Wednesday’s attempt by BP to plug the oil leak bringing so much destruction to the Gulf of Mexico has stopped the flow, according to a statement this morning from U.S. Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen.
The procedure, known as “top kill” began @ 2:00 PM Eastern time on Wednesday, and involved injecting up to 50,000 barrels of a dense, heavy mixture of clay and chemicals (known as “drilling mud”) into the 5-story blowout-preventer and down the 13,000 foot drill pipe.
The technique, which has proven successful on land but never at depths of 5,000 feet, relies on the weight of the mud to work its way down the drill pipe, which extends another 2.5 miles beneath the sea floor. After the mud has displaced the oil in the pipe, it is supposed to form a plug heavy enough to counter the pressure that has been forcing oil and gas from the reservoir below.
Throughout the night, underwater video from remote submersibles showed a brown plume of mud where previously, plumes of white (natural gas) and black (crude oil) had been escaping.
Throughout the day today, engineers are expected to gradually reduce the pressure and amount of mud being pumped into the well to verify that the plug is holding. If it holds, concrete will then be pumped into the well to form a more stable plug that should last until two separate, pressure relief wells can be completed in August.
Over the past week, a clearer picture of the scope of the disaster and the damage it’s caused has begun to emerge. Video from the source of the leak showed a flow that far exceeded official estimates. Gigantic plumes of oil and chemical dispersant were found deep beneath the surface, divers filmed the toxic soup at shallower depths, and sludge has polluted approximately 100 miles of Louisiana coastline.
For coastal residents, businesses and ecosystems, the situation has become desperate. Acknowledging from the outset that the top-kill procedure had only a 60-70 percent chance of success, BP and government officials have cautioned against becoming overly optimistic. However, the general opinion seems to be that the longer BP is able to stick with the plan, the better the chance that it will ultimately succeed.
We can only hope. The damage that has already been done is likely to last for a decade or more.
