Mudbogged: It will be at least Tuesday before engineers can shoot mud into a blown-out well at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico. BP spokesman Tom Mueller said the company must get equipment in place for the so-called top kill. Crews will shoot heavy mud into a crippled piece of equipment atop the well, and engineers will direct cement at the well to permanently stop the oil.
Panel leaders picked: The White House has tapped former Florida Sen. Bob Graham and ex-EPA Administrator William K. Reilly to lead a presidential commission investigating the spill. The commission’s inquiry will range from the causes of the spill to the safety of offshore oil drilling and the functioning of government agencies that oversee drilling.
Not as much help: BP chief operating officer Doug Suttles said Friday that a mile-long tube inserted into the leaking pipe is sucking about 92,400 gallons of oil a day to the surface, a figure much lower than the 210,000 gallons the company said the tube was sucking up Thursday.
The Associated Press
