NEW ORLEANS — Oil spewed uncontrolled into the Gulf of Mexico for much of the day Wednesday before engineers reattached a cap being used to contain the BP gusher and direct some of the crude to a surface ship.
Company engineers removed the cap after an undersea robot had bumped it and fluid seemed to be leaking, creating a possible safety hazard because of the flames above, and they were concerned that ice-like crystals might clog it.
The logistics coordinator on the Discoverer Enterpriser, the ship siphoning the oil, told The Associated Press that after more than 10 hours, the system was again collecting the crude. He asked not to be identified by name because he was not authorized to provide information.
BP later confirmed the cap was back in place, and the coordinator said it would take a little time for the system to “get ramped back up.”
The system, which has been in place since June 4, was sucking up about 29,000 gallons an hour, crude that spewed back into the gulf Wednesday unabated. At that rate, it could mean about 290,000 extra gallons escaped into the water before the system restarted. Another ship was still collecting a smaller amount of oil and burning it on the surface.
The latest problem with the nine-week effort to stop the gusher came as thick pools of oil washed up on Pensacola Beach in Florida and the Obama administration sought to resurrect a six-month moratorium on deepwater drilling.
In court papers, the Justice Department said it has asked a judge to delay a ruling by U.S. District Judge Martin Feldman in New Orleans that overturned the moratorium. The Interior Department imposed it last month after the disaster, halting approval of any new permits for deepwater projects and suspending drilling on 33 exploratory wells.
Bob Dudley, the BP managing director who took over the spill response from the embattled CEO on Wednesday, said of the robot mishap that “the crew again did exactly the right thing because they were concerned about safety.”
Meanwhile, oil washed up along miles of national park and Pensacola Beach shoreline and health advisories against swimming and fishing in the once-pristine waters were extended for 33 miles east from the Alabama border.
“It’s pretty ugly, there’s no question about it,” Gov. Charlie Crist said.
The oil had a chemical stench as it baked in the afternoon heat. The beach looked as if it had been paved with a 6-foot-wide ribbon of asphalt, much different from the tar balls that washed up two weeks earlier.
“This used to be a place where you could come and forget about all your cares in the world,” said Nancy Berry, who fought back tears as she watched her two grandsons play in the sand far from the shore.
Park rangers in the Gulf Islands National Seashore helped rescue an oily young dolphin found beached in the sand. They later transported it to a rehabilitation center in Panama City, about 100 miles to the east.
