The oil spill within the Gulf of Mexico 2010 became the target for Tropical Storm Bonnie as it pulled from the Bahamas Thursday . Storm warnings stopped nearly all oil spill containment and cleanup efforts. The massive flotilla assembled by BP for the oil spill containment and cleanup waited for official word from Thad Allen, the federal director of the spill response, on whether to evacuate. Better weather will have to return before a final effort to kill the well is attempted. But the feds are confident, as outlined by Allen, the storm will not force them to disconnect the oil spill containment cap that has stanched the flow from the ruptured well.
Tropical Storm Bonnie puts hold on oil spill response
The storm system called Tropical Storm Bonnie could reach the Gulf of Mexico by Saturday, Forecasters at the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said. The Associated Press reports that work on plugging the well has stopped, just days before a relief well to permanently seal the ruptured well is scheduled to be completed. 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 to the gusher. If crews in the path of Tropical Storm Bonnie have to evacuate, efforts to kill the well could possibly be delayed two weeks. BP’s timetable called for finishing the relief well by the end of July and plugging the blown-out well by early August.
Static kill postponed until relief well is complete
Another option being considered to plug the BP oil leak called is called a “static kill”. A static kill, as outlined by the New York Times, involves pumping drilling mud through the blowout preventer into the well to permanently stanch the flow. To minimize risk of damaging the relief well if something goes wrong with the static kill, the procedure can only start when the relief well casing is fully installed. If the static kill is successful, the only need for the relief well may be to confirm the well is permanently sealed. If the static kill doesn’t work, mud can have to be pumped to the relief well for various more weeks to permanently kill the well.
Oil spill cap performance breeds confidence
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. According to BP’s site, steadily rising pressure readings show that oil and gas is not escaping from other parts of the well. Every day the pressure holds gives the team more confidence, a BP official said.
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