posted May 28, 2010 - 9:41pm
Oil Spill: Top Kill Continues, Obama Promises Gulf 'Justice Will Be Done'
ens-newswire.com
BP's "top kill" attempt to shut down the leaking Deepwater Horizon oil well in the Gulf of Mexico is proceeding as planned and, contrary to media reports, has not been stalled or suspended, a company representative told ENS today.
"We need to carry on for the next 24 to 48 hours, could be less - could be more," said spokesman John Pack from the BP office in Houston, Texas. "It's not accurate to say we're suspending top kill."
"It's all part of the process," said Pack. "You pump fluid down, you stop. You look at the pressure, you review what you've been doing with your mud - the flow rate, the density of the mud. You put bridging material in, you pump and then you review," he explained.
"We can't put an actual time when we're going to complete this process," said Pack
Response by the numbers:
Some 20,000 people are currently responding to protect the shoreline and wildlife.
Approximately 1,300 vessels are responding on site, including skimmers, tugs, barges, and recovery vessels to assist in containment and cleanup efforts, in addition to dozens of aircraft, remotely operated vehicles, and multiple mobile offshore drilling units.
More than 1.88 million feet of containment boom and 1.25 million feet of sorbent boom have been deployed to contain the spill, and approximately 280,000 feet of containment boom and one million feet of sorbent boom are available.
Approximately 11.5 million gallons of an oil-water mix have been recovered.
About 850,000 gallons of total dispersant have been deployed - 700,000 on the surface and 150,000 subsea. More than 400,000 gallons are available.
17 staging areas are in place and ready to protect sensitive shorelines, including: Dauphin Island, Orange Beach, and Theodore, Alabama; Panama City, Pensacola, Port St. Joe, and St. Marks, Florida; Amelia, Cocodrie, Grand Isle, Shell Beach, Slidell, St. Mary, and Venice, Louisiana; and Biloxi, Pascagoula, and Pass Christian, Mississippi. |
