The failure of the latest attempt to seal off a ruptured well that has caused the worst oil spill in U.S. history has led some to question whether the leak can be contained any time soon, or even at all.
British Petroleum admitted failure Saturday in its "top kill" plan to plug the flow of crude oil gushing into the Gulf of Mexico by pumping mud and concrete into the broken pipe more than 1,500 metres beneath the water's surface.
The company now says it is turning to yet another mix of difficult and risky undersea robot operations in a new bid to stem the flow of leaking oil that has been fouling beaches and sensitive coastal marshlands for six weeks.
BP said it was unable to overwhelm the broken well with a combination of heavy fluids and debris after three days of pumping, although it was able to somewhat slow the flow of oil into the sea.
Now, BP hopes to saw through a pipe leading out from the crippled well and cap it with a funnel-like device using the same remotely guided undersea robots that have failed in other tries to stop the gusher.
This will be the company's seventh attempt to seal the well, but Managing Director Bob Dudley said BP will learn from its previous failures and apply the lessons to its next try.
Dudley told the news talk show "Fox News Sunday" that the unmanned submersibles will try to saw through a leaking pipe and then cap it with a funnel-like device built to capture the oil.
This attempt is similar to a containment dome that failed to work in BP's first attempt to cap the well. However, Dudley said this time they will try to pump warm sea water down the pipe to keep ice from forming, which was blamed for the earlier failure.
He said it will be the end of the week before BP knows whether or not this latest plan is successful.
"We're confident the job will work but obviously we can't guarantee success," BP chief operating officer Doug Suttles said of the new plan, declining to give odds on whether or not it will work.
A relief well now being drilled to divert the oil before it reaches the leaking well is considered the best shot at a permanent solution. But that is at least two months, and potentially millions of barrels of spilled oil, away.
But the failure of the "top kill" plan has effectively ended whatever optimism may have been left among Gulf Coast residents that the mammoth spill will end any time soon.
Frustration has grown as the leaked oil closes more beaches and washes up in sensitive marshland. The area's oyster beds and shrimp nurseries face certain death, according to fishermen who see no end in sight to the catastrophe that's keeping their boats idle.
"Everybody's starting to realize this summer's lost. And our whole lifestyle might be lost," said Michael Ballay, the 59-year-old manager of the Cypress Cove Marina in Venice, La.
Johnny Nunez, owner of Fishing Magician Charters in Shell Beach, La., said the spill is hurting his business during what's normally the best time of year -- and there's no end in sight.
"If fishing's bad for five years, I'll be 60 years old. I'll be done for," he said.
The top official in Louisiana's coastal Plaquemines Parish said news of the top kill failure brought tears to his eyes.
"They are going to destroy south Louisiana. We are dying a slow death here," said Billy Nungesser, the parish president. "We don't have time to wait while they try solutions. Hurricane season starts on Tuesday."
Washington is also showing signs of impatience.
U.S. President Barack Obama, who visited the Louisiana coastline hit hardest by the spill on Friday, has been criticized for not taking charge of the situation.
He called the latest failure to stop the spill "as enraging as it is heartbreaking."
White House energy adviser Carol Browner said Sunday that the spill is the biggest environmental disaster the United States has ever faced.
The spill is already the worst in U.S. history, having dumped between 68 million litres and 150 million litres into the Gulf, according to government estimates. That easily surpasses the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster and the oil is continuing to spill.
The leak began after the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig exploded on April 20, killing 11 people.
With files from The Associated Press
