Coast Guard evaluates hurricane impact on Gulf oil spill
Responders shift effort from killing the well to containing it, risking a temporary increase in the flow of oil.
BP officials on Tuesday announced a new plan to deal with oil gushing into the Gulf of Mexico three days after abandoning the top-kill operation, an ambitious attempt to plug the well by pumping thousands of barrels of mud into it.
The new plan calls for using robots to saw through the riser pipe near the seabed floor, after which a containment dome will be lowered on top of the well to capture the oil and funnel it to a drill ship on the surface. Officials anticipate the dome will be placed later this week.
There is a significant chance the operation will result in a temporary increase in oil flow from the damaged well, said Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, the national incident commander, at a Tuesday press conference.
Allen noted the operation is only an interim solution to dealing with the oil that is spewing into the Gulf at a rate of 12,000 to 19,000 barrels per day, according to preliminary estimates by an independent group of experts hired by the U.S. Geological Survey.
"The ultimate solution to this whole thing will be sometime in August," Allen said, which is when relief wells are to be completed through which the damaged well is to be permanently plugged.
In addition, the operation coincides with the official start of hurricane season, raising new concerns about how the drill ship capturing the oil -- assuming the operation is successful -- could secure the effort during a serious storm.
"We're not talking about capping the well, we're talking about containing it," said Allen. As such, BP and the U.S. government must have plans for coping during hurricanes, he said.
Much of the worrying about that will fall to Rear Adm. Mary Landry, who is leaving her duties as the federal on-scene coordinator for the oil spill response to resume her role as commander of the 8th Coast Guard District, which is headquartered in New Orleans.
As 8th Coast Guard District commander, Landry will lead the services' efforts to plan for, respond to and mitigate damage from hurricanes affecting the Gulf Coast.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration last week predicted an "active to extremely active" hurricane season this year for the Atlantic Basin.
Rear Adm. James Watson, Landry's deputy since April 23, will become the federal on-scene coordinator.