BP gets green light to try 'top kill'

The Coast Guard gave BP approval today to try its "top kill" procedure on the Gulf oil spill, while BP's chief executive earlier told NBC that he would decide shortly whether conditions were right to proceed. Tony Hayward also issued an apology of sorts for earlier comments minimizing the damage so far.

"We have let people down in our defense of the shore and we are going to redouble our efforts," Tony Hayward told NBC's Today show when asked why last week he said the environmental impacts seemed "very, very modest." "I felt devastated and gutted" after viewing damage to a coastal beach on Tuesday, Hayward said.

On the "top kill" strategy, Hayward said: "Later this morning I will review that with the team, and I will take a final decision as to whether or not we should proceed."

If he determines it is safe to proceed, the procedure is expected to happen today, he said. He added it will take a day or two to determine whether the procedure worked.

The top kill involves pumping enough mud into the gusher to overcome the flow of the well, which has leaked millions of gallons of oil into the water since an April 20 rig explosion. Engineers then plan to follow it up with cement that the company hopes will permanently seal the well.

The top kill has been successful in above ground wells but has never been tried a mile beneath the sea. Hayward earlier pegged its chances of success in this case at 60 to 70 percent.

It is the company's latest effort to stem the spill and comes as politicians and Gulf residents are losing patience with the company over several failed attempts to stop the leak.

Meanwhile, a live feed of the oil leak can be seen here.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Sunny von Bulow dies after 28 years in coma

Image
After spending nearly 28 years in an irreversible coma, heiress and socialite Martha "Sunny" von Bulow died Saturday in a New York nursing home, according to a family statement. She was 76. Von Bulow was subject of one of the nation's most sensational criminal cases during the 1980s. Her husband, Claus, was accused of trying to kill her with an overdose of insulin, which prosecutors alleged sent her into the coma. He was convicted of making two attempts on her life, but the conviction was overturned on appeal. He was acquitted in a second trial. His retrial in 1985 received national attention. (Via CNN )
Read more

Ric Alonso resigns from pageant association after porn revelation

Image
Kevin Hogan wasn't the only person this week ambushed out of a job for his participation in the gay adult film industry. FOX News reports : Ric Alonso and his partner of 21 years, Ernie Koneck, have both been both prominent power players in the Southern California Scholarship Association — an incorporated not-for-profit association — which produces the Miss Hollywood pageant, an official preliminary to Miss California, and a feeder to Miss America. Alonso is listed as the first “major sponsor” for 2011 scholarship donations, while partner Koneck has been the pageantry point of contact and is featured in photographs alongside the smiling young sashed pageant contestants. On Tuesday, Alonso was exposed by RadarOnline as adult film actor and producer "Jake Cruise". FOX News adds: Following the revelation, Koneck announced his resignation Tuesday as Executive Director of the Southern California Scholarship Association, and said Alonso was in no way involved in the Miss Holl
Read more

Make Jerry Curl Great Again

Image
You can't consider yourself a writer if you don't write. In recent years, I have probably said those words to myself so often that they could be considered a mantra; a mantra that I don't want to embody but one that is nonetheless true. I don't write anymore. I don't write to faraway friends. I don't write to remember. I don't write for pleasure. I don't write for release. I don't even Tweet. At a recent job interview (for another job I didn't really want), I was asked what I would do for a living if I could do anything. Without even thinking about it, I said I would be a writer. But that was a stock answer. It's the answer I've always given to that question. But this time the answer felt phony. It felt forced. It didn't feel like me anymore. The real, ugly, scary truth is that I don't know if I still got the right stuff to be the writer I wanted to be. While I have always questioned the validity of my own voice (my
Read more