**Welders in Louisiana are working against the clock to build a giant iron funnel for BP in a bid to halt the huge spill from a Gulf of Mexico well.**The 98-tonne, dome-topped box being built by steel workers is to be ready on Wednesday and may be shipped to the site by the end of the week.
BP has acknowledged it is “absolutely responsible” for cleaning up the spill after an explosion on a drilling rig.
But it says it was not to blame for the accident which sank Deepwater Horizon.
BP boss Tony Hayward said the equipment that failed on 22 April belonged to Transocean, the owner of the rig.
Both companies are expecting lawsuits over the slick, which US President Barack Obama described as a “potentially unprecedented” environmental disaster.
BP shares have plunged more than 15% since the explosion.
Californian Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has withdrawn his support for a plan to expand oil exploration off that state’s coast, saying he has changed his mind about the safety of oil platforms in the Pacific Ocean.
“Why would we want to take that kind of risk?” he asked after seeing television pictures of the Gulf of Mexico spill.
Technical challenges
The 40-ft (12-m) funnel resembles a primitive space rocket with a hole on top to channel oil through a pipe from the sea floor to the surface where it can be collected on a barge, Reuters news agency reports.
How the oil has spread
Approximate oil locations 22 April - 4 May
It is being built at Golden Meadow, near Port Fourchon in southern Louisiana, by Wild Well Control, a company which specialises in controlling oil fires.
A team of 25 people are working around the clock on the funnel, marine engineer Jason Holvey told the agency.
In theory, the system should collect 85% of the oil rising from the sea floor but BP has never deployed such a structure at a depth of 5,000ft.
While the precise location of the leak is known, work will have to be carried out in the face of severe technical challenges, not least because of the softness of the sea floor.
Asked by Reuters if he was confident it would work, BP spokesman John Curry said: "We sure hope so.
“If not, we will keep trying other options until something does work. I think we have some great engineers and they have worked very hard.”
The funnel will have to be tested before it can be shipped to the spill site.
Mr Curry was quoted by the Associated Press news agency as saying BP hoped to have the funnel in the water by the end of the week to cover the main leak at the well site. A second, back-up funnel is also under construction, AP said.
Mr Holvey said similar containment devices had been used in the Gulf before, but in shallow waters. They were used, for instance, after Hurricane Katrina to channel oil to the surface that had spilled from platforms.
Pressure on BP
The US government has been putting pressure on BP to act quickly.
In a BBC interview, Mr Hayward dismissed talk of a rift between BP and US officials, saying an “incredible co-operative relationship” had been established with the federal authorities.
Thousands of barrels of oil have been leaking into the Gulf of Mexico every day since the rig sank.
Some oil has washed ashore, but officials say the bulk of the slick remains a few miles from the Louisiana coastline.
The oil is already having a devastating effect on the area’s fishing industry, and officials fear much wider environmental damage if the full slick hits land.
Other efforts being made by BP, according to Mr Hayward, include using undersea robots to work on the safety valve which failed, allowing the oil to escape, and drilling a new well to help relieve the pressure and stem the flow from the rupture.
Experts warn that the cost of clearing up the spill could run into billions of dollars.
BP has said it will honour legitimate claims for compensation from people affected.
Are you in the area? Are you affected by the oil slick, or have you seen it spreading? Send us your comments Click here to add comments..
*You can also send us your pictures and videos to +44 7725 100100 or email them to *[EMAIL=“[email protected]”][email protected]
At no time should you put yourself or others at risk.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/bbcnewsworldfullfeed?d=yIl2AUoC8zA http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/bbcnewsworldfullfeed?d=dnMXMwOfBR0 http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/bbcnewsworldfullfeed?i=nqmmQFr1Bf8:B95bSPnjehQ:V_sGLiPBpWU
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/bbcnewsworldfullfeed/~4/nqmmQFr1Bf8