BILOXI, Miss. — BP’s new boss says it is time for a “scaleback” in cleaning up the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. Federal officials say there is no way the crude could reach the East Coast.
And fishing areas are starting to reopen.
There were several signs Friday that the era of thousands of oil-skimming boats and hazmat-suited beach crews is giving way to long-term efforts to clean up, compensate people for their losses and understand the damage. Local fishermen are doubtful, however, and say oil remains a bigger problem than BP and the federal government are letting on.
Other people contend the impact of the spill has been overblown, given that little oil remains on the gulf surface. Bob Dudley, who heads BP’s oil-spill recovery and will take over as CEO in October, rejected those claims.
“Anyone who thinks this wasn’t a catastrophe must be far away from it,” he said in Biloxi, where he announced that former Federal Emergency Management Agency chief James Lee Witt will be supporting BP’s gulf restoration work.
After an April 20 rig explosion that killed 11 workers, BP’s blown-out well gushed an estimated 94 million to 184 million gallons of oil before a temporary cap stopped it July 15. Efforts to permanently plug the gusher had been expected to begin as early as Sunday, but the government’s point man for the spill said Friday that those plans hit a snag.
Crews found debris in the bottom of the relief well that ultimately will be used to plug the leak for good, said retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen. The debris must be fished out before crews can begin a procedure known as a static kill that is hoped to make the rest of the job easier.
Removing the sediment will take 24 to 36 hours and likely push the kill back to Tuesday, Allen said.
Once the relief well is ready, crews can begin the static kill, in which mud, and possibly cement, are pumped in through the temporary cap. The better that procedure seals the blown-out well, the easier it will be to plug it forever by pumping in cement from below using the relief well.
As the work of plugging the well appears to reach the homestretch, so does much of the cleanup work. Relatively little oil remains on the surface of the gulf, leaving less for thousands of oil skimmers to do.
Dudley said it’s “not too soon for a scaleback” in the cleanup, and in areas where there is no oil, “you probably don’t need to see people in hazmat suits on the beach.”
He added, however, that there is “no pullback” in BP’s commitment to clean up the spill.
