I couldn't tell from reading rdean's post (above) what he was trying to say.
It seemed he was mostly concerned with costs associated with cleaning up the ocean front.

This may be missing a much larger point. This oil volcano may be getting ready to
completely rupture its top, thereby releasing enough oil to threaten the food chain
in the entire Atlantic ocean. Or perhaps even worse.

The following is an alarmist quote plucked from http://www.rense.com/general91/oilor.htm
Do I believe the following?
God only knows. You can find almost anything on the net.
If nothing else, it's an interesting read.


SUMMARY OF EXPECTATIONS

At some point the drilled hole in the earth will enlarge itself beneath the wellhead
to weaken the area the wellhead rests upon. The intense pressure will then push the
wellhead off the hole allowing a direct unrestricted flow of oil, etc.

The hole will continue to increase in size allowing more and more oil to rise into the Gulf.
After several billion barrels of oil have been released, the pressure within the massive
cavity five miles beneath the ocean floor will begin to normalize.

This will allow the water, under the intense pressure at 1 mile deep, to be forced into the
hole and the cavity where the oil was. The temperature at that depth is near 400 degrees,
possibly more.

The water will be vaporized and turned into steam, creating an enormous amount of force,
lifting the Gulf floor. It is difficult to know how much water will go down to the core
and therefore, its not possible to fully calculate the
rise of the floor.

The tsunami wave this will create will be anywhere from 20 to 80 feet high, possibly more.
Then the floor will fall into the now vacant chamber. This is how nature will seal the
hole.

Depending on the height of the tsunami, the ocean debris, oil, and existing structures
that will be washed away on shore and inland, will leave the area from 50 to 200 miles
inland devoid of life. Even if the debris is cleaned up, the contaminants that will be in
the ground and water supply will prohibit re-population of these areas for an unknown
number of years.

(End of scientists information release.) From Tom Buyea FL News Service