BP in wait-and-see mode with 'top kill' procedure

Venice, Louisiana (News Today) - BP officials may know by Thursday afternoon whether the oil company's latest attempt to cap the runaway leak in the Gulf of Mexico is yielding results.

"I think we just need to take the next 24 hours and actually see what the results are," said BP Chief Operating Officer Doug Suttles from Robert, Louisiana.

The operation, known as a "top kill," that began Wednesday afternoon was going according to plan, he said, with drilling mud being applied to the well at a rate of up to 65 barrels per minute.

Coast Guard Rear Admiral Mary Landry, the federal on-scene coordinator, was equally reluctant to draw conclusions.

"While we're very encouraged by some aspects of this procedure, I don't want to express optimism until I know for sure that we've secured the well and the leak has stopped," she told reporters.

CNN.com Live: Underwater view of top kill procedure

President Obama is certain to be peppered with more questions Thursday about the administration's response to the spill. He plans to announce "strengthened inspections" and an effort to tighten safety regulations for offshore drilling, during an afternoon session with reporters, an administration official said.

He is also expected to discuss other recommendations that came from a 30-day review he ordered shortly after the April 20 explosion aboard the drilling rig Deepwater Horizon that triggered the leak and left 11 men missing and presumed dead.

"If it's successful, and there are no guarantees, it should greatly reduce or eliminate the flow of oil now streaming into the Gulf from the sea floor," Obama said after discussing the top kill procedure with Energy Secretary Steven Chu, who was in Houston at the command center. "And if it's not, there are other approaches that may be viable."

BP updates progress of 'top kill' Video

But he didn't elaborate on what he meant by those "other approaches."

No less than four Congressional hearings were scheduled Thursday regarding the spill. The committees will hear from oil rig workers and their families. Lamar McKay, chairman and president of BP America, and Steven Newman, president and CEO of Transocean, owner of the oil rig that exploded and sank, are also expected to testify, along with Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and Liz Birnbaum, director of the Minerals Management Service.

iReport: Share your views on the oil spill response

Early Thursday morning, the Unified Command in Louisiana said it has recalled all 125 commercial vessels in Breton Sound, Louisiana, after four crew members in three vessels involved in the oil recovery operations reported feeling sick.

Medics were going boat to boat to evaluate crew members as a precaution, said Lt. Cmdr. Rob Wyman.

The four crew members, who prompted the recall, reported feeling nauseous and dizzy, and complained of headaches and chest pains, the Deepwater Horizon Incident Joint Information Center said.

The other crew members on those boats declined treatment at the dock.

"No other personnel are reporting symptoms, but we are taking this action as an extreme safeguard," said Coast Guard Chief Petty Officer Robinson Cox.

All four crew members were taken to West Jefferson Medical Center outside New Orleans.

Hospital spokeswoman Taslin Alfonzo said that in addition to the four, the medical center also received three other men who were working on the spill cleanup.

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The vessels were involved in cleaning up oil that has been gushing into the Gulf of Mexico since the oil rig sank about 40 miles of Louisiana, gushing an estimated 5,000 barrels (210,000 gallons) of crude a day.

More than a month after that blast, patience was in short supply in southern Louisiana.

Plaquemines Parish President Billy Nungesser on Wednesday blasted the federal government's response and called for its point man to step aside.

"Thad Allen should resign," Nungesser said, referring to the U.S. Coast Guard admiral who has been leading the government's effort. "He's done absolutely nothing. He's an embarrassment to this country."

Nungesser, who had just completed a tour of the stricken area, bemoaned what he had seen. "The same oil that's been out there two weeks ago is still out there, and nothing is being done," he said. "The marsh is dying. It's dead."

He said the Coast Guard should demand that BP begin cleanup efforts immediately.

"They had no plan to keep the oil out, even though they said it wouldn't come ashore," he said. "They had no plan to clean it up. They have no plan to make the fishermen whole. It's like it's being run with a bunch of seventh-graders. This is absolutely ridiculous."

Nungesser said he was holding out hope that President Obama's return visit to the region on Friday would result in action.

"When he comes back, he needs to change the command that's in charge of this," Nungesser said.

The parish president specifically called on Obama to support plans touted by Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal for the Environmental Protection Agency to issue dredging permits so that berms can be constructed to protect the state's threatened marshlands.

The EPA has said it is studying the proposal. Meanwhile, Landry defended Allen's work.

"I would hope that Adm. Allen, who has been at this since day one, would not even consider taking that recommendation," Landry told reporters. "I don't think the president would back that up either."

She added, "I don't think we can spare to have anyone leave at this point. I think we're right in the middle of the fight."

She also disputed the assertion that little was being done. So far, BP has spent more than $750 million on the spill, and federal authorities have spent more than $100 million, which BP will reimburse, she said.

More than 20,000 people and an armada of vessels and equipment from a number of federal and state agencies as well as from the private sector are being used, she said. "Nobody is not involved in this spill in this region," she said.

Wednesday's effort to cap the flow got under way at 1 p.m. (2 p.m. ET), when BP began pumping thick, viscous fluid twice the density of water into the site of the leak. If all goes according to plan, the well would then be sealed with cement.

Hayward, noting that the effort has never been carried out at such depths, has said there was a 60 percent to 70 percent chance of success.

If the "top kill" does not succeed, pressure for the White House to take action is sure to increase.

"If this thing doesn't work, then the president ought to turn this over to the military," said Sen. Bill Nelson, a Democrat from Florida. "You've got to have BP's cooperation because they have the best technical instruments, but we have got to have somebody in charge, and I think the U.S. military is best suited to do that."

On Tuesday, congressional investigators reported that the oil giant had had three indications of trouble aboard the rig. The well unexpectedly spouted fluid three times in the 51 minutes before the explosion and pressure on the drill pipe "unexpectedly increased" before the blast.

A House Energy and Commerce Committee memo summarized preliminary findings of BP's own investigation into the disaster and said it "raised concerns about the maintenance history, modification, inspection and testing" of the rig's blowout preventer.

Hayward said Wednesday that the industry was dealing with an "unprecedented accident."

"Well, as in all major accidents of this sort, what we're seeing here is a whole series of failures," he said. "We've identified in our initial assessment, at least seven. That investigation is far from complete."

Meanwhile, fishermen and tour boat captains sat idle Wednesday as oil blotted more than 100 miles of shore in Louisiana, where fishing is a $2.4-billion industry, officials said.

The oil has washed ashore in nine locations in Louisiana, affecting 100 miles of coastline. The shores of Alabama, Mississippi and Florida remain unblemished, Suttles said.

After EPA's admonition that the amount of dispersant used in the ocean be reduced, none was used on Wednesday, Landry said. Instead, efforts were focused on skimming and in situ burning, she said.

If the "top kill" fails, an attempt would be made to contain more of the flow than is currently being siphoned through a riser insertion tool, according to Suttles.

That would likely be followed by an attempt to place another blowout preventer on top of the existing one, which failed, he said.

"Everyone has experienced a great deal of frustration that we're 30-some odd days into this oil spill and we haven't yet contained the flow," Suttles said. But, he added, "We're doing everything we can to bring it to closure."

Source : CNN

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