President Obama cannot allow BP to be his and the albatross of coastal communities. Let incompetent BP sit on the side line and begin now to exert legal monetary damages for the harmful externalities that BP, a foreign company, has imposed on coastal US communities.

What should the Federal Government do?

The Federal Government should setup a bidding process with a substantial incentive bonus, say $10,000,000, for private contractors that could cap or capture the leak in the next 10 days. Of course, the bonus would come from BP coffers. And, BP should also bear the cost incur by government personnel as a result of the spill as well negligence penalties. Otherwise, the cost would be borne by taxpayers and there would be no incentive for drilling companies to be ethically responsible.

The Federal Government should not allow BP to transfer the cost of unethical behaviors and incompetence to American taxpayers. Therefore, accountants in the Federal Government should document every governmental cost incurred as a result of the spill and economist should calculate the harmful external costs imposed on surrounding communities, the environment, and individuals. Harmful externalities are often hidden costs. Hence, BP should be required to set up a substantial fund to cover unobservable present damages that will be apparent years from now.

Efficient and experience private contractors should be able to cap or capture the leak by positioning a boxlike device with weighted anchors on top of the leak or through other means. The methane hydrate (methane trapped in ice), that according to BP, prevented the boxlike device from being seated over the leak could be overcome by allowing all the trapped methane hydrate chunks and other debris to be vented out the boxlike device. Therefore, the boxlike device should be equipped with vent compartments that will remain open while the device is being positioned over the leak, see sketch below. Thereby allowing the ice and other debris to float out the boxlike device.

Additionally, the boxlike device should not be equipped with a funnel outtake. Rather, the boxlike device should be rectangular in shape to mitigate the tendency of trapping debris in the cone of the funnel, and equipped with spare outtakes. The outtake nozzles should extend a short distance (short dip pipe) within the box. The outtake nozzles should have a small nozzle where air could be used to dislodging any trapped debris in the intake nozzles.