NEW ORLEANS — The government’s oil spill chief, retired Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen, said yesterday that efforts to solidly seal BP’s busted deep-sea well are on track to begin in a week.
Allen said the “static kill’’ — in which mud and cement are pumped into the top of the well — should start Monday. Because the well is now capped, that effort will be more controlled than a previous failed effort, a “top kill’’ in which mud was shot into the still-spewing well.
A relief well is nearly complete for the final stage, a “bottom kill,’’ in which mud and cement are pumped in from deep underground.
Allen said in Washington that the bottom kill work could begin Aug. 7 and would take days or weeks, depending on how well the static kill works.
Delays are possible, though. Tropical storm forecasts last week forced crews to suspend their work about 50 miles off the Louisiana coast for several days. Allen says he’ll order an evacuation again if a similar storm forms.
Tropical Storm Bonnie eliminated an opportunity to seal the Gulf of Mexico gusher more securely by the end of July, but Allen said no more oil has leaked since July 15, when BP installed a 40-foot cap on the well’s damaged valve assembly.
“There’s diminished oil out there because of the lack of any discharge since we have capped the well,’’ Allen said. “We are putting out as much skimming equipment as we can close to shore. We have raised our total skimming capability to 794 skimmers, which is significantly more than we had just several weeks ago, and we continue to be vigilant looking for oil out there.’’
Allen said the repair schedule over the next few days calls for running pipe down to the well so the static kill can begin Monday.
The well spilled 2.31 million to 4.1 million barrels of oil, based on government estimates. It erupted April 20, when an explosion destroyed the Deepwater Horizon rig, killing 11 workers.
“When this spill first started, it took about four to six weeks for the oil to start impacting shore,’’ Allen said. “After we put the cap in place, we can expect for four to six weeks after that or even longer, depending on the weather conditions, for oil to continue to come ashore.’’
Allen said the company will clean up whatever oil is found. Chemical analysis can determine whether crude found underneath a beach months from now came from the well, he said.
The amount of skimmable oil is diminishing, according to Coast Guard Rear Admiral Paul Zukunft, the government’s on-scene coordinator. A monitoring program for undersea oil will be set up, he said yesterday.
