The oil spill disaster in the Gulf of Mexico is unquestionably one of the larger environmental disasters in our country’s history. People from all around the globe have contributed ideas on solving this problem. The most important step in any spill event is to get people to safety. The second most important step is containment and control.

After about 90 days, the efforts of scientists and engineers appear to have worked to stop the leak. That would be containment. The control step would be the kill operation. Many news reports have tried to describe just what it means to kill a well at such depths.

Kent Wells is senior vice president for BP. He has put together a video with animation that very clearly explains just how the process should proceed and why it will work. The details are presented very well. The 11 and a half minute video is available on their website at http://bp.concerts.com/gom/kentwellstechupdate_072110a.htm.