BP begins final Static Kill

NEW ORLEANS -- BAYOU LA LOUTRE, La.-- With oil no longer gushing into the Gulf of Mexico, the process required to keep it that way cleared one more hurdle on Tuesday. Testing of a static kill, involving heavy mud pumped into the well, began in the morning. By the afternoon, the company said the results showed they could begin the procedure in earnest.

"The injectivity test was textbook. It went exactly as we would have expected," said BP Senior Vice President Kent Wells. "We pumped at several different rates: one barrel a minute, two barrels a minute, three barrels a minute, five barrels a minute, seven barrels a minute. We were able to record pressure associated with that and got exactly the information we were looking for."

As the static kill began, efforts to drill the two relief wells were put on hold. Retired U.S. Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, the National Incident Commander, said on Tuesday that even if the static kill does its job, the relief wells will still be completed.

"There should be no ambiguity about that. I'm the National Incident Commander and that's the way this will end-- it will end with the relief wells being drilled and the annulus and casing being filled with mud and cement being poured," he said.

Those most affected by the spill greeted news of static kill with suspicion. Along Bayou La Loutre in St. Bernard Parish, crabber Roy Campo said his biggest worry revolves around oil which has yet to surface, but may still be at sea.

"It's definitely still a concern. It might come back and haunt us four or five years from now," Campo said. "I think they're just trying to make it look good."

Admiral Allen addressed some of those same concerns during his briefing on Tuesday, by saying that even as the static kill moves forward, the road to recovery in the Gulf remains long.

"It's going to be good news in a time when there hasn't been a lot of good news, but I don't think it's should be cause for premature celebration because there is a lot of hard work to do," Adm. Allen said. "I think the Gulf Coast recovery needs to move on in pace and both the federal government and BP need to meet their responsibilities."


The entire static kill process could take anywhere between 30 to 60 hours to complete. The relief wells could be finished by mid-August.

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[vashguud]

lol .. you mean they didnt' have a 19 inch riser pipe shooting the mud out like the firstweek of time they wasted? These idiots knew better.... And everyone acting like it's done they just started the kill.