Should I really even acknowledge the fact that the currently functioning oil cap was knocked off by an underwater robot?

Besides the fact that the story sounds like it came straight out of a sci-fi novel, the claim that the current cap contains upward of 90 percent of the leaking oil seems a bit optimistic.

In my opinion, the 90 percent containment claim is completely irrelevant and has little, if any, credibility. As soon as BP made the claim, brand new estimates were released pushing the leakage amount to tens of thousands of barrels higher than previously stated.

In fact, it was reported that the cap was collecting 29,000 gallons of oil – an hour! That means nearly 70,000 gallons of oil are still leaking every day – quite a bit more than previously estimated. It’s pretty obvious this cap isn’t as significant as it was made out to be.

But this is no surprise; no one should be shocked. The cap is a pseudo-solution.

We’ve now come full circle in the effort to fix this well, and we’re still going around.

I remember that a few weeks into the spill, BP pulled out a few solution plans that everyone got excited and hopeful about.

It started with the dome cap. It was the bona fide solution to this seemingly manageable issue. It would simply be lowered down onto the well to seal off the leaking oil. But of course, the unexpected, ever-prevalent ice crystals stalled the process.

Unprepared and apathetic to the situation, it was crystal clear that no safety measures had been taken by BP and no prevention plan was in place. Throwing scraps of metal together and lowering it onto the well didn’t work out as intended.

During this failure period, political banter and media criticism took hold as BP sort of slid into the shadows. BP was like the child who crayoned all the white walls, and then ran away to hide in his room while his parents decided how to punish him and how they would clean up the mess.

Then word came out about the proposed solution to shoot trash into the ruptured well. Then the trash became cement. Then at one point, the reverse solution came out that planned to actually suck up the oil instead of plugging it up.

I saw BP in control – not a technical control, but rather a managerial control.

Reportedly, numerous countries offered to help and the governments prepared possible solutions to present to BP, yet they never got through.

Now, I won’t delve into the truth of those former stories, but it does reveal that BP was running the show. I saw a company that was controlling and presenting the situation as they run their company: it’s all about image.

I’ve previously delved into BP’s marketing strategy and how significant image is to their business in past columns, and the history lends itself to the way BP controlled the implementation of solution strategies.

They wanted to fix this problem on their own, thereby holding on to some credibility; the fix wasn’t fast, but they did fix it and they fixed it without help. Maybe this company isn’t in the grave yet.

But that isn’t how the situation played out, and during that time no one really felt confident in those solutions anyway.

New Orleans governor Bobby Jindal pressured the president to supply resources to put together some much-needed mitigation strategies. Sand dredging and booms were endorsed as the key resources that the government could adequately supply.

Although the sand dredging and the boom do nothing to actually halt the oil leakage, the two are key components in stopping the oil from reaching the fragile beaches and wetlands.

And if the oil isn’t going to stop leaking, then mitigation of the expanding spill is the primary purpose of the cleanup efforts.

I saw the state doing what it could. I first thought BP was denying access to the accident – both internal solutions and external cleanup – but now I figured it had to be bureaucracy.

I’m not one to blame the president for showing up late – as if a week and a half is drastic – but I don’t condone the administrative bureaucracy that has slowed the resource stock and mitigation strategy that Jindal has asked for.

If BP was really throwing up a curtain, then the government could have at least helped the states. Don’t use the Jones Act and regulatory commissions as excuses for the slow response; bureaucracy may be sluggish, but if it has revealed anything about American political history, it’s that loopholes are always present.

But I will give credit where credit is due: The government has provided more than a million feet of boom so far. Unfortunately, the supply has slowed and the boom that is currently in place is deteriorating and in need of replacement.

So, while the state pressures the federal government for more supplies, BP continues to hammer on the surface cleaning practices. However, with the fires killing already at-risk species and the dispersants drastically altering the oceanic chemical balance, these surface solutions are doing more long-term harm than short-term good.

With these failed attempts and the drawn-out bureaucracy, the citizens – as in any other major social concern – must act on their own volition.

Ordinary people proposed solutions through YouTube videos and blogs. Engineers stationed at universities all across the U.S. developed equipment for an authentic solution.

Even Kevin Costner managed to sell his oil spill device (developed after the Exxon-Valdez incident) to BP. And after evaluating the mechanics and potential of his device, it’s obvious his company put respectable time and effort into the machine.

Honestly, why hasn’t this been fixed?

It seems to me there are plenty of possible fixes – and, more than likely, legitimate solutions – ready to be implemented. What is holding them back?

I’ve been one to rag on BP for ignoring the government and citizen help in order to establish their own solution, thereby allowing a proper image of concern to develop. But it seems to me that with day 70 dawning, BP is not going to salvage any positives from this catastrophe.

Forget asking for help, why aren’t they demanding the help?

BP has shelled out billions of dollars in lawsuits and resources for cleanup, yet all that spending hasn’t found its way to a valid solution?

As ridiculous as it sounds, I hope all this stalling is due to the dragged out bureaucracy involved in the resource supply and has nothing to do with lack of logical solutions.

It’s more than frightening to think that in this day and age we can’t plug that hole.

We’ve gone primitive. We’ve literally got fossils on the mind.

– Armand Resto is an Oregon State U. sophomore in environmental science.