NEW ORLEANS, May 15 (UPI) -- Officials said British petroleum giant BP could use chemical dispersants under water to break up oil leaking from the Deepwater Horizon oil rig site.
The Coast Guard and the Environmental Protection Agency have cleared the use of chemicals under water, but EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson said it was not a "silver bullet" solution to the oil spill estimated to be spewing up to 70,000 barrels of oil a day into the Gulf of Mexico.
The oil spill began after the Deepwater Horizon oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico exploded and sank April 20.
Officials said the chemicals were less harmful than the oil itself and more effective if applied underwater, close to the origin of the leak.
The company is planning to cap the leak with a containment dome Saturday. If that fails, it will attempt to insert a tube into the leaking well to direct the leaking oil to a tanker ship on the surface.
The strategy to mitigate the disaster is multi-faceted, including containment booms, controlled burns and skimming the surface.
The New York Times said BP was considering the option of plugging a failed blowout preventer with small items, including golf balls, plastic cubes and pieces of knotted rope, which could decrease the flow or stop it altogether.
"Where you want to end up is, you want to have killed the well," Kent Wells, a BP senior vice president told the Times.
