Current Event: Gulf Coast Oil Disaster

Initially we heard of this disaster as an oil rig explosion. The first concern were for the people on the rig, and the immediate threat to others trying to rescue the remaining crew members. There were 11 killed during the explosion.

Now we have found out that the oil rig's safeguards to prevent leaking into the ocean in case of an accident on the rig has failed.

This is causing millions of gallons of oil to leak into the Gulf, which the Coast Guard is burning, and trying to conatin with buoys.

If robot submarines can not fix the leak, a second well will need to be drilled to redirect the leak, but that will take months.


The communities around the Gulf Coast are now starting to prepare for the effects of this disaster. The Gulf Coast is the LARGEST producers of Seafood in the World..."We won't have shrimp or oysters....for 20 years"



With the reality of the situation setting in, people are starting to shift their focus on how to cleanup the ensuing mess. Here are some ideas and perspectives.


Now we're hearing that there could have been a remote (acoustic) switch that could have manually closed the valve. Instead there were submersible installed to close the valves which are not working correctly.


Engineers attempt to create a solution for this unprecedented problem.