NEW ORLEANS — The effort to plug BP’s leaky oil well in the Gulf of Mexico was back on track yesterday as the skies cleared and crews raced to stop the gusher for good before another storm halts the operation again.
A drill rig was expected to be reconnected to the relief tunnel early this morning. The tunnel will be used to pump in mud and cement to seal the well, and drilling could resume in the next few days.
A temporary plug already has held in the oil for nine days, and BP was able to leave it in place even after the government’s point man on the spill ordered ships working in the gulf to evacuate ahead of Tropical Storm Bonnie late last week.
Retired Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen said officials will spend the next day determining how the storm affected the area.
Oil may have migrated north to Mississippi Sound, he said, and officials are checking to see if the boom that was protecting sensitive marshlands was pushed ashore.
As work on the well resumed, British media reported that BP chief executive Tony Hayward is negotiating the terms of his departure ahead of the company’s half-year results announcement tomorrow.
A US government official confirmed that Hayward will depart as CEO but he did not know who would replace him. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, was briefed on the decision by a senior BP executive late last week.
Representative Edward Markey, Democrat of Massachusetts, said in a statement yesterday, “The new leaders of BP will have an uphill climb to correct the legacy left by Hayward.’’ Markey is chairman of the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming.
Before the cap was attached and closed a week ago, the broken well had spewed 94 million to 184 million gallons into the gulf since the BP-leased Deepwater Horizon rig exploded April 20, killing 11 workers.
Completion of the relief well that is the best chance to permanently stop the oil 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 miles per hour or above, anywhere close to the well site,’’ Allen said.
In the oil-affected hamlet of Grand Isle, La., thousands of people 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.
