Sorry, L! This article was posted 6 times so I was moderating it and accidentally deleted all of the posts.

Reposting now.

Gulf Oil Spill: Cap Removed From Gushing Well, Oil Flows Freely

NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- Robotic submarines working a mile underwater removed a leaking cap from the gushing Gulf oil well Saturday, starting a painful trade-off: Millions more gallons of crude will flow freely into the sea for at least two days until a new seal can be mounted to capture all of it.

There's no guarantee for such a delicate operation deep below the water's surface, officials said, and the permanent fix of plugging the well from the bottom remains slated for mid-August.

"It's not just going to be, you put the cap on, it's done. It's not like putting a cap on a tube of toothpaste," Coast Guard spokesman Capt. James McPherson said.

Robotic submarines removed the cap that had been placed on top of the leak in early June to collect the oil and send it to surface ships for collection or burning. BP aims to have the new, tighter cap in place as early as Monday and said that, as of Saturday night, the work was going according to plan.

If tests show it can withstand the pressure of the oil and is working, the Gulf region could get its most significant piece of good news since the April 20 explosion on the BP-leased Deepwater Horizon rig, which killed 11 workers.

"Over the next four to seven days, depending on how things go, we should get that sealing cap on. That's our plan," said Kent Wells, a BP senior vice president, of the round-the-clock operation.

It would be only a temporary solution to the catastrophe that the federal government estimates has poured between 87 million and 172 million gallons of oil into the Gulf as of Saturday. Hope for permanently plugging the leak lies with two relief wells, the first of which should be finished by mid-August.

With the cap removed Saturday at 12:37 p.m. CDT, oil flowed freely into the water, collected only by the Q4000 surface vessel, with a capacity of about 378,000 gallons. That vessel should be joined Sunday by the Helix Producer, which has more than double the Q4000's capacity.

But the lag could be long enough for as much as 5 million gallons to gush into already fouled waters. Officials said a fleet of large skimmers was scraping oil from the surface above the well site.

The process begun Saturday has two major phases: removing equipment currently on top of the leak and installing new gear designed to fully contain the flow of oil.

BP began trying Saturday afternoon to remove the bolted top flange that only partially completed the seal with the old cap. Video images showed robotic arms working to unscrew its bolts. Wells said that could last into Monday depending on whether the flange can be pulled off from above, as BP hopes. If not, a specially designed tool will be used to pry apart the top and bottom flanges.

Once the top flange is removed, BP has to bind together two sections of drill pipe that are in the gushing well head. Then a 12-foot-long piece of equipment called a flange transition spool will be lowered and bolted over it.

The second piece of pipe inside the well head came as something of a surprise, and raises the possibility that one of the sections of pipe became jammed in the Deepwater Horizon's blowout preventer, though which the well pipes run. The failure of the blowout preventer, a massive piece of equipment designed to stop the unchecked flow of oil, is partly to blame for the size of the spill.

"That will be an important question to ask when we pull the blowout preventer up to the surface and we'll figure out where that pipe ultimately landed," Wells said.

After the flange transition spool is bolted in place, the new cap - called a capping stack or "Top Hat 10" - can be lowered. The equipment, weighing some 150,000 pounds, is designed to fully seal the leak and provide connections for new vessels on the surface to collect oil. The cap has valves that can restrict the flow of oil and shut it in, if it can withstand the enormous pressure.

That will be one of the key items for officials to monitor, said Paul Bommer, a professor of petroleum engineering at the University of Texas at Austin.

"If the new cap does work and they shut the well in, it is possible that part of the well could rupture if the pressure inside builds to an unacceptable value," Bommer wrote in an e-mail Saturday.

Ultimately, BP wants to have four vessels collecting oil within two or three weeks of the new cap's installation. If the new cap doesn't work, BP is ready to place a backup similar the old one on top of the leak.

The government estimates 1.5 million to 2.5 million gallons of oil a day are spewing from the well, and the previous cap collected about 1 million gallons of that. With the new cap and the new containment vessel, the system will be capable of capturing 2.5 million to 3.4 million gallons - essentially all the leaking oil, officials said.

The plan, which was accelerated to take advantage of a window of good weather lasting seven to 10 days, didn't inspire confidence in the residents of the oil-slicked coast.

"This is probably the sixth or seventh method they've tried, so, no, I'm not optimistic," said Deano Bonano, director of emergency preparedness for Jefferson Parish.

On Saturday he was inspecting beaches at Grand Isle lined with protective boom and bustling with heavy equipment used to scoop up and clean stained sand.

"Even if they turn it off today, we'll still be here at least another six weeks, on watch for the oil," he said.

