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Latest Effort to Contain Gulf Oil Spill Under Way

   VOA News 15 May 2010
   Members  of  the  Louisiana  National  Guard  build a levee to protect
   inland  waterways from oil spill on Elmer's Island in Grand Isle, La.,
   14 May 2010

Photo: AP

   Members  of  the  Louisiana  National  Guard  build a levee to protect
   inland  waterways from oil spill on Elmer's Island in Grand Isle, La.,
   14 May 2010

   Engineers  from oil giant BP are making their latest effort to contain
   the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
   Workers  were trying Saturday to plug a leaking underwater pipe with a
   tube  that could pump oil to a ship above.  BP has failed at previous
   efforts to contain the well gushing hundreds of thousands of liters of
   oil per day.
   Various  experts  say  the amount of oil spewing into the gulf is much
   higher than initial estimates.
   Several  U.S.  government agencies are working to protect the southern
   U.S. coast as the oil slick created by the spill approaches.  Workers
   have  set  up floating barriers and sprayed special chemicals to break
   up the massive oil slick.
   U.S.  President  Barack Obama has ordered a full review of the federal
   agency  that  oversees  oil  drilling.   He  says he will end what he
   called  the "cozy relationship" between the Mineral Management Service
   and oil companies.
   A  U.S.-based  environmental  group  called  the Center for Biological
   Diversity  says it is suing U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar.  The
   group  says  the  Mineral  Management Service, which Salazar oversees,
   improperly  approved  oil drilling projects including the one that led
   to the current crisis.
   Estimates  for  the  amount  of oil spilled since a BP rig exploded on
   April  20  widely  vary.   Based  on  initial  estimates  by the U.S.
   government,  the current volume is almost 20 million liters.  But The
   New  York Times says in a closed-door meeting earlier this month, a BP
   executive  gave  U.S.  congressmen  "worst case scenario" figures that
   would  put  the  oil  slick's  current  size  at more than 200 million
   liters.

   Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.

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