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BP’s latest attempt to stem the flow of oil from the Deepwater Horizon offshore rig explosion has failed. The UK-based oil giant which operated the rig had planned an ambitious effort to lower a 98 ton dome over the leak to try to funnel up the oil. But ice crystals formed from gas and high pressures clogged the dome, forcing the effort to be abandoned. BP Engineers are now in the process of manufacturing a second, smaller dome to funnel away the oil. The move by oil companies toward drilling in greater and greater depths in their search for oil has come at a heavy price. Meanwhile thick deposits of crude oil have been discovered in one of the channels of the Mississippi river, and some crews have found a green scum-like mixture of oil and chemical dispersants around the Mississippi Delta. Oil soaked birds are more commonly being found, and tar balls have begun washing up on the shores of Alabama’s Dauphin island, severely curtailing tourism in the area. It is estimated that 3.5 million gallons of oil have already gushed into the waters off the Gulf Coast from the continuously gushing oil reserve. Meanwhile a share-holder has filed a lawsuit against BP executives possibly triggering a wave of class-action lawsuits from other share holders. The costs of clean up have already cost BP $350 million and is likely to run into the billions of dollars. Of the more than 5000 lawsuits filed against the company, BP has already processed about 650 and paid out $3 million.

GUEST: Dan Howells, deputy campaigns director with Greenpeace, currently in Louisiana

Find out more at www.greenpeace.org.