"Shutting off the oil is a very important step, but we should not assume this disaster is over," said Larry Schweiger, president of the National Wildlife Federation. "I think it's important to recognize that there's an enormous amount of oil still in the Gulf."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/07/10/gulf-oil-spill-cap-remove_n_641907.html

Coast Guard ready if oil spill nears
Still awaiting tests to determine origin of tar balls
By PAIGE HEWITT
HOUSTON CHRONICLE

As authorities awaited test results Saturday to determine if BP's disastrous spill in the Gulf is the source of all or just some of the 150 gallons of tar patties that oozed to Texas' coast over the last week, the U.S. Coast Guard stepped up effort to look for signs that trouble could be headed here.

The word from the U.S. Coast Guard, now conducting at least two fly-overs daily three miles offshore from Galveston: So far, so good.

"We're just not seeing the oil," U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer Richard Brahm said of the helicopter searches for oil patches. "They haven't found any oil out there. But if they do, we are prepared."

State and federal officials, emphasizing tar balls commonly wash up on Texas shores and the 150 gallons of two seemingly different such substances found on Galveston, Bolivar and McFaddin beaches is far from an alarming quantity, nonetheless remained concerned over the weekend.

"Our No. 1 concern is our coast," Brahm said.

If significant quantities of oil were to be found bound for the Texas coast, the Coast Guard would make good use of "intense" spill drills exercised monthly and shift into action with skimming operation, boom and dispersants, Brahm said.

More oil may be coming
Texas Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson said on Saturday that more oil may well make landfall in Texas, but not at alarming levels.

"We're prepared but unfortunately we can't predict," Brahm said. "We just don't know."

The U.S. Coast Guard and Patterson said definitive test results should be back Monday or Tuesday indicating the source of the two different substances found along Texas' coasts since July 3 — whether all or some of it came from the BP spill.

Over the last week, conflicting test results from the two labs — one in Louisiana, the other in Connecticut — have created confusion as to how much of the Texas samples is from the BP spill. Testing produces an oil fingerprint, determining where it's from, Brahm said.

Patterson said the lab upstate is a forensic lab that conducts higher-level testing than the operation in Louisiana, and takes a little longer to "cook" the samples.

Using only 1 lab
Looking forward, he said, the state will release results only from the Connecticut lab. Patterson said he was unsure whether mistakes were made or if it was a matter of the limitations of the lab. The Coast Guard also was unsure why the labs produced different results.

Tar first made landfall in Galveston on July 3.

Within 24 hours of the initial report, about 11 gallons were collected from Bolivar and three beaches in Galveston - East, Stewart and near 61st Street.

On July 5, a caramel-like substance washed ashore McFaddin Beach near Port Arthur. Crews collected some 50 gallons there.

And over the following few days, more oil continued washing ashore in both places and on July 9, about 120 gallons were collected off Crystal Beach on Bolivar.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/deepwaterhorizon/7102789.html

A picture worth a thousand questions

By Michael A. Smith
The Daily News
Published July 11, 2010

We got a little rush of déjà vu last week at the news a freelance photographer had been detained by police and a corporate security guard in Texas City.

Lance Rosenfield was working for ProPublica, a Pulitzer Prize-winning online news organization based in New York, on a story about chemical releases at a BP plant. He was taking photographs from the public road of the sign marking Texas City’s municipal limits, something hundreds of people drive by every day.

He was, in other words, doing his legal job in a legal manner.

He was followed by BP’s security guard, then detained by Texas City police officers. He was questioned and forced to submit his photographs to governmental review. He said he was harassed by officer Tom Robison.

It was about the same treatment one of our photographers experienced in 2008 while recording efforts by Marathon Oil Co. crews to clean spilled product from a public drainage ditch.

There was one stunning difference. BP’s guard demanded Rosenfield’s driver’s license and Social Security numbers, among other personal information. Rosenfield declined to turn it over, as any good, freedom-loving American would have.

Unfortunately and outrageously, the Texas City police did give the information to the guard over Rosenfield’s protests.

Rosenfield asked the police what authority they had to give such sensitive private information to a corporate guard.

They told him about “procedures” and “practices.”

We’ve been asking similar questions for almost 10 years. We’ve asked what law of the United States or state of Texas allows police to detain a citizen for the act of taking photographs in a public place. We’ve asked what law grants police and federal agents the authority to seize a citizen’s camera — his property — and review its contents. We’ve been told about “practices,” “procedures” and security imperatives, but nobody — not the local police, not the FBI, not our elected officials — nobody has been able to show us a law.

ProPublica asked the same questions and got similar nonanswers. A BP spokesman, for example, answered by saying the company had a legal responsibility to report suspicious activity. Maybe so, but the incidents we’ve witnessed and experienced go far beyond the reporting of suspicious activity.

Given that no one in government can point to a law granting police these powers, we can only assume none exists and that the police have simply appropriated the power for themselves.

These sorts of abuses all stem from the rush of fear that seized many people after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. People can be forgiven for some fearful overreaction, but it has been almost a decade.

