With BP declaring failure in its latest attempt to plug the uncontrolled gusher feeding the worst oil spill in U.S. history, the company is turning to yet another mix of risky undersea robot maneuvers and containment devices to keep crude from flowing into the Gulf of Mexico, AP reported. Six weeks after the catastrophe began, oil giant BP PLC is still casting about for at least a temporary fix to the spewing well underneath the Gulf hat's fouling beaches, wildlife and marshland. A relief well that's currently being drilled _ which is supposed to be a better long-term solution _ won't be done for at least two months. That would be in the middle of the Atlantic hurricane season, which begins Tuesday. President Barack Obama said it is «as enraging as it is heartbreaking» that the most ambitious bid yet for a temporary solution failed. BP said Saturday that the procedure known as the «top kill» failed after engineers tried for three days to overwhelm the crippled well with heavy drilling mud and junk 5,000 feet (1,500 meters) underwater. Now, BP hopes to saw through a pipe leading out from the well and cap it with a funnel-like device using the same remotely guided undersea robots that have failed in other tries to stop the gusher. Robert Dudley, BP's managing director, said on «Fox News Sunday» that company officials were disappointed that they «failed to wrestle this beast to the ground.» Engineers will use remotely guided undersea robots to try to lower a cap onto the leak after cutting off part of a busted pipe leading out from the well. oil. Below the surface, oyster beds and shrimp nurseries face certain death. Fishermen complain there's no end in sight to the catastrophe that's keeping their boats idle. -- SPA
