'Let's Wait Til They Build And Install The Well Cap Before We Tell Them They Can't Use It': Our Federal Government In Action

OS had a terrible premonition this would occur.

If the well is capped, then the White House will watch as the problem is solved, and the clean-up continues, and BP pays its claims, and life (in a few years) will begin to return to some sort of normal.

It's hard to expand your powers if there's no crisis. Harder to seize a corporation that is fulfilling its promises, however haltingly.

From the AP, just posted.

By TOM BREEN and HARRY R. WEBER, Associated Press Writers Tom Breen And Harry R. Weber, Associated Press Writers – 38 mins ago

NEW ORLEANS – BP's work to cap its Gulf of Mexico gusher was in limbo Wednesday after the federal government raised concerns the operation could put damaging pressure on the busted well and make the leak worse.

An administration official, who asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the talks with BP, said the government was acting out of an "abundance of caution" and didn't want potentially dangerous pressure tests on a tighter cap that has been placed over the well to go ahead until BP answers questions about possible risks.

A top BP executive said there was no guarantee the cap, a temporary measure, will be put to use. Chief Operating Officer Doug Suttles told The Associated Press in an interview that BP is trying to resolve the government's concerns.

"I don't know whether we will get that approval or not," Suttles said. "I hope we do."

At the same time, BP on its own temporarily halted the drilling of two relief wells that are designed to plug the gusher permanently from underground. That work was halted for up to 48 hours as a precaution because it's not yet clear what effect the testing of the new cap could have on it, the company said.

The delays were a stunning setback after the oil giant finally seemed to be on track following nearly three months of failed attempts to stop the spill, which has sullied beaches from Florida to Texas and decimated the multibillion dollar fishing industry.

BP had zipped through weekend preparations and gotten the 75-ton cap in place Monday atop the well. The plan was to stop the oil and pump excess to ships, raising hopes the gusher could be checked. BP was getting ready to test pressure on the well by closing valves in the cap when the government intervened late Tuesday.

Word of the delay broke as video showed BP's undersea robots busily swarming around the seafloor site.

Suttles said the government wants to verify that the casing, or the piping in the well, is intact and that the oil would stay contained if BP shuts the well in.

Suttles said the next step would depend on the outcome of a meeting of BP and government officials early Wednesday afternoon.

The administration official said Energy Secretary Steven Chu, U.S. Geological Survey chief Marcia McNutt and other government scientists met with BP Tuesday in Houston and had a number of questions about the plan to test the integrity of the well. Chu and other officials want to ensure that putting downward pressure on the well will not cause further leaks, the official said.

"Our basic position was, if you can give us the answers we need ... then go ahead," the official said. Until then, "they can't go forward."

The official said the government still hopes the cap can be closed to shut in the oil.

Oil continued to spew nearly unimpeded into the water, with no clear timeline on when it would stop. BP shares were down more than 2 percent in afternoon trading in London after recouping some of their oil spill losses earlier this week, when the cap project seemed to be moving ahead.

The cap would be a stopgap until a permanent fix that requires plugging the broken well underground with cement and heavy drilling mud, a more stable seal than capping the well from the top. The timeline for the relief well and a backup one has always been hazy, with company and federal officials giving estimates ranging from the end of July to the middle of August before it can be completed.

Suttles urged Gulf residents is to be patient.

"We're going to get this thing stopped as fast as we can," he said. "If it is not in the next couple of days with the test, we'll do it with the relief wells."

On the Alabama coast, Joyce Nelson said every bit of news from the spill site increases her stress and sparks a new round of telephone calls between friends and relatives in Bayou La Batre, where the seafood industry is virtually shut down because of the spill. The slowdown at the rig site just made things worse.

"Everybody's calling everybody. It's hectic," said Nelson. "Everybody is worried about them blowing the whole thing out. If that happens, there's nothing they can do but let it drain out."

Roger N. Anderson, a marine geologist at Columbia University, said he believes BP and government scientists are just being very cautious and he's not worried.

Freezing work on the relief well may mean scientists are worried that clamping down the cap will push new pressure all the way down to the depths of the broken well, he said.

"So I wouldn't panic, is the answer. They're going to be very, very deliberate about this," Anderson said.

Assuming BP gets the green light to do the cap testing after the extra analysis is finished, engineers need to shut off lines already funneling some oil to ships to see how the cap handles the pressure of the crude coming up from the ground.

Finally, they would shut the openings in the 75-ton metal stack of pipes and valves gradually, one at a time, while watching pressure gauges to see if the cap would hold or if any new leaks erupted. The operation could last anywhere from six to 48 hours, once it gets started.

As of Wednesday, the 85th day of the disaster, between 92 million and 182 million gallons of oil had spewed into the Gulf since the Deepwater Horizon rig leased by BP exploded April 20, killing 11 workers.

Well, maybe it is an abundance of caution.

But, given the gubbermint's track record so far, this feels very creepy. The White House Moral Hazard Meter is pegged all the way into the red.

Jest sayin'...

85 days.

All work has come to a dead halt.

Nothing impedes the flow of oil into the Gulf of Mexico.