Anderson Cooper on the Gulf Oil Spill

Certainly reassuring to know that the people charged with fixing the leak are staying johnny-on-the-spot with knowing what's in the wellbore they created themselves.

An unstable area around the wellbore could create bigger problems if the leak continued elsewhere in the well after the cap valves were shut, experts said.

"It's an incredibly big concern," said Don Van Nieuwenhuise, director of Professional Geoscience Programs at the University of Houston. "They need to get a scan of where things are, that way when they do pressure testing, they know to look out for ruptures or changes."

As attempts to stop the leak continued, scientists reported early signs that the spill was altering the marine food web by killing or tainting some creatures and spurring the growth of others more suited to a fouled environment.

Near the spill site, researchers have documented a massive die-off of pyrosomes — cucumber-shaped, gelatinous organisms fed on by endangered sea turtles.
Along the coast, droplets of oil are being found inside the shells of young crabs that are a mainstay in the diet of fish, turtles and shorebirds.

And at the base of the food web, tiny organisms that consume oil and gas are proliferating.

If such impacts continue, the scientists warn of a grim reshuffling of sealife that could over time cascade through the ecosystem and imperil the region's multibillion-dollar fishing industry.
Source

I am very cynical about any good faith gestures by big oil these days. Farmerman said on another thread he thinks they could have stopped the flow long ago, but for selfish reasons waited until they relief wells are almost ready.

I don't think one can overstate the influence of raw greed in all this destruction.

I am very cynical about any good faith gestures by big oil these days. Farmerman said on another thread he thinks they could have stopped the flow long ago, but for selfish reasons waited until they relief wells are almost ready.