>>
and the motive behind this.
>>>
a 125-ton containment box will start to be lowered into the
gulf of mexico
today to try and
capture
some of the thousands of gallons of oil still leaking into the sea.
nbc
's chief environmental affairs correspondent
anne thompson
is in
venice
,
louisiana
with more on that
story
. anne, good morning to you.
>>
reporter: good morning,
meredith
. all along the
gulf coast
this morning, residents, tourists and fishermen are all hoping this latest attempt to send the flow of oil will finally work. this strange looking
object
is what
bp
is now betting on to slow the growth of the
monster
spill
, a
spill
, it admits, could
flood
the gulf with as much as 60,000 barrels of oil a day, in the
worst case scenario
. 12 times more than the current rate. to begin to contain the
damage
well, a 125-ton dome of concrete and steel, untested a mile under sea.
>>
this hasn't been done before. it is very complex and it will likely have challenges
along the way
.
>>
reporter:
later today
,
bp
will begin to lower the dome down to the site. it will cover 1 of 2 remaining leaks. by monday, a pipe could carry oil up to a vessel on the surface, if it works. regardless of when the leaks are plugged, insteterior secretary ken salizar in
venice
, insists
bp
will split the final tab.
>>
they're
responsible
for everything. they're
responsible
for all the responses that are going out, millions and millions of dollars, all the environmental damages and they're also
responsible
for damages they'll cause to the people of the
gulf coast
and to this
country
.
>>
reporter: there is some good news in all of this. so far, only two
birds
have had to be rescued and the latest, a 1-year-old
brown pelican
,
louisiana
's
state bird
, is all cleaned up and could be returned to his
natural habitat
next week.
later today
, more
obama
administration
officials will come to the gulf to reassure people that everything is being done to protect their coastline. most importantly, their
way of life
.
>>
anne thompson
,
thank you very much
.
“ ”