Reply #18: I think that's just the cost for the valve itself, excluding installation costs

[Lone_Star_Dem]

From the WSJ article which sited the original price they went on to say The Deepwater Horizon had a replacement cost of about $560 million. I assume that's what it would have cost for the valve and installation combined? Even still, in light of how much money this industry profits quarterly is still a drop in a bucket to their yearly profits.

Here's the actual snip of the article:

An acoustic trigger costs about $500,000, industry officials said. The Deepwater Horizon had a replacement cost of about $560 million, and BP says it is spending $6 million a day to battle the oil spill.

Read more: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704423504575212031417936798.html?mod=rss_Today%27s_Most_Popular

The point is still valid, however. In order to save a minor amount of money (in relation to the profits involved) they've subjected the environment to massive devastation and destruction.