COVINGTON, La. - BP started pumping heavy mud into the leakingGulf of Mexico well Wednesday and said everything was going asplanned in the company's boldest attempt yet to plug the gusher thathas spewed millions of gallons of oil over the last five weeks.
BP hoped the mud could overpower the steady stream of oil, butchief executive Tony Hayward said it would be at least 24 hoursbefore officials know whether the attempt has been successful. Thecompany wants to eventually inject cement into the well to seal it.
"I'm sure many of you have been watching the plume," Haywardsaid, referring to the streaming video of the leak on the Internet."All I can say is it is unlikely to give us any real indication ofwhat is going on. Either increases or decreases are not an indicatorof either success or failure at this time."
A live video stream Wednesday showed pictures of the blowoutpreventer, as well as the oil gushing out. At other times, the feedshowed mud spewing out, but BP said this was not cause for alarm.
The stakes are high. Fishermen, hotel and restaurant owners,politicians and residents along the coast are fed up with BP's sofar ineffective attempts to stop the oil leak that sprang after anoffshore drilling rig exploded April 20. Eleven workers were killed,and by the most conservative estimate, 7 million gallons of crudehave spilled into the Gulf, fouling Louisiana's marshes and coatingbirds and other wildlife.
"We're doing everything we can to bring it to closure, andactually we're executing this top kill job as efficiently andeffectively as we can," BP chief operating officer Suttles saidWednesday night.
The top kill has worked above ground but has never before beentried 5,000 feet beneath the sea. Company officials peg its chanceof success at 60 to 70 percent.
President Barack Obama said "there's no guarantees" it will work.The president planned a trip to Louisiana on Friday.
"We're going to bring every resource necessary to put a stop tothis thing," he said.
Engineers planned to monitor the well overnight and continuepumping in thousands of gallons of the drilling fluid, which isabout twice as heavy as water.
"The absence of any news is good news," said Coast Guard Adm.Thad Allen, who is overseeing the operation. He added: "It's a waitand see game here right now, so far nothing unfavorable."
Frustration with BP and the federal government has grown sinceefforts to stop the leak have failed.
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and Plaquemines Parish PresidentBilly Nungesser, both outspoken critics, led a boat tour around theoil-fouled delta near the mouth of the Mississippi River. Some 100miles of Louisiana coastline had been hit by the oil, the CoastGuard said.
Through the Mississippi's South Pass, there were miles-longpassages that showed no indication of the oil, and the air smelledfresh and salty. Nearby fish were leaping and tiny seabirds doveinto the water.
But not far away at Pass a Loutre, the odor wafting above theoily water was that of an auto shop.
"There's no wildlife in Pass a Loutre. It's all dead," Nungessersaid.
As Congress holds hearings in search of the spill's cause, dozensof witness statements obtained by The Associated Press shed newlight on the origins of the blowout.
Despite unusual pressure readings in the well on the day of theexplosion, the documents show a BP official overruled concerns ofsubordinates and decided to remove heavy drilling fluid from thewell and replace it with lighter-weight seawater that was unable toprevent gas from surging to the surface and exploding.
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Gulf spill impact
Drilling to be halted in Arctic
WASHINGTON - The Obama administration today will suspend plannedexploratory oil drilling in the Arctic Ocean off Alaska until atleast 2011, a casualty of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
Details
The move will stop Shell from drilling five wells in the Chukchiand Beaufort seas off northern Alaska weeks before it had hoped tostart work, an administration official told McClatchy Newspapers.
The move will stop for now a controversial expansion of oildrilling in a part of the world that could hold vast stores of oiland natural gas, but which environmentalists warn would come atgreat risk.
Despite a late appeal from Shell that it would employ new safetymeasures in the wake of the gulf spill, Interior Secretary KenSalazar was unconvinced that the exploratory drilling even in themuch shallower waters of the Arctic would be safe.
- McClatchy Newspapers
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