According to experts in the field, the - skimming and sucking up - of 21.1 million gallons of oil mixed with water is the way to go in the Gulf.
However, disposal of the skimmed oil is not only difficult, but expensive.
For starters, oil that has mixed with water and debris, is not profitable to refine.
"It has no longer got any economic value. It has to be disposed of as garbage," noted Marc Jones, a former Naval Officer, who has pitched in and helped with clean-ups at a myriad of spill sites over the past few years.
"Sending it to landfills and incinerators is wasteful," elaborated Merv Fingas, a former scientist with Environment Canada.
Therefore, researchers are feverishly working around the clock to come up with an equitable solution to the problem.
Fingas appeared this past week before the House Committee on Natural Resources to stress that there needed to be more studies conducted to determine how to process the gooey mess into useful by-products.
To date, the brightest minds have been baffled as to how to accomplish that end, though.
At least four barges brimming with the sludge have been shipped to Texas and Alabama for disposal.
Amidst the stickling crisis, BP execs - typical - have remained mum on the growing dilemma.
Is another bull session warranted at the White House?
News at 11!
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