It’s time now for the people we’ve elected to represent our interests to review what they did after 9/11, and what’s been allowed to happen routinely since, and to make some adjustments in the service of liberty, even at the expense of security.

http://www.galvnews.com/story/161938

The author is being too kind; incidents such as the above are not from fear. It is the old "give them an inch and they'll take a mile" syndrome. Since 9/11 (as was intended - JMHO) authority has overreached its former boundaries by the proverbial mile and then some, not out of fear, but out of the desire to control, to protect criminal actions, to cover up, to deceive, to protect the bottom line - MONEY!!!

Oil Spill Stopped? Containment Cap Attempt Appears To Have Halted Oil



The Gulf oil spill appears to have been stopped by the latest containment cap, according to unconfirmed reports from PBS Newshour and CNN.

"There does not appear to be oil flowing into the Gulf of Mexico," reports PBS based on its live feed of the spill. "Details of the new containment cap will be confirmed in the morning. The new containment cap has been placed & will be pressure tested."

"BP, of course, has to test the new cap over the well to make sure leak has officially stopped," CNN's Nick Valencia writes. "The video looks hopeful."

Developing...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/07/1 ... 43767.html

New cap on ruptured oil well faces key tests
By the CNN Wire Staff
STORY HIGHLIGHTS

New Orleans, Louisiana (CNN) -- BP plans to begin testing the new cap on its ruptured deepwater well Tuesday -- a move that officials hope will be a step on the way to stopping oil from gushing into the Gulf of Mexico.

"This test involves closing one or more of the valves on the new cap for a period of time to allow BP to measure pressures in the well," retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen said.

The process could take anywhere from six hours to two days, or longer if BP extends them.

Officials say several scenarios are possible: the cap could contain all the oil; the cap could contain some of the crude while ships on the water's surface collect the rest; or, under a worst-case scenario, there could be more damage to the well's casing, meaning that capping the well would not stop the oil from flowing.

Before testing began, some oil continued to gush from the upper section of the new, 18-foot, 150,000-pound cap.

Allen, who is leading the federal response to the environmental disaster, said Monday scientists will be checking the pressure inside the well, and then determining whether the cap is holding the oil in or if ships will need to continue siphoning oil.

A critical step is making sure there's no hydrate buildup, according to BP Chief Operating Officer Doug Suttles.

In the best-case scenario, the containment cap would have the ability to close down the valves and slowly contain all the oil, Allen said.

If oil collection is still necessary, BP said it has more resources at its disposal. The oil-gathering ship, the Helix Producer, was put in place Monday to recover oil, joining the Q4000, which is already active.

And Allen said the new cap offers a significant advantage: four collection ships could connect to the well, rather than the maximum of three allowed by the old cap.

Over the next two to three weeks, 60,000 to 80,000 barrels (2.52 million to 3.36 million gallons) a day could be collected as part of the containment process, according to BP Senior Vice President Kent Wells.

As robots put the new cap in place, Allen emphasized that work was also continuing on two relief wells, which he called "the final solution" to shutting down the leaking well.

BP's Suttles said Monday that because the first relief well is five feet away from the main well, BP was estimating "kill" operations to shut down the main well could take place at the end of the month.

"We're getting really, really close, it looks to me like, to at least stopping the oil," said Ed Overton, Louisiana State University professor emeritus of environmental science. "The ultimate solution, of course, is the relief well that will seal the damaged well for good... But getting the oil stopped at this point is a gigantic, gigantic step forward."

Scientists estimate that 35,000 to 60,000 barrels of oil have spewed daily from BP's breached well, causing the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history.

The presidential commission tasked with investigating the Gulf oil gusher and making recommendations about the future of offshore drilling will continue its public meetings Tuesday.

The National Oil Spill Commission has six months to determine what happened when the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded April 20 -- and how to prevent something similar from ever happening again.

A new moratorium on deepwater drilling issued by the U.S. Interior Department Monday has already played a prominent role in the hearings.

The government said the new moratorium, which could be in effect through November 30, is to "protect communities, coasts, and wildlife" while oil and gas companies implement safety measures to reduce the risks of blowouts and oil spills associated with deepwater drilling.

But Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu of Louisiana told the presidential commission that the new moratorium was "unnecessary, ill-conceived and a second economic disaster for the Gulf Coast."

Cherri Foytlin, whose husband works for a firm that supplies tools to drilling companies, agreed.

"What I want the commission to walk away with is that we are people down here, and the moratorium and the oil spill affects people and not just big companies. When you rage against big oil like BP and Exxon, you're really raging against me," she said.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/07/13/gulf.oil.disaster/index.html?hpt=T1

This new cap was actually manufactured here in Houston. Folks in da bidness here are openly asking why BP didn't install this one to begin with? Why did it take 3 months to "manufacture" this cap? It should have taken Cameron about 2 weeks (or less if they worked all 3 shifts.)

