BP’s attempts to stop the leak have all failed, despite the company’s use of submarine robots that can operate at depths no human could withstand. Millions of gallons of brown crude are now coating birds and other wildlife and fouling the Louisiana marshes.
BP is now pinning its hopes on yet another technique never tested 5,000 feet underwater: a “top kill,’’ in which heavy mud and cement would be shot into the blown-out well to plug it. The top kill could begin as early as tomorrow, with BP’s chief executive, Tony Hayward, giving it a 60 percent to 70 percent chance of success.
Allen said federal law dictates that BP must run the cleanup, with the government overseeing its efforts.
“They’re exhausting every technical means possible to deal with that leak,’’ he said. “I am satisfied with the coordination that’s going on.’’
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar suggested over the weekend that the government could intervene aggressively if BP wasn’t delivering. “If we find that they’re not doing what they’re supposed to be doing, we’ll push them out of the way appropriately,’’ he said.
But asked about that comment yesterday, Allen said: “That’s more of a metaphor.’’
Allen said BP and the government are working closely together, with the government holding veto power and adopting an “inquisitorial’’ stand toward the company’s ideas. The commandant also said the government has the authority to tell BP what to do, and such orders carry the force of law.
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano also took a more measured tone at a news conference yesterday in Galliano, La., with Salazar and six US senators who had flown over the coast to see the damage. “We continue to hold BP responsible as the responsible party, but we are on them, watching them,’’ she said.
BP said it is doing all it can to stop the leak. Its chief operating officer, Doug Suttles, made the rounds of network morning news shows to say that the company understands people are frustrated.
“Clearly Secretary Salazar is telling us that we need to do this as expediently as we can,’’ Suttles said. “And of course we are.’’
