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The film director who created an idyllic unspoiled world in the movie Avatar will meet with deep-ocean experts Tuesday in Washington to pitch ideas about how to stop the ugly oil spill now spreading in the Gulf of Mexico.<\/p>\nThe film director who created an idyllic unspoiled world in the movie Avatar will meet with deep-ocean experts Tuesday in Washington to pitch ideas about how to stop the ugly oil spill now spreading in the Gulf of Mexico.<\/p>\n
James Cameron is expected to attend the meeting with fellow Canadian Phil Nuytten, an underwater innovator and the head of North Vancouver-based Nuytco Research.<\/p>\n
It’s not known what the two swashbuckling Canadians \u2013 who first met when Mr. Nuytten’s company, Nuytco Research, built the submersibles used in Mr. Cameron’s 1989 underwater thriller The Abyss \u2013 will bring to the discussion.<\/p>\n
But as the environmental disaster in the Gulf continues to unfold, it seems the idea behind the session is to put every possible solution \u2013 including use of manned submersibles \u2013 on the table.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is not about undermining or finger-pointing at [British Petroleum],\u201d Jeff Heaton, Nuytco’s long-time chief pilot and the veteran of dozens of salvage and research dives in manned submersibles, said Tuesday in Vancouver.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverybody’s working hard and it’s not for lack of trying that [the spill] hasn’t been stopped.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt’s about looking at all the what-ifs \u2013 if this fails, if that fails, what happens.\u201d<\/p>\n
With the failure of the so-called \u201ctop kill\u201d effort to plug the leak with mud, BP has moved on to a plan that involves cutting and removing a damaged part of the crippled Deepwater Horizon drill rig and putting a cap over the cleanly cut pipe. If successful, that approach would help stem the flow of oil while the company drills two relief wells, which are expected to be ready some time in August.<\/p>\n
The drilling of those relief wells creates a whole new set of worries, including unintended fractures that would create additional leaks.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf the rock formation that holds the oil has been cracked or compromised in any way, that pressure is going to find another way to get out,\u201d Mr. Heaton said. \u201cAnd if it comes up through a crack or a seam, it could come up anywhere. And that’s what they are trying to avoid.\u201d<\/p>\n