The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico 2010 became the target for Tropical Storm Bonnie as it pulled away from the Bahamas Thursday . Most work was halted on cleanup of the oil spill and oil spill containment 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 could have to return before a final effort to kill the well is attempted. But the feds are confident, as outlined by Allen, that the storm will not force them to disconnect the oil spill containment cap that has stanched the flow from the ruptured well. Post resource - Oil spill cap will stay in place when Tropical Storm Bonnie hits by Personal Money Store.
Tropical Storm Bonnie delays work on oil spill containment
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. Crews had planned to spend Wednesday and Thursday reinforcing with cement the last few feet of the relief well that could be used to pump mud into the gusher and kill it once and for all. If Tropical Storm Bonnie forces work crews to evacuate, it might be two weeks before they can resume the effort to kill the well. To meet BP’s timeline of plugging the blowout by early August, the relief well would have to be complete by the end of July.
Static kill try needs relief well in place
A “static kill,” is the latest option being considered to plug the BP oil leak. The New York Times reports that a static kill involves pumping heavy drilling mud into the well through the blowout preventer to permanently stop the flow of oil and gas. To minimize risk of damaging the relief well if something goes wrong with the static kill, the procedure can only begin when the relief well casing is fully installed. The relief well would be used to confirm that the blowout is permanently sealed if the static kill works. If the results from the static kill are ambiguous, though, it would then take at least various days, and possibly various weeks, to permanently shut the flow from the bad well by pumping mud down the relief well.
Pressure holding on oil spill cap
As Tropical Storm Bonnie draws closer, the government said BP can leave the oil spill containment cap on. Allen told Bloomberg that data from the well gave the response team confidence that leaving the cap in place wouldn’t be an issue. Oil and gas is not escaping from elsewhere in the well bore, according to rising pressure readings on the oil spill cap, BP said on its website. Each day that goes by with pressure holding increases the level of confidence within the cap, said a BP official.
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Tags: oil spill cap, oil spill gulf of mexico 2010, static kill, tropical storm bonnie