...an additional tube, or pipe, or bag or SOMETHING...

I have a question, and I don't think it's crazy to ask.

One can assume that the notion of capping this leak in the Gulf was imminent. They knew that was the goal, and the hope.

Taking judgment out of this, we also all knew there was a possibility that the cap would not hold, at least on the first try. But lets say it captured 95% of the oil for 10 hours...only a small % was leaking, and it was very manageable. Or even better, lets say it captured 100% of the oil for even less time, 5 hours, this is my question.

Why haven't they been developing some sort of bag, or tube, or SOMETHING, that would capture oil if the cap were to break. We see images of this capped leak, and it looks awesome, but what if in 3 seconds it pops off?

This reminds me of when you pump up a tire on a bike. The way bike tires work is fairly simple.

1. Unscrew the black cap, and air doesn't leak out

2. Put on the pump and you'll get a quick air leak, but then you start pumping up.

3. When you're done pumping, and you remove the pump nozzle, a small leak happens again, but it stops when the whole pump is removed.

4. You screw on the black cap, for no reason other than cleanliness and a safety precaution.

Why aren't we doing #4 in the gulf?

Why aren't we putting something OVER this cap?

On July 4, 1994, I had the pleasure of assisting in setting off the Marshfield 4th of July fireworks. It was fun. I was there with the big tubes, lighting fuses, watching them launch into the sky from the best vantage point possible.

After it was over, the grizzled vet of fireworks displays inspected the tubes to make sure everything was set off, and he literally was looking into the pipes with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth. I am not kidding.

Looking at the image of the capped well reminds me of this dude - we are all standing here looking at it on the HD image capture, staring into the face of this cap that we hope will work, and we seem like we're trusting the people to take all precautions whose lack of taking precaution put us in this place.

I'd be 100% more comfortable if we couldn't see this cap, b/c an additional tube, or pipe, or bag or SOMETHING would be covering it.

Sincerely,

Less Than Cautiously Optimistic This Cap Will Work