The oil spill has stopped, claims the Coast Guard. But so much damage has already been done. Photo: Igor GOLUBENKOV (NGO: Saving Taman)
U.S. Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen has announced that the BP oil spill has stopped, reports the Los Angeles Times. Engineers have, for the time being, successfully stopped oil from entering the Gulf of Mexico via the “top kill” method. It took a single day of using the top kill method of pumping mud and debris into the BP oil well leak before the flow stopped. However, officials have made it clear that the efforts are not complete and a more permanent cap must be established soon.
Oil spill stopped after well pressure reduced considerably
The BP live video feed that preceded the oil spill being stopped showed that while the well pressure behind the titanic oil leak had lessened considerably, it remained consistent enough for a constant flow. Pumping mud and other debris into the leak source and the blowout preventer began the necessary pressure equalization process. Once the pressure completely subsides, engineers plan to entomb the well in cement. Only after the well is completely sealed off will government and BP officials consider the emergency efforts a full success. Short term loans of aid from BP continue to be needed.
You can never have enough mud
This is particularly true if you’re talking about a recovery vessel responsible for top kill. Adm. Allen informed the press that one of those ships actually ran out mud before the job was complete. Thus, a backup mud ship was on the way. However, the top kill work the ships were able to complete over the past day appears to have been enough to stop the oil leak.
Is this Gulf of Mexico disaster worse than the Valdez disaster?
Numerous sources claim that the total number of gallons of oil that have entered the Gulf of Mexico during the BP catastrophe dwarf what happened with the Exxon Valdez in Prince William Sound in 1989. Coast Guard estimates for the Gulf of Mexico oil spill say 5,000 barrels of oil a day have been flowing into the Gulf, but many independent sources claim that estimate to be entirely too conservative, writes the Times. Adm. Allen remains optimistic that the BP oil spill will stay under control.
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why is it that when america has a problem all the other countries act as if they dont know but when another country has a problem they al look america…. we need to worry about ourselves for once im only 14 and realize this why doesnt any one else
"nobody aint doing shyt to help the u.s"
The USA isnt even doing anything to help anyway! BP, get it? British Petroleum. There the only people doing something about it! All Obama is doing is sitting on his #@! moaning about it!
these mutha %#$@& needa get off their a* and do somethin. obama is sittin around havin tea parties while were sittin back stressin about dyin over this s#&$.. nobody is helpin the u.s right now. but what we really needa be doin is worry about this spill instead of bull$%^#. im 17 years old and im tryna live my life along with everyone else. i wanna stay in this world longer just like everyone else.
wow we are all going to die before this oil spill can be fixeddd..this is very scary ,..and nobody aint doing shyt to help the u.s
It's funny how common sense seems to deteriorate after people start getting lots of money in their pockets. Still our hometown as well as surrounding towns are boyycotting BP!
Indeed. Funny too how this story turned out not to be true, and I don't even think there was a retraction in the L.A. Times, where the story originally ran. Current reports predict this will cost local economies impacted by the oil spill billions of dollars. Even that pales in comparison to the massive ecosystem damage.
Its About Time!!!! lol ;P
Why can’t you put a bowl with suction tubes so that it can pump the oil up into barges ?
So why wasn't this done a month ago?
It seems like a very logical first strategy…der!….plug the hole?
These executives get paid millions as they are supposedly intelligent…yet a preschooler could think of this solution!!!
Oh! and "Mission Accomplished"…LOL!!!