Question - Could we bomb it shut - the oil gusher in the Gulf of Mexico

by Diane V. McLoughlin

May 3, 2010:  The Deepwater Horizon oil rig disaster in the Gulf of Mexico is epic.  Since April 20th, hundreds of thousands of gallons of oil have been gushing out of the drilled hole in the ocean floor a mile down after an explosion and fire destroyed the rig.

If we could get a conventional bomb or two into the ground close enough to the well, and deep enough into the ground, I wonder if they might be able to seal it off. 

The oil is gushing out of a narrow drilled hole - one very deep, thin well.  From the ocean floor the drilled well is 5.5 miles deep.  [1]

This compromised oil well  is currently gushing anywhere from 210,000 - 420,000 gallons of oil per day.  The situation could change at any time and skyrocket to millions of gallons of oil per day if compromised equipment gives way. [2]

BP's current solutions could take as long as three months to implement - one is to drill into the side of the hole and plug it.  I personally take the three months with a grain of salt. 

Another factor to consider is that the Atlantic hurricane season is roughly from June 1st to November 30th.  Bad weather may become another impediment.

We cannot wait three months or even longer to stop this oil.  There is so much oil that could end up being released that it could not only destroy the natural environment along the entire southern coast, but it could also end up fouling the Eastern seaboard of the U.S. and Canada before migrating to Europe and beyond.  This has the potential to have absolutely catastrophic consequences to entire ecological and environmental systems.  Economies will fry.  Human health will suffer.

This is very, very bad.

We should never have permitted this type of risky deep-ocean drilling in the first place. We need to solve this problem, like, yesterday.  The oil has been gushing for 13 days and counting as of today's date.

[1] 'Deepwater Horizon debacle pushes alt energy'; Paul Noel; Pure Energy Systems; May 1, 2010; http://pesn.com/2010/05/01/9501642_Deepwater_Horizon_debacle/

[2]  'Leaked report - Government fears Deepwater Horizon well could become unchecked gusher'; Ben Raines; Al.com; Apr. 30, 2010;
http://blog.al.com/live/2010/04/deepwater_horizon_secret_memo.html