Tropical Storm Bonnie moved from the Bahamas and headed toward the oil spill within the Gulf of Mexico 2010 Thursday . Most work was halted on cleanup of the oil spill and oil spill containment efforts. BP was waiting for official word from Thad Allen, the federal director of the spill response about whether drill rigs, oil containment ships and support vessels would have to evacuate. Better weather could have to return before a final effort to kill the well is attempted. But Allen said the feds are confident that an oil spill containment cap that has stanched the flow from the ruptured well will hold during the storm.
Tropical Storm Bonnie puts hold on oil spill response
Forecasters at the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said the storm system could become Tropical Storm Bonnie later Thursday and reach the Gulf of Mexico by Saturday. The Associated Press reports that crews were just days from finishing a relief well to permanently seal the well before work was halted. Original plans were for crews to reinforce the last few feet of the relief well with cement on Wednesday and Thursday, before killing it once and for all by pumping mud into the gusher. If Tropical Storm Bonnie forces work crews to evacuate, it could possibly be two weeks before they can resume the effort to kill the well. BP’s timetable called for finishing the relief well by the end of July and plugging the blown-out well by early August.
New static kill tactic depends on complete relief well
A “static kill,” is the latest option being considered to plug the BP oil leak. . A static kill can’t begin until the relief well casing is fully installed, to stay away from damaging the relief well if something goes wrong. If the static kill works as advertised, the relief well will nevertheless be needed to confirm that the well has been killed. If the static kill doesn’t work, mud will have to be pumped to the relief well for a number of more weeks to permanently kill the well.
Pressure on oil spill cap increasing as prepared
The government has given BP the go-ahead to leave the oil spill containment cap in place as Tropical Storm Bonnie approaches. Bloomberg reports that Allen said data from the well gave them “growing confidence that keeping the cap on would not damage the leaking well. As outlined by BP’s website, steadily rising pressure readings show that oil and gas is not escaping from other parts of the well. A BP official said each and every additional day the pressure holds gives them more confidence.
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