Tropical Storm Bonnie moved from the Bahamas and headed toward the oil spill within the Gulf of Mexico 2010 Thursday . Oil spill containment and cleanup was brought to a standstill. Thad Allen, the federal director of the spill response, had not yet given word to BP saying the massive flotilla engaged within the oil spill containment and cleanup must 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.
Oil spill response on hold for Tropical Storm Bonnie
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 crews were just days from finishing a relief well to permanently seal the well before work was halted. 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 into the gusher. If crews within the path of Tropical Storm Bonnie have to evacuate, efforts to kill the well might 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.
New static kill tactic depends on complete relief well
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. A static kill can’t start until the relief well casing is fully installed, to stay away from damaging the relief well if something goes wrong. 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 on oil spill cap increasing as planned
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. Each day that goes by with pressure holding increases the level of confidence within the cap, said a BP official.
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