Our local paper reported this morning that a seismic survey had been done in the area. No one, and I mean NO ONE, is talking about what they saw on the survey. This could be good or it could be very bad, indeed. The survey should be able to "see" any faults, cracks, whatever in the vicinity of the well bore.

Interesting, no?

Hopes high for cap on well, but testing delayed

New Orleans, Louisiana (CNN) -- BP was set to continue reviewing testing procedures Wednesday, a day after delaying crucial "integrity tests" on a new stacking cap placed on its ruptured oil well in the Gulf of Mexico.

The oil giant had expected the tests -- to check pressure in the well and determine if it can be sealed once and for all -- to get under way Tuesday afternoon.

But late Tuesday night, officials announced that additional analysis of the well testing procedure was needed. The move followed a meeting with Energy Secretary Steven Chu and his team of advisers. The decision was made by the Deepwater Horizon Unified Command, which includes government agencies as well as BP.

A source informed about BP operations told CNN's John King that, "There were some potential complications that might cause a delay -- some bad, some in the 'better to be safe than sorry' category."

CNN's David Mattingly, who accompanied the Coast Guard out to a site over the ruptured well Tuesday, said Wednesday a "small city of vessels" remains at the site and continues combating the sheen of oil in Gulf waters as smoke from burning gas and oil hovers on the horizon.

It had been hoped that the integrity tests would show whether an end is in sight to the environmental disaster that has been unfolding for the last 12 weeks. But throughout the evening, cameras some 5,000 feet below the surface showed oil gushing from the well's capping stack, indicating that valves had not been closed to begin the pressure tests. Mattingly said some of the oil, however, is being siphoned.

The massive custom-designed cap, which has a better seal than the last cap placed on the well, is some 30 feet high and weighs 160,000 pounds. It's hoped that it might seal the well completely. But if it's unable to contain all the oil, some could be diverted through riser pipes to ships on the surface. Under a worst-case scenario, however, tests might show there's more damage to the well's casing, meaning that capping the well would not stop the oil from flowing.

Retired Adm. Thad Allen, who is leading the federal response to the oil disaster, says the well cap placement is part of a "very complex, nuanced and broad-based response" to the rupture of the underwater well in April. The disaster, the worst environmental incident in U.S. history, was triggered April 20, when the underwater rig Deepwater Horizon exploded and then sank two days later. Eleven workers were killed.

When the integrity tests take place, they will measure pressure inside the well and are expected to last anywhere from six to 48 hours. The tests will involve incrementally closing three valves on the new cap, a process that would allow BP to do its pressure measurements.

Higher pressure readings would mean the leak is being stopped, while lower pressure indications would mean oil is escaping from other parts of the well.

"In this exercise, high pressure is good," Allen said. "We are looking for somewhere between 8- and 9,000 psi (pounds per square inch) inside the capping stack, which would indicate to us that the hydrocarbons are being forced up and the well bore's being able to withstand that pressure."

Allen was asked what he thought the odds were to the success of being able to shut the well with the new cap.

"I think we are very confident we can take control of this hydrocarbon stream and then slowly close all these valves and stop the emission of hydrocarbons. What we can't tell is the current condition of the well bore below the sea floor and the implication of the pressure readings," he said. "That is, in fact, why we're doing a well integrity test."

The latest containment cap, while seeming to offer the best odds of success, wasn't ready earlier. In addition, BP has learned from previous, unsuccessful containment efforts, CNN's Ed Lavandera reported on "The Situation Room."

Allen said that if low pressure readings persist for around a six-hour time frame, that could signal problems with the new cap

If it's determined that the cap can't seal the well completely, and some crude must be sent to the surface, the oil-gathering ship, the Helix Producer, is now in place. On Monday it joined the Q4000, which was already active. And more vessels are planned; Allen said a four-vessel system that could recover 80,000 barrels (3.3 million gallons) a day could be ready by the end of the month.

Meanwhile, in another development Tuesday, the Obama administration sent BP and other responsible parties a fourth bill relating to the oil spill. The new bill is for $99.7 million. It comes on top of a total of $122.3 million in the first three bills.

The government says the parties are responsible for all costs associated with the spill, including stopping the leak, protecting the shoreline and long-term recovery efforts. The money will help replenish a $1.5 billion federal trust fund established to pay for damages associated with oil spills.

Among those costs is skimming oil on the surface of the Gulf. Allen said authorities are on pace to have around 1,000 skimmers available by the end of the month. At this point, there are fewer than 600.

Work also has been continuing on the ultimate solution to fixing the problem: drilling two relief wells. But BP doesn't expect work on the first relief well to be completed until August.

Scientists estimate that 35,000 to 60,000 barrels (1.4 to 2.5 million gallons) of oil have spewed daily from BP's breached well. Allen cautions that even if the engineering containment efforts work, there is still a lot to be done in a disaster that has affected the environment and the livelihoods of people from Louisiana to Florida.

