Ships head back to oil well, ready to resume work
NEW ORLEANS, LA
Now that Tropical Storm Bonnie has fizzled on Louisiana's coast,
engineers are hoping clear weather lasts long enough for them to
finish their work on relief wells. But as peak hurricane season
approaches, the potential for another storm-related delay is high.
"We're going to be playing a cat-and-mouse game for the
remainder of the hurricane season," retired Coast Guard Admiral
Thad Allen said Saturday. Sure enough, another disturbance already
was brewing in the Caribbean, although forecasters said it wasn't
likely to strengthen into a tropical storm.
Meanwhile, British media reported that BP chief executive Tony
Hayward was negotiating the terms of his departure ahead of the
company's half-year results announcement Tuesday.
Citing unidentified sources, the BBC and Sunday Telegraph
reported detailed talks regarding Hayward's future took place over
the weekend. A formal announcement was expected in the next 24
hours, the BBC reported.
BP spokesman Toby Odone said Sunday that Hayward "remains BP's
chief executive, and he has the confidence of the board and senior
management."
Hayward, who angered Americans by minimizing the spill's
environmental impact and expressing his exasperation by saying
"I'd like my life back," has been under heavy criticism over his
gaffe-prone leadership during the spill.
Back on the Gulf, a rig drilling the relief tunnel that will
pump in mud and cement to seal the well returned to the spill site
after evacuating the area.
Crews corked the relief tunnel Wednesday and the temporary halt
had an unpleasant consequence: Efforts to solidly seal the well
were pushed back by at least a week, Allen said.
Completion now looks possible by mid-August, but Allen said he
wouldn't hesitate to order another evacuation based on forecasts
similar to the ones for Bonnie.
"We have no choice but to start well ahead of time if we think
the storm track is going to bring gale force winds, which are 39
mph or above, anywhere close to well site," Allen said.
In the past 10 years, an average of five named storms have hit
the Gulf each hurricane season. This year, two have struck already
-- Bonnie and Hurricane Alex at the end of June, which delayed
cleanup of BP's massive oil spill for a week even though it didn't
get closer than 500 miles from the well.
"Usually you don't see the first hurricane statistically until
Aug. 10," said Dennis Feltgen, a spokesman for the National
Hurricane Center in Miami. "The 2010 hurricane season is running
just ahead of a typical pace."
Hurricane season ends Nov. 30.
Even though the evacuation turned out to be short-lived, it
revealed one important fact: BP and the federal government are
increasingly sure that the temporary plug that has mostly contained
the oil for eight days will hold.
They didn't loosen the cap even when they thought they'd lose
sight of it during the evacuation, although in the end, at least
some of the real-time cameras trained on the ruptured well
apparently kept rolling.
Ironically, the storm may even have a positive effect. Churning
waters could actually help dissipate oil in the water, spreading
out the surface slick and breaking up tar balls, said Jane
Lubchenco, leader of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration.
Beaches may look cleaner in some areas as the storm surge pulls
oil away, though other areas could see more oil washed ashore.
"I think the bottom line is, it's better than it might have
been," Lubchenco said.
At the site of the relief well, workers who spent Thursday and
Friday pulling nearly a mile of segmented steel pipe out of the
water and stacking the 40-to-50 foot sections on deck will now have
to reverse the process. It will likely be Monday before BP can
resume drilling.
By Wednesday, workers should finish installing steel casing to
fortify the relief shaft, Allen said, and by Friday, crews plan to
start blasting in heavy mud and cement through the mechanical cap,
the first phase of a two-step process to seal the well for good. BP
will then finish drilling the relief tunnel -- which could take up
to a week -- to pump in more mud and cement from nearly two miles
under the sea floor.
Meanwhile, folks in the oil-affected hamlet of Grand Isle, La.,
spent a gray Saturday at the beach, listening to music. The Island
Aid concert, which included LeAnn Rimes and Three Dog Night, raised
money for civic projects on the island.
For the afternoon at least, things were almost back to normal.
Young women in bathing suits rode around on golf carts while young
men in pickup trucks tooted their horns and shouted.
"This is the way Grand Isle is supposed to be but hasn't been
this year," said Anne Leblanc of Metairie, La., who said her
family has been visiting the island for years. "This is the first
we came this year. With the oil spill there hasn't been a reason to
come, no swimming, no fishing."