I think the other wells they are drilling should be finished by mid-august at which time (if it's not fixed by then) they'll shoot concrete or something in there to jamb the broken well. So all that will be left is cleaning up the billions of barrels out there.

If the tar balls are sinking down, they're back at 5,000 feet, right? How do they make it uphill on to the continental shelf to then drift on the beach? Are the upwelling currents that strong, or will this sit like a giant ooze puddle at the lowest point of the gulf seafloor?

If the latter ends up the case, can't we drop a few straws down there to dredge the stuff off the floor?

What if they injected some chemicals that bond with the oil to make it a big, heavy "ooblek" like substance that would do just that... sit in one spot like a blob so you can suck it up when you get the ships in place...?