"There's still a significant amount of oil out there, and the oil recovery and the impacts of this oil will probably extend well into the fall in terms of oil coming ashore, tar balls, beach cleanup, and then we will be moving of course at that point of the natural resources damage assessment trying to understand the long-term environmental ecological impact of the event," Allen said.

And the presidential commission tasked with investigating the Gulf oil gusher and making recommendations about the future of offshore drilling continued its public meetings Tuesday. The National Oil Spill Commission has six months to determine what happened when the rig exploded -- and how to prevent something similar from ever happening again.

A new moratorium on deepwater drilling issued by the U.S. Interior Department Monday has already played a prominent role in the hearings.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/07/14/gulf.oil.disaster/index.html?hpt=T1

BP replaces leaking line, back on track with critical tests
By the CNN Wire Staff
July 15, 2010 11:09 a.m. EDT

New Orleans, Louisiana (CNN) -- BP replaced a leaking piece of equipment Thursday and hoped to resume procedures leading up to a vital well pressure test that could put an end to the oil that has been gushing into Gulf of Mexico for the last 12 weeks, said a top company official.

The "integrity" test is intended to measure pressure readings from inside the well. If the pressure readings are satisfactory, the valves on the new containment cap could remain closed, preventing oil from flowing into the sea.

BP was forced to suspend operations Wednesday after a leak was discovered in what is known as a choke line.

Senior Vice President Kent Wells told reporters Thursday the company was able to disconnect the leaking choke line and replace it.

Wells said BP hopes to go forward getting ready for integrity testing "sometime today."

BP was still able to collect oil while it was addressing the choke line problem, he said. In all, 12,800 barrels (537,600 gallons) had been collected Wednesday. Oil recovery had been suspended earlier in preparation for the testing.

A successful test could signal a beginning of an end to the catastrophe that began when the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig exploded April 20, killing 11 workers and triggering the relentless oil spill.

Once the testing begins, scientists will monitor pressure levels inside the containment cap.

Low pressure readings would indicate that the integrity of the well bore has been compromised and oil is seeping out elsewhere. High pressure readings would mean that scientists will consider using the cap to shut in the well completely.

The testing will last up to 48 hours. A key question was whether shutting the well was worth the risk, or whether it might damage the well bore.

BP is drilling two relief wells, which are seen as the ultimate solution to the oil disaster. They are expected to be completed in August.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/07/15/gulf.o ... index.html

No oil leaking as BP begins critical pressure tests in Gulf oil well
By the CNN Wire Staff

New Orleans, Louisiana (CNN) -- A highly anticipated test designed to measure pressure within BP's ruptured Gulf of Mexico oil well began Thursday after a delay caused by leaking equipment.

A short time later, BP Senior Vice President Kent Wells announced that for the first time in months, no oil was flowing into the Gulf. This was part of the test, as BP measures pressure in the well to see how it's holding. Higher pressure readings mean the well is containing the oil, while lower pressure means some is leaking out.

The data is being particularly closely scrutinized at six-hour intervals, so a key time will occur later Thursday night, after the first six hours.

The "well integrity" test could end after six hours, if the results are disappointing. But it could go on for 48 hours. The longer it goes, the better indications are that the well is holding with a custom-made sealing cap.

BP's stock jumped on word that the oil flow had been cut off, as part of the test. The stock rose $2.74 a share, more than 7 percent, to close at $38.92.

Earlier this month, it traded below $30 a share.

The cap, lowered in place earlier this week, has never been deployed at such depths or under such conditions and therefeore, there were no guarantees on how well it would contain the oil, BP said.

Earlier Thursday, BP replaced what is known as a choke line after a leak was discovered the day before when the company first attempted the crucial pressure test, said Senior Vice President Kent Wells.

BP plans to close off -- one by one -- the valves on the cap system through which oil can escape, said retired Adm. Thad Allen, the federal government's disaster response manager.

Scientists and engineers will monitor the pressure every six hours and evaluate the situation, Allen said. If at any time, the pressure is deemed too low -- meaning that oil is escaping through another source in the breached well -- the testing will stop, Allen said.

Allen compared low pressure in the well to a leaky garden hose that dribbles out water with your thumb pressed hard on the nozzle, Allen said.

If the pressure readings are sufficiently high, the valves on the stacking containment cap could remain closed and signal a beginning of the end to the catastrophe that began when the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig exploded April 20, killing 11 workers and triggering the relentless spill.

Allen said the cap was not designed to permanently shut in the well -- it was meant to move to a four-vessel containment system and assure redundancy in the event of a hurricane. But he said there could be a huge side benefit if the oil can be contained -- a "twofer," as he called it.

Allen said the more permanent solution to the spewing oil remains the two relief wells BP is drilling and expects to have them finished in August.

