200,000 Gallons A Day

**Catty1** · 06-03-2010, 01:51 PM

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/afp/10060...llution_pipe_2

BP successfully cuts leaking oil well pipe: official

Thu Jun 3, 11:45 AM

WASHINGTON (AFP) - BP has successfully cut an underwater wellpipe using hydraulic shears and will now work to place a containment cap over the leak, the senior US official overseeing the response said Thursday.

"For the first time in a couple of days I have some good news for you -- we just cut the riser pipe off the lower marine package," Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen told reporters, calling the operation "a significant step forward."

So far, BP has met failure at every turn in its attempts to stem the flow of oil from the spewing well a mile down in the Gulf.

Some 20 million gallons of crude have gushed into the sea since April, after an explosion rocked the Deepwater Horizon rig, killing 11 workers and sending the platform sinking to the sea floor.

Shears were used to cut off the pipe at the top of the blow-out preventer stack after an attempt to saw off the riser with a precision diamond saw failed on Wednesday when the saw got stuck in the pipe.

"We don't have as clean a cut but we do have a cut now... The challenge now is to seat that containment cap over it," Allen said.

Once the containment cap is set and sealed, oil will be sucked up a riser pipe from the unit to a drillship on the surface.

Because the cut is irregular, a "very, very solid seal" will be placed around the containment cap to reduce the amount of oil that could leak out of the device once it is set up, Allen said.

"This is an irregular cut, so it will be a little more challenging to get the seal all around," said Allen.

The flow of oil from the pipe was expected to increase between the time the pipe was cut and the cap is placed over the leaking well head, but Allen had no immediate information on whether the flow had already increased.

**wombat2u2004** · 06-03-2010, 08:37 PM

I just checked this out on Snopes.
It's true.

**Catty1** · 06-03-2010, 10:19 PM

i just checked this out on snopes.
It's true.

rofl!!!:d

**Catty1** · 06-03-2010, 10:34 PM

BP oil spill update - cap placement success! wait and see if it worked [VIDEO]
June 03, 2010 10:17 PM EDT

Click on the link to see the video. Photo is attached...pretty awesome. I pray this will slow the leak enough that cleanup can get ahead of it soon.

http://news.gather.com/viewArticle.a...81474978277222

BP oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico

Breaking news update about the BP oil spill. BP has just placed the cap over the cut that they made in the gushing oil well. So far, the effectiveness is not known. However, the procedure has been completed just minutes ago.

Unfortunately, the cut is ragged, so the cap will not fit as snuggly as BP had hoped. The video of the procedure showed dramatic footage of robots wrestling the cap into place of the jagged cut.

One reason the cut is so jagged is because the diamond saw got stuck, so BP had to use giant shears to make the cut, which could not make as clean of a cut as the saw would have been able to make.

There is no way to know how effective the cap and cut procedure was until the cap is completely fitted. Officials do believe that oil will continue to flow into the Gulf of Mexico. However, the hope is that the flow will be significantly reduced.

Also, BP has pledged to bring the Gulf Coast back to its original state. The hope to completely stop the oil flow is a relief well that will not be finished until August at the earliest.

So far, BP has received a $69 million bill from the Federal Government according to the White House. Obviously, this is the first of many bills the company will receive regarding this spill and cleanup effort.

I sure hope this is the break we’ve all been waiting for in this frustrating oil spill. Hopefully this cut-and-cap will end up significantly reducing the oil flow. BP will be in the area for years if not decades fulfilling their promise to completely restore the area. I’m even sure they can completely restore some things. Some of the delicate coast line may be forever lost.

The video below shows more about the cap and cut.