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It has never been done before. A giant dome being submerged a mile into the Gulf of Mexico's waters in order to try and cap a gigantic oil leak. The odds from Bookmaker.com:
It will reduce the flow by less than 80 percent: -500
It will reduce the flow by 80 percent +100
It will stop the leak altogether +1000
It will make the leak worse +500
We're Rooting for the Dome, writes Michael Richard at Treehugger: "If everything goes according to plan, this dome should help contain the spill and allow ships on the surface to siphon the oil... Let's hope that this works."
'Giant Dome for Gulf Oil Leak Is Next Best Solution' reads a headline at the liberal news site Salon. The article calls it the "best short-term solution" for bottling up the disastrous spill.
This Could Actually Work, says Gregory McCormack, an oil expert at the University of Texas: "There is no reason to believe that these structures will not work as well in deep water as in shallow water. They need to be able to be placed directly over the leak so that the oil will rise to the surface. Any obstruction that prevents this placement will be a problem. Severe weather could handicap both the placement and oil recovery operations."
