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Robots position giant box over oil-spewing well
AP on Yahoo ^ | 5/7/10 | Harry R. Weber - ap

Posted on 05/07/2010 1:46:01 PM PDT by NormsRevenge

ON THE GULF OF MEXICO – Underwater robots positioned a giant 100-ton concrete-and-steel box over a blown-out well at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico on Friday as workers prepared to drop the device to the seafloor in a first-of-its-kind attempt to stop oil gushing into the sea.

A spokesman for oil giant BP PLC, which is in charge of the cleanup, said the box was suspended about 200 feet above the main leak Friday and was being moved into position, though it could be Saturday before that happens.

Several undersea cameras attached to the robots were making sure it was properly aligned before it plunged all the way to the bottom.

"We are essentially taking a four-story building and lowering it 5,000 feet and setting it on the head of a pin," Bill Salvin, the BP spokesman, told The Associated Press.

(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: gulfofmexico; oilspewing; robot; robots; well
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Where's SuperMan when ya need him?
1 posted on 05/07/2010 1:46:02 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
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Crewmen aboard the motor vessel Joe Griffin look on as the mobile offshore drilling unit Q4000 lowers a pollution containment chamber into the Gulf of Mexico over the site of the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill May 6, 2010. The chamber is designed to cap the oil discharge that was a result of the Deepwater Horizon rig fire and collapse. Picture taken May 6, 2010. REUTERS/U.S. Coast Guard/Petty Officer 3rd Class Patrick Kelley/Handout (UNITED STATES - Tags: ENVIRONMENT BUSINESS DISASTER ENERGY)


2 posted on 05/07/2010 1:47:58 PM PDT by NormsRevenge (Semper Fi ... Godspeed .. Monthly Donor Onboard .. Chuck DeVore - CA Senator. Believe.)
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To: NormsRevenge

3 posted on 05/07/2010 1:50:49 PM PDT by freedumb2003 (The frog who rides on a scorpion should not be surprised when he last hears "it is my nature.")
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To: NormsRevenge

That’s quite a contraption. I hope it works.


4 posted on 05/07/2010 1:51:12 PM PDT by colorado tanker
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To: NormsRevenge

Well im taking a nap in a few minutes


5 posted on 05/07/2010 1:51:54 PM PDT by al baby (Hi Mom sarc ;))
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To: NormsRevenge

To listen to the LSM, you would think he was in the WH.


6 posted on 05/07/2010 1:52:06 PM PDT by Blood of Tyrants (The US will not die with a whimper. It will die with thundering applause from the left.)
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To: NormsRevenge
He Did Not Have The Proper Papers

http://media1.break.com/dnet/media/2010/3/25/89%20Under%20arrest%20for%20making%20Superman%20Returns.jpg

7 posted on 05/07/2010 1:55:08 PM PDT by Red_Devil 232 (VietVet - USMC All Ready On The Right? All Ready On The Left? All Ready On The Firing Line!)
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To: NormsRevenge

My understanding is that if that big metal box scrapes the metal equipement on the ocean floor and emits a spark — KA-BOOOOOOM!!!!


8 posted on 05/07/2010 1:55:33 PM PDT by avacado
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To: NormsRevenge

Strange pic - it certainly doesn't LOOK like a "giant 100-ton concrete-and-steel box " - it looks like a couple of plastic phone booths.

Must be farther away than it looks.

9 posted on 05/07/2010 1:55:41 PM PDT by Izzy Dunne (Hello, I'm a TAGLINE virus. Please help me spread by copying me into YOUR tag line.)
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To: NormsRevenge

Not to Monday Morning quarterback but the oil industry should have had one of these babies sitting on the dock just in case. It looks like cheap insurance. You have at least 10 big major oil companies who could have chipped in and paid the storage costs.


10 posted on 05/07/2010 1:56:51 PM PDT by Frantzie (McCain=Obama's friend. McCain/Graham = La Raza's Senators & Estefan-Rubio)
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To: NormsRevenge

What is this, plan V?


11 posted on 05/07/2010 1:57:20 PM PDT by subterfuge (BUILD MORE NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS NOW!!!)
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To: Red_Devil 232
He Did Not Have The Proper Papers



Darn It!

12 posted on 05/07/2010 1:57:45 PM PDT by Red_Devil 232 (VietVet - USMC All Ready On The Right? All Ready On The Left? All Ready On The Firing Line!)
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To: NormsRevenge

I would love to be on one of those crews.


13 posted on 05/07/2010 1:58:24 PM PDT by edcoil (If I had 1 cent for every dollar the government saved, Bill Gates and I would be friends.)
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Comment #14 Removed by Moderator

To: NormsRevenge

BP spokesman Bill Salvin told AP: “We are essentially taking a 4-story building, lowering it 5,000 feet and setting it on the head of a pin”..........in pitch black darkness.


15 posted on 05/07/2010 2:01:20 PM PDT by Liz (If teens can procreate in a Volkswagen, why does a spotted owl need 2000 acres? JD Hayworth)
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To: NormsRevenge

Get’r Done!


16 posted on 05/07/2010 2:03:04 PM PDT by Bigun ("It is difficult to free fools from the chains they revere." Voltaire)
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To: NormsRevenge
I would pay full retail for a DVD documentary on this whole disaster, and how they are trying to repair it.

But I want lots of underwater footage from the ROV’s.

17 posted on 05/07/2010 2:04:03 PM PDT by Tex-Con-Man
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To: NormsRevenge

Supposedly it’s been done before but not at 5,000 ft. depth.


18 posted on 05/07/2010 2:05:25 PM PDT by Carley (WE CAN SEE NOVEMBER FROM OUR HOUSE)
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To: Izzy Dunne

19 posted on 05/07/2010 2:08:30 PM PDT by smokingfrog ( - Free Men will always be armed with the Truth. -)
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To: NormsRevenge

Latest news from deepwaterhorizonresponse.com:

Total Vessels (including tugs and skimmers): 256
Boom deployed: 788,085 feet
Boom available: 1,287,764 feet
Oil and Water Mix - Recovered: Approximately 1.89 million gallons
Dispersant Used : 267,195 gallons
Dispersant available: 317,591 gallons
Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROV): 4
Overall Personnel Responding: 8,497


20 posted on 05/07/2010 2:10:02 PM PDT by bigbob
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