nicholas. "It's very complex and we can't guarantee it."
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The technology has been used a few times in shallow waters, but never at such extreme depths - 5,000 feet down, where the water pressure is enough to crush a submarine.

The box - which looks a lot like a peaked, 40-foot-high outhouse, especially on the inside, with its rough timber framing - must be accurately positioned over the well, or it could damage the leaking pipe and make the problem worse.

"We do not believe it could make things worse," he said.
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Just after sunrise Friday, the crew of the Joe Griffin planned to spray clean water from cannons into the oil-filled waters surrounding the rig drilling the relief well. The goal is to divert some of the oil away from the rig because the fumes have been so intense that the crew of the rig has had difficulty working on its deck, which is critical to the effort to drill the well.
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Wilson Ruiz, a crew member of the Joe Griffin, dons a respirator and life vest while working on the deck carrying the containment vessel which will be lowered over the at the site of the Deepwater Horizon rig collapse, Thursday, May 6, 2010. Fumes from the spill reached combustible levels due to lack of wind.

The line of clean and oily water is seen from under the oily water in Chandeleur Sound, La., Thursday, May 6, 2010 in the Gulf of Mexico.

A pod of Bottle Nose dolphins swim under the oily water of Chandeleur Sound, La., Thursday, May 6, 2010.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/07/AR2010050700775.html?hpid=artslot

A BOX, an effing BOX that has never been tested at the depths which it will reach. I'm sure building one before and even finding out if it wouldn't collapse down there would have cut into BP's profits too much.

In addition, another fun fact that I hadn't heard mentioned is the buildup of fumes to COMBUSTIBLE levels.

I am just amazed and astounded at what I am seeing. I wonder why on earth they dropped it at night??
I know it was timing, but the timing for what?

Ooooooooops! I didn't mean box or outhouse. It is a "containment vessel". Whether it works or not they should build another one for dry land. The oil executives and other parties should be kept in it and given bread and oily water.

I hope like hell this works. However, we should have a lot more info to base our hope on.

At the seabed level the temperatures are cold (42 F) which causes the oil to be clumpy and risks clogging the pipe. So they plan to continuously pump warm water and (gulp) METHANE through the pump. Apparently the engineers are pretty sure they can keep the "volatile mix" separated...even though this has never been done before.

The entire fuckin' thing is a high risk, never tried before experiment on a wing and a prayer. Hail Mary pass and all that.

There are so many possible things that could go wrong and end the whole attempt, that I can't even begin to list them all.

They don't think it will make it worse. They don't think period. If anybody does, they are ignored.

Question: Since when do a box and a pipe constitute "cutting edge technology"

Answer: When you wish to sooth an irate public with pure bullshit.

And I trust him! :eyes: