US weighs remote shut-off for rigs

UNKNOWN

By News Wires

 04 May 2010 02:14 GMT

US lawmakers are focusing on whether lax government regulation that did not require BP to use a remote control "trigger" to shut an underwater pipe exacerbated the spreading oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

A $500,000 acoustic trigger may have allowed workers escaping from the burning rig by boat to send a remote signal 5000 feet below the water's surface to close the valve and stop the oil.

Instead, BP is using submersible robots, whose tiny metal arms so far have been unable to move the lever that would cut off the flow of crude, according to a Reuters report.

BP's ruptured well is still spewing about 5000 barrels a day, nearly two weeks after its rig exploded. The massive spill is bearing down on the rich…

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