BP pumped drilling mud into those relief wells to mitigate risks during the pressure testing. The two wells intersect with the Macondo.

Oil recovery was stopped Wednesday ahead of the integrity test but resumed while BP was fixing the problem with the leaking choke line. It was stopped again with the testing under way.

Wells said BP collected 537,600 gallons of oil Wednesday. Government scientists estimate between 1.5 million to 2.5 million gallons are flowing into the Gulf every day.

A key question over the pressure tests was whether shutting the well was worth the risk, or whether they might cause fresh damage to the blowout preventer.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/07/15/gulf.oil.disaster/index.html?hpt=C1

17 July 2010 Last updated at 18:39 ET
BP extends testing of capped oil well in Gulf of Mexico
Testing of BP's newly capped Gulf of Mexico oil well is to continue for a further 24 hours, it has been announced.

The US official in charge of the spill clean-up, Admiral Thad Allen, said the "integrity test" would not stop until Sunday afternoon.

The new cap has managed to stop the flow of oil for the first time since the well exploded three months ago.

The spill has been described as the worst environmental disaster in the US.

The flow of oil was shut off at 1425 local time (1925 GMT) on Thursday.

BP is drilling a relief well which should intercept the leaking one at the end of July, enabling it to be sealed by mid-August.

In a statement, Adm Allen said: "As we continue to see success in the temporary halt of oil from the leak, the US government and BP have agreed to allow the well integrity test to continue another 24 hours."
Earlier, BP's senior vice president, Kent Wells, gave a cautiously optimistic assessment of the operation, saying he was feeling more confident that there were no signs of leakage.

"At this point there's no evidence that we don't have integrity," he said at a news briefing.

"That's very good and the fact that the pressure (inside the well) continues to rise is giving us more and more confidence as we are getting through the test."

Eleven workers were killed when the Deepwater Horizon rig blew up on 20 April.

The subsequent spill has affected hundreds of miles of Gulf coastline since April, with serious economic damage to the region as tourists have avoided Gulf Coast beaches and fishing grounds have remained closed.

BP has put the costs of dealing with the disaster at over $3.5bn (£2.3bn).

It has already paid out more than $200m to 32,000 claimants.

The company is evaluating a further 17,000 for payment and is seeking more information on 61,000 other claims.

........more at link
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-10674719?

Official: Seep found near BP's blown out oil well
updated 07/18/10 6:01 pm

NEW ORLEANS (AP) - A federal official said Sunday that scientists are concerned about a seep and possible methane seen near BP's busted oil well in the Gulf of Mexico. Both could be signs there are leaks in the well that's been capped off for three days.

The official spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Sunday because an announcement about the next steps had not yet been made.

The official is familiar with the spill oversight but would not clarify what is seeping near the well. The official said BP is not complying with the government's demand for more monitoring. BP spokesman Mark Salt declined to comment on the allegation, but said "we continue to work very closely with all government scientists on this."

Retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen will make the final decisions on the next step. The official said Allen would issue a letter to BP shortly allowing testing to proceed in 24-hour increments, but also requiring more analysis of the seep and the possible observation of methane over the well.

If Allen doesn't get the response he wants, the testing could stop, the official said.

The custom-built cap that finally cut off the oil flowing from BP's broken well three days ago was holding steady Sunday.

A BP official said the company hoped to leave the cap in place until crews can permanently kill the leak.

That differs from the plan the federal government laid out a day earlier, in which millions more gallons of oil could be released before the cap is connected to tankers at the surface and oil is sent to be collected through a mile of pipes.

Federal officials wary of making the well unstable have said that plan would relieve pressure on the cap and may be the safer option, but it would mean three days of oil flowing into the Gulf before the collection begins.

http://www.wjla.com/news/stories/0710/756481.html

BP, feds clash over reopening capped Gulf oil well

By COLLEEN LONG and HARRY R. WEBER, Associated Press Writers Colleen Long And Harry R. Weber, Associated Press Writers – 1 hr 7 mins ago

NEW ORLEANS – BP and the Obama administration offered significantly differing views Sunday on whether the capped Gulf of Mexico oil well will have to be reopened, a contradiction that may be an effort by the oil giant to avoid blame if crude starts spewing again.

Pilloried for nearly three months as it tried repeatedly to stop the leak, BP PLC capped the nearly mile-deep well Thursday and wants to keep it that way. The government's plan, however, is to eventually pipe oil to the surface, which would ease pressure on the fragile well but would require up to three more days of oil spilling into the Gulf.

"No one associated with this whole activity ... wants to see any more oil flow into the Gulf of Mexico," Doug Suttles, BP's chief operating officer, said Sunday. "Right now we don't have a target to return the well to flow."

An administration official familiar with the spill oversight, however, told The Associated Press that a seep and possible methane were found near the busted oil well. The official spoke on condition of anonymity Sunday because an announcement about the next steps had not been made yet.

