BP engineers reported their first technical success at containing some portion of the gigantic oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico after beginning an operation on Sunday [May 16, 2010] that uses a mile-long tube to siphon oil from the damaged underwater well and pump it to a ship waiting on the surface.
BP officials say there is no way to tell how much of the leaking oil they are capturing with the tube, but Reuters reports that Satish Nagarajaiah, a professor in civil and mechanical engineering at Rice University in Houston, says the siphon tube is unlikely to capture more than 15 percent to 20 percent of the oil still leaking from the damaged well.
This latest tactic followed several failed attempts--from floating booms and controlled burns to a four-story containment dome--to control the ever-worsening oil spill. Crews are working to drill a relief well, which is considered the only permanent solution to the gushing underwater oil well, but that work won't be completed for months.
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