Ships head back to oil spill as storm eases
Source: Agencies |
July 26, 2010, Monday
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Print Edition
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BP'S evacuation of the Gulf of Mexico was called off on Saturday and ships headed back to resume work on plugging the leaky well as remnants of Tropical Storm Bonnie breezed past.
The temporary plug that has mostly contained the oil for eight days held, and the real-time cameras that have given the world a constant view of the ruptured well apparently never stopped rolling. Dozens of ships evacuated the Gulf, but the storm had weakened to a tropical depression by the time it hit the spill site on Saturday morning.
Thad Allen, the retired Coast Guard admiral running the federal government's spill response, called it "very good news." But the setback was still significant. Work came to a standstill on Wednesday and will take time to restart.
Allen said drill rig workers who spent Thursday and Friday pulling nearly a 1.6- kilometer of segmented steel pipe out of the water and stacking the 12-to-15-meter sections on deck would have to reverse the process.
It could be Friday before workers can start blasting in heavy mud and cement from the top of the well, the first phase of a two-step process to seal the leaking oil well for good.
And the threat of severe weather remains.
Hurricane season moves into its most active period in early August and extending into September. The season runs from June 1 through November 30.
"We're going to be playing a cat-and mouse game for the remainder of the hurricane season," Allen said.
BP Chief Executive Tony Hayward is negotiating the terms of his departure ahead of the oil company's results announcement, British media reported yesterday.
The temporary plug that has mostly contained the oil for eight days held, and the real-time cameras that have given the world a constant view of the ruptured well apparently never stopped rolling. Dozens of ships evacuated the Gulf, but the storm had weakened to a tropical depression by the time it hit the spill site on Saturday morning.
Thad Allen, the retired Coast Guard admiral running the federal government's spill response, called it "very good news." But the setback was still significant. Work came to a standstill on Wednesday and will take time to restart.
Allen said drill rig workers who spent Thursday and Friday pulling nearly a 1.6- kilometer of segmented steel pipe out of the water and stacking the 12-to-15-meter sections on deck would have to reverse the process.
It could be Friday before workers can start blasting in heavy mud and cement from the top of the well, the first phase of a two-step process to seal the leaking oil well for good.
And the threat of severe weather remains.
Hurricane season moves into its most active period in early August and extending into September. The season runs from June 1 through November 30.
"We're going to be playing a cat-and mouse game for the remainder of the hurricane season," Allen said.
BP Chief Executive Tony Hayward is negotiating the terms of his departure ahead of the oil company's results announcement, British media reported yesterday.
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