The concern all along — since pressure readings on the cap weren't as high as expected — was a leak elsewhere in the wellbore, meaning the cap may have to be reopened to prevent the environmental disaster from becoming even worse and harder to fix.

The official, who would not clarify what is seeping near the well, also said BP is not complying with the government's demand for more monitoring.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_gulf_oil_spill

Hat tip to AC from the UK at GLP

Feds confirm Methane seeping from at least 2 places in seafloor; At 100-200 meters & 3 km from well
JULY 19TH, 2010 AT 05:24 PM

National Incident Commander Thad Allen, Press Conference, July 19, 2010 at 5:10 p.m. EDT:

There have been three general areas of anomalies detected since the 17th of July…

First was seepage located 3 nautical miles from wellhead, we do not believe related to Macondo well, but doing tests…

We also have picked up some anomalies within several hundred meters of the wellhead itself… continuing to take a look at that and what that might portend…

Finally, we do have some bubbles that have arisen around the base of the legacy blowout preventer… overnight we established leakage in the capping stack itself. …

Leakage occurring in flange, and hydrate formation on the capping stack. Do not know, do not believe this is consequential at this time. …

So we have the things we’re seeing:

- Right around the capping stack
- A couple of anomalies detected 100-200 meters around the well
- And then the anomaly detected on the 17th of July out to 3km [said 3 nautical miles originally]

No indication at this time that this is any indication of a significant problem in the well bore, but we are running these anomalies down.

http://www.godlikeproductions.com/forum ... 137488/pg1

The oil spill: The latest developments

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

-- Five leaks in and around BP's well are more like "drips" and aren't yet reason to worry, said retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, the national incident commander. He extended testing of the experimental cap by another day, which means the oil will remain shut in. Seepage two miles from BP's oil cap is coming from another well, he said.

-- BP would like to implement a "static kill" of the well, which involves sending mud and later cement down into the well through the cap, according to BP Senior Vice President Kent Wells. The company is waiting for government approval.

The final closing of the well would still have to be performed by a relief well "bottom kill," scheduled now to begin in late July or early August if the weather remains good.

By the numbers

$7 billion

The amount that BP is getting from Apache Corp. for oil and gas properties in the United States, Egypt and Canada.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 06199.html

Hat tip to MorichesDaily at GLP

BP Hires Prison Labor to Clean Up Spill While Coastal Residents Struggle
Abe Louise Young
July 21, 2010



The author continues to investigate, and discovers the inmates being returned to their work release camp one evening, after a long day shoveling crude from the beaches. He goes on to lay out the hazards of working with crude oil and dispersants, and the economic benefits to hiring inmate labor.

Interesting article- may be read here: http://www.thenation.com/article/37828/ ... s-struggle

This company is the most dispicable that I have ever seen...

First they distroy the area and then cannot even hire the un-employed from teh region.

It could possibly help them save face a bit but noooooo they have to save that extra buck an hour per head

On the Surface, Gulf Oil Spill Is Vanishing Fast; Concerns Stay

John David Mercer/Press-Register, via Associated Press

The oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico appears to be dissolving far more rapidly than anyone expected, a piece of good news that raises tricky new questions about how fast the government should scale back its response to the Deepwater Horizon disaster.

The immense patches of surface oil that covered thousands of square miles of the gulf after the April 20 oil rig explosion are largely gone, though sightings of tar balls and emulsified oil continue here and there.

Reporters flying over the area Sunday spotted only a few patches of sheen and an occasional streak of thicker oil, and radar images taken since then suggest that these few remaining patches are quickly breaking down in the warm surface waters of the gulf.

Read more here: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/28/us/28spill.html?_r=1&hp

Must be a Miracle!

I am sure it is the Corexit they deployed. What will the cost to the environment and peoples health be when this stuff breaks down and "disperses" into the atmosphere?

We need intervention from Above...

Gulf crews prepare to start plugging well for good
By GREG BLUESTEIN
© 2010 The Associated Press
Aug. 1, 2010, 4:27PM

NEW ORLEANS — The only thing keeping millions more gallons of oil out of the Gulf of Mexico right now is a rush job: an experimental cap that has held for more than two weeks but was never meant to be permanent. As soon as this week, crews will be pumping in some insurance.

Engineers are preparing to launch a so-called static kill as early as Monday evening, shoving mud and perhaps cement into the blown-out well to make it easier to plug the gusher up forever and end the Summer of the Spill.

The effort carries no certainty, and BP PLC engineers still plan to follow it up days later by sending a stream of mud and cement into the bottom of the mile-deep underground reservoir through a relief well they've been digging for months.

But the oil giant's engineers and petroleum experts say it's the clearest path yet to choke the blown-out well and make it even easier for the crews drilling the relief well to ensure oil can never again erupt from the deep-sea well, which has spewed as much as 184 million gallons since the rig connected to it blew up in April and killed 11 workers.

