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BP to Conduct 'Static Kill' Operation Tuesday

   VOA News 02 August 2010
   Vessels  operate at the site of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the
   Gulf of Mexico (File)

Photo: AP

   Vessels  operate at the site of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the
   Gulf of Mexico (File)

   Engineers  in  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  will begin a two-step process to
   permanently seal BP's damaged oil well Tuesday, more than three months
   after the leak began.
   BP  Senior  Vice President Kent Wells said crews will likely start the
   so-called  "static  kill"  operation  Tuesday,  if  no problems emerge
   during preliminary testing.
   During  the  "static kill," crews will attempt to push back the oil by
   pumping  heavy  mud  down the top of the ruptured well.  If it works,
   the well will then be sealed from the top with cement.
   In  the  second  step, expected to come several days later, crews will
   inject  mud  and  cement  into  the damaged well's reservoir through a
   relief  well.   Officials  say  that  procedure,  which will plug the
   source of the oil, is the only way to permanently seal the well.
   A cap has held the well shut for more than two weeks, but that measure
   was only meant to be a temporary fix.
   The  U.S. government's oil response chief, Retired Coast Guard Admiral
   Thad  Allen,  said  Sunday he will travel to BP's U.S. headquarters in
   Houston to oversee the "static kill" procedure.
   Allen  also  rejected assertions that federal officials allowed BP too
   much  freedom  to use toxic chemicals in breaking up oil slicks in the
   Gulf of Mexico.
   The  retired  admiral  said  he  is  "satisfied"  with  the  amount of
   dispersants  that have been used to clean up the disaster, adding that
   crews have used them only when needed. Â
   Some scientists say the dispersants could be just as harmful to marine
   life  as  the  millions  of  barrels of oil that have spilled from the
   ruptured BP well since the disaster happened. Â
   
   Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP.

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