Junk Shot Oil Leak Plan Involves Plugging Leak With Tires, Golf Balls
The first plan to stop the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico was thwarted by ice-like crystals that formed inside the containment dome. The Miami Heraldreports that BP is considering another plan to plug the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico. The plan, called a junk shot, involves plugging the leak with shredded tires and golf balls.
"The next tactic is going to be something they call a junk shot," U.S. Coast Guard Commandant Thad Allen said on Face the Nation.
"They're actually going to take a bunch of debris, shredded up tires, golf balls and things like that and under very high pressure shoot it into the preventer itself and see if they can clog it up and stop the leak," Allen said. The concept has been used before but is "exotic" and Allen cautioned there were difficulties with that plan as well.
It was not clear when such a plan -- developed by BP -- might be put in place.
If they could plug the leak, even temporarily, then it might give BP time to build a secondary well site.