The developments have the makings for an interesting week.

Read more here: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/deepwaterhorizon/7134786.html

'Static kill' under way in effort to seal Gulf oil well
By the CNN Wire Staff
August 3, 2010 4:41 p.m. EDT

Houston, Texas (CNN) -- BP says it has started its effort to help seal its crippled well in the Gulf of Mexico through a "static kill," by pumping mud into the well from above.

The move started at about 4 p.m. ET, the company said in a news release.

It said the operation is being carried out with the approval of the federal official overseeing the response to the oil spill, retired Adm. Thad Allen.

The effort followed an "injectivity" test done to determine if oil in the capped well could be pushed back into the reservoir and it was safe to proceed.

Allen said earlier at a briefing that the static kill process would last between 33 and 61 hours.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/08/03/gulf.oil.spill/index.html?hpt=T1&iref=BN1

A great big ole Texas shout out to all the men and women who worked so very, very hard to accomplish this!

These men and women went to work every day to accomplish one goal - kill the well. They worked in heat, humidity and pretty miserable conditions for this. They left their families for 3-4 weeks at a time and worked 12-14 hour shifts to make this happen.

I'm so proud of them I could burst - awl field trash and damn proud of it!

There are people in this country who work hard every day
Not for fame or fortune do they strive
But the fruits of their labor are worth more than their pay
And it's time a few of them were recognized
Alabama - 40 Hour Week


Breaking News

BP finishes pumping cement into blown-out well

By GREG BLUESTEIN and HARRY R. WEBER Associated Press Writers © 2010 The Associated Press
Aug. 5, 2010, 3:52PM

NEW ORLEANS — BP says engineers have finished plugging the blown-out Gulf of Mexico well with cement in their effort to permanently seal it.

The company said Thursday that its engineers finished pumping cement into the deep-sea well at 2:15 Central time.

On Wednesday they pumped enough mud into the well to push the oil back to its underground reservoir. Crews must now wait at least a day for the cement to dry.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/top/all/7141220.html

Try These Videos Simple Simon





10x time-lapse of thick methane? clouds seeping from seafloor (VIDEO)
http://beforeitsnews.com/story/131/926/ ... VIDEO.html



ALSO Breaking Today how OBAMA Government Thugs Put Pressure on Scientists to shut up about the original Oil Plumes.

Scientists Say Feds Tried To Coverup BP Gulf Oil Spill Plumes; Feds Took Data And Told Scientists To Shut Up



http://beforeitsnews.com/story/132/613/ ... ut_Up.html

http://www.tampabay.com/news/environmen ... 114225.ece

http://blog.alexanderhiggins.com/2010/0 ... l-coverup/




A shocking article on the St. Petersburg Times reveals that federal government agencies tried to coverup the discovery of massive plumes of underwater oil found by independent scientists.

The scientists say the federal government took their data about the oil plumes and told them to shut up.

When the scientist went public with their findings they say they were discredited by the government and pressured to redact their findings.

The accusations come from several universities including professors from the University of Southern Mississippi and the University of South Florida and follow similar charges of a cover up lodged against NOAA by Discovery earth.

Yes, it was a bad oil spill but look at this - the marsh is coming back.

No methane explosion, no evacuation, no volcano, just our Mother Earth doing what she does best - caring for all her creatures - great and small.

Next time we watch our 24 hour MSM news cycle and get all hysterical, I would hope folks will remember this.

In oiled Louisiana marshes, signs of regrowth seen

Early recovery might mean some coastal land won't be lost after all

By CAIN BURDEAU, JEFFREY COLLINS

updated 8/11/2010 6:38:37 PM ET

BARATARIA BAY, La. — Shoots of marsh grass and bushes of mangrove trees are starting to grow back in a bay where just months ago photographers shot startling images of dying pelicans coated in oil from the massive Gulf spill.

More than a dozen scientists interviewed by The Associated Press say the marsh here and across the Louisiana coast is healing itself, giving them hope delicate wetlands might weather the worst offshore spill in U.S. history better than they had feared. Some marshland could be lost, but the amount appears to be small compared with what the coast loses every year through human development.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38665552/ns/disaster_in_the_gulf/

Toxic Dispersants Found on Recently Opened Mississippi Shrimping and Oyster Grounds



On Monday, August 9, the Director of the State of Mississippi Department of Marine Resources (DMR), Bill Walker, despite ongoing reports of tar balls, oil and dispersants being found in Mississippi waters, declared, "there should be no new threats" and issued an order for all local coast governments to halt ongoing oil disaster work being funded by BP money that was granted to the state.

BP had allocated $25 million to Mississippi for local government disaster work. As of August 9, Walker estimated that only about $500,000 worth of invoices for oil response work had been submitted to the state. Nobody knows what the rest of the money will be used for.

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php? ... &aid=20655