July 21, 2010

Relief tunnel should reach Gulf well by weekend

By DAVID DISHNEAU and COLLEEN LONG
Associated Press Writers

Three months into the disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, the federal government's spill chief says a relief tunnel should finally reach BP's broken well by the weekend, meaning the gusher could be snuffed for good within two weeks.

After several days of concern about the well's stability and the leaky cap keeping the oil mostly bottled up, retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen said Tuesday that engineers concluded the risk of a bigger blowout was minimal and were getting closer to pumping mud into the column to permanently seal it.

"We continue to be pleased with the progress," Allen said in Washington, giving the go-ahead to keep the well cap shut for at least 24 more hours and possibly longer.

BP vice president Kent Wells said crews hope to drill sideways into the blown-out well and intercept it at the end of July. The relief well is necessary to plug the well permanently.

After it's done, crews will begin the kill procedure, pumping mud and cement into the hole a mile underwater to seal it, which BP said could take anywhere from five days to a couple of weeks.

"Everything's looking good," Well said. "The relief well is exactly where we want it. It's pointed in the right direction, and so we're feeling good about that."

Engineers are also considering shooting drilling mud down through the cap to increase the chances that the attempt to kill the well succeeds.

News that a solution is near cheered Jeff Hunt who scans the waves daily for telltale tar balls in Pensacola Beach, Fla.

"It makes me very happy, after nearly three months, that they finally have gotten to a pinnacle point of closing it," said the co-owner of a hair salon. "We need to plug the thing."

BP wants to leave the cap on in the meantime. At one point, Allen wanted instead to relieve the pressure by opening up the cap and siphoning oil up to ships on the surface, but he has relented in the past few days. Opening the cap would have required allowing millions of gallons oil to gush into the sea again for a few days while the plumbing was hooked up.

Seepage detected from the seafloor briefly raised fears that the well was in danger, but Allen said that another well is to blame.

The seepage is closer to the older well than to the one that blew out, Allen said.

There are two wells within two miles of BP's blowout, one that has been abandoned and another that is not in production. Around 27,000 abandoned wells in the Gulf aren't checked for leaks, an Associated Press investigation showed this month.

The BP-leased Deepwater Horizon rig exploded April 20, killing 11 workers and touching off one of America's worst environmental crises. The well has spewed somewhere between 94 million and 184 million gallons into the Gulf. BP said the cost of dealing with the spill has now reached nearly $4 billion.

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Frommer reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Phuong Le and David Dishneau in New Orleans, Michael Kunzelman in Kenner, La., and Ben Feller in Washington contributed to this report along with AP energy writer Chris Kahn in New York.

Vessels gather at the Deepwater Horizon oil spill site over the Gulf of Mexico, off the Louisiana coast, Tuesday, July 20, 2010. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

A boat cuts through a sheen of oil near the Deepwater Horizon oil spill site in the Gulf of Mexico, off the Louisiana coast, Tuesday, July 20, 2010. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen listens to questions during a news conference about the Deepwater Horizon BP oil spill response efforts at the Department of Justice in Washington, Tuesday, July 20, 2010. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

An oil cleanup worker drags bags of oily sand along the stained beach in Grand Isle, La., Monday, July 19, 2010. Oil from the Deepwater Horizon incident continues to wash ashore on Grand Isle. (AP Photo/Dave Martin)

Pat Reynolds of Shreveport, Miss., takes photos of signs displaying anti BP sentiments in Grand Isle, La., Monday, July 19, 2010. Oil from the Deepwater Horizon incident continues to wash ashore on Grand Isle. (AP Photo/Dave Martin)

Retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen speaks to the news media about the BP PLC gulf oil spill in front of a line drawing of the containment stack at the site of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in Washington Monday, July 19, 2010. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

In this image taken from video provided by BP PLC at 15:47 p.m. CDT, a remotely operated vehicle maneuvers around the containment stack at the site of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico Monday, July 19, 2010. Oil and gas are leaking from the cap on BP's ruptured oil well, but federal officials intend to leave the cork in place for now. Retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen says Monday afternoon that the leaks are so far not a major concern. (AP Photo/BP PLC) NO SALES

In this image taken from video provided by BP PLC at 15:25 p.m. CDT, a remotely operated vehicle maneuvers around the containment stack at the site of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico Monday, July 19, 2010. (AP Photo/BP PLC) NO SALES

In this image taken from video provided by BP PLC at 15:37 p.m. CDT, a remotely operated vehicle maneuvers around the containment stack at the site of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico Monday, July 19, 2010. Oil is leaking from the cap on BP's ruptured oil well, but federal officials intend to leave it in place for now. Retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen says Monday afternoon that the leaks are so far not a major concern. (AP Photo/BP PLC) NO SALES

A vessel of opportunity returns to port late in the afternoon after skimming oil from the waters around Grand Isle, La., Monday, July 19, 2010. Oil from the Deepwater Horizon incident continues to wash ashore on Grand Isle. (AP Photo/Dave Martin)

Vessels of opportunity skim oil from the waters around Grand Isle, La., Monday, July 19, 2010. Oil from the Deepwater Horizon incident continues to wash ashore on Grand Isle. (AP Photo/Dave Martin)

Oil cleanup workers continue their efforts on the beach in Grand Isle, La., Monday, July 19, 2010. Oil from the Deepwater Horizon incident continues to wash ashore on Grand Isle. (AP Photo/Dave Martin)

Mike Johnson, left, of San Francisco and Marshall Rigsbee of Portland, Ore., walk along the stained beach in Grand Isle, La., Monday, July 19, 2010. Oil from the Deepwater Horizon incident continues to wash ashore on Grand Isle. (AP Photo/Dave Martin)

Traffic drives past signs showing anti-BP sentiments in Grand Isle, La., Monday, July 19, 2010. Oil from the Deepwater Horizon disaster continues to wash ashore on Grand Isle. (AP Photo/Dave Martin)

Map shows the forecast location of oil

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