Gulf spill update

BP is soon going to try to stop the unrestrained flow of oil in the Gulf of Mexico by using a so called “top kill” method:

Oil company BP is expected to discuss Tuesday its next attempt to contain the gushing oil in the Gulf of Mexico -- a maneuver called a "top kill" that it plans to implement the following day.
All previous attempts by the company to cap the spill have failed, and BP CEO Tony Hayward said the top kill maneuver will have a 60 to 70 percent chance of success when it is put in place as early as Wednesday morning.

BP on Wednesday plans to pump thick, viscous fluid twice the density of water into the site of the leak to stop the flow so the well can then be sealed with cement. The top kill procedure has worked on above-ground oil wells in the Middle East, but has never been tested 5,000 feet underwater.

Unfortunately, the oil has finally made it to shore, and it’s not pretty:

The memorial comes as oil sloshes ashore on Louisiana's barrier islands and seeps into marshes around the mouth of the Mississippi River. And public patience is wearing thin in Gulf states, where fishing is a $2.4 billion industry.
State and parish leaders in Louisiana have demanded the federal government approve their plan to dredge up walls of sand to close channels between the Gulf and coastal estuaries. Those plans have been held up by the Army Corps of Engineers, the Coast Guard and BP.
"It's easier to clean oil on sandy beaches than it is to clean up an estuary. There's no way to clean up the estuary, which is the breeding ground which allows for our fisheries to be in abundance," said Steve Theriot, Jefferson Parish president.

Worse yet, it’s been reported that it has reached a current that might bring it to Florida’s and Cuba’s shores and up the East Coast:

The first oil from the Gulf of Mexico spill has entered an ocean current that could take it to Florida and up the east coast of the US, scientists say.
Satellite images released by the European Space Agency (ESA) depict a streak of oil stretching south from the main slick into the Loop Current - a body of fast-flowing water coming from the Caribbean which the agency says is likely to propel oil towards Florida within six days.
The oil would be "highly weathered" if it reached Florida, or could evaporate en route, it said.
The scientists warned that the turbulent Loop Current could mix the oil and water, making it difficult to track the oil's progress in the coming days.
Also on Wednesday, the US said it was having talks with Cuba over the spill.
Observers say the rare talks demonstrate a concern that the oil may be carried by currents far from the site of the Deepwater Horizon disaster.

Can this get any worse?