Feds: Seepage near cap coming from another well
NEW ORLEANS, LA
There are two wells within two miles of BP's blowout, one that
has been abandoned and another that is not in production.
"It's actually closer to that facility than it is to the
Macondo well," the one that blew out, Retired Coast Guard Adm.
Thad Allen said at a Tuesday afternoon briefing. "The combination
of that and the fact that it's not uncommon to have seepage around
these" abandoned wells is what convinced engineers that BP's well
wasn't the source of the seepage, he said.
There around 27,000 abandoned wells in the Gulf, and an
Associated Press investigation showed this month that they're not
checked for leaks.
Allen also says five leaks in and around the broken well are
more like 'drips' and don't mean the well is unstable. He's
extended testing of the experimental cap by another day, which
means the oil will remain shut in.
The mechanical cap has stopped the oil since Thursday. But
several leaks had caused mounting concern that the cap was
displacing pressure and causing leaks deep underground.
If oil is leaking through bedrock and mud, it could cause
instability in the sea floor and make the environmental disaster
even worse and harder to fix.
Earlier Tuesday
Oil from BP's blown out well is again seeping into the Gulf of Mexico, but this time, more slowly and scientists aren't convinced the cap that stopped the flow last week is making things worse.
The government said Monday that oil was seeping into the Gulf
after days of warning that the experimental cap on the oil well
could cause more leaks.
Despite what at first seemed a setback, though, the federal
government declared the development insignificant and forged ahead
with BP's plan for finally sealing the hole in the ocean floor.
Ever since the cap was used to bottle up the oil last week,
engineers have been watching underwater cameras and monitoring
pressure and seismic readings to see whether the well would hold or
spring a new leak, perhaps one that could rupture the sea floor and
make the disaster even worse.
Small amounts of oil and gas started coming from the cap late
Sunday, but "we do not believe it is consequential at this time,"
retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen said.
Also, seepage from the sea floor was detected over the weekend
less than two miles away, but Allen said it probably has nothing to
do with the well. Oil and gas are known to ooze naturally from
fissures in the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico.
At a Monday afternoon briefing in Washington, Allen said BP
could keep the cap closed at least another 24 hours, as long as the
company remained alert for leaks.
Since the cap was closed Thursday, beachgoers have reported less
oil fouling the shore.
Bob Broadway, 41, of Huntsville, Ala., said his vacation spot in
Orange Beach, Ala., has improved from a month ago.
Then, he said, the oil was thick "like chocolate" and the
beach smelled like "an old mechanic's garage."
"The beach looks better now than before," he said Monday.
BP and the government had been at odds over the company's desire
to simply leave the cap in place and employ it like a giant cork in
a bottle until a relief well being drilled deep underground can be
used to plug up the well permanently.
Allen initially said his preference was to pipe oil through the
cap to tankers on the surface to reduce the slight chance that the
buildup of pressure inside the well would cause a new blowout. That
plan would require releasing millions more gallons of oil into the
ocean for a few days during the transition -- a spectacle BP
apparently wants to avoid.
On Monday, Allen budged a bit, saying unless larger problems
develop, he's not inclined to open the cap.
Also on the table: Pumping drilling mud through the top of the
cap and into the well bore to stop up the oil flow. The idea is
similar to the failed top kill plan that couldn't overcome the
pressure of the geyser pushing up.
BP said it could work now because there's less oil to fight
against, but it wasn't clear how such a method would affect the
cap's stability. Allen said the relief well was still the plan for
a permanent fix.
BP and the government are still trying to understand why
pressure readings from the well are lower than expected. Allen
offered two possible explanations: The reservoir the oil is gushing
from is dwindling, or there is an undiscovered leak somewhere down
in the well.
Work on a permanent plug is moving steadily, with crews drilling
into the side of the ruptured well from deep underground. By next
week, they could start blasting in mud and cement to block off the
well for good. Killing the well deep underground works more
reliably than bottling it up with a cap.
Somewhere between 94 million and 184 million gallons have gushed
into the Gulf over the past three months in one of America's worst
environmental crises.
BP PLC said the cost of dealing with the spill has now reached
nearly $4 billion. The company said it has made payments totaling
$207 million to settle claims for damages. Almost 116,000 claims
have been submitted and more than 67,500 payments have been made.
BP stock was down slightly Monday.