shore line repeatedly. it s not going to be a one time event. a repeated event. kris gutierrez is live in louisiana. this ice crystal problem that they worried about and now that happened. what now? to put it in perspective, bp says when you have that gas, combining with the water, 5,000 feet below the surface, the ice crystals form. they knew this could potentially be a problem, but they thought the problem would be stuck and contained into the piping system that would stretch 5,000 feet or one mile from the top of that containment dome all the way to the surface where that awaiting vessel would potentially pick up the oil. instead, those ice crystals formed inside the dome itself and actually clogged the top of it, so nothing could escape from the dome. that led to new problems. bp says they re working on it and minutes ago, we had the opportunity to ask governor bobby jindal about his thoughts.
louisiana coast. right now we expect to hear more from interior secretary ken salazar who will be speaking with reporters in robert, louisiana shortly. in the meantime let s get the very latest from nbc s mike taibbi in biloxi, mississippi. with a good afternoon, mike. true? 210 gallons being leaked of oil a day according to the new york times ? reporter: yes, 210,000 gallons a day and according to one of the bp executives, alex, who has spoken behind closed doors to members of congressional committees it could be ten times that much if none of the three estimated major breaches in the piping system are not repaired and contained soon. that would mean in only four or five days time the leak from this one breach, this one well, could equal and then surpass the amount leaked by the exxon valdez. this is an amazing situation developing here. no one thinks it is going to see the coast line escape unscathed. i spoke with dr. will walker of the mississippi marine department who returned
recovery efforts are always dependent on the weather. you need good weather to clean up oil. reporter: with the ship still in dock, the front line are the containment boom. miles of boom have been spread out around pensacola. as far as more elaborate plans to cap that at its source. even the company responsible did not offer guarantees. large domes, that would be lowered down on top of the leak and it would have a piping system that would carry the oil up to a vessel on the surface. 5,000 feet of water. this has never been done before. reporter: here on the florida panhandle, this area has boasd
inside that city. among the civilians. so it will be tougher to get at them from the air without civilian casualties. as far as the reaction here goes, the government in tripoli, they are incensed at what they say is a clear violation of the u.n. security councilmandate. they say coalition forces are doing more than protect civilians. they say they are actively aiding the rebels in their attempt to topple algate mate government. back to you. arthel: let s go to japan. latest in a nuclear crisis there. there are new tests showing radiation levels in the sea water near the crippled fukushima plant. there s a new spike in radiation. dominic is streaming live from osaka, japan. it looks like we ve got a leak at reactor number 2. they re not entire leisure where it s coming from, but they believe it could be coming from the piping system that is part of the cooling system. they re trying to get it back on-line. they did test near some regular drains that come out of the hole
so they couldn t hook the piping system up to the awaiting vessel. they initially were concerned that the hydrates could form, but they didn t think it would happen this early. where do you go from here? the ice crystals will melt because if you bring that dome up closer to the surface, it s like a slush they described it, it will melt away and take the dome back down. the question is will the dome system work. bp is not gig up that it could possibly work. they are thinking of ways of attaching it at different angles or pumping some methane gas to keep the area warm down there. they are not sure and evaluating their options. gregg: help me understand this. if they raise the dome if the ice melts, when they lower it again, won t the crystals reform? second question, wouldn t the pressure of the leak and the oil