Retired Coast Guard Admiral
head of the joint task force that oversaw the capping of the well and
current cleanup efforts, issued a statement saying that pressure tests
on the cement cap from the relief well was completed at
“Additional regulatory steps will be undertaken but
we can now state, definitively, that the Macondo well poses no
continuing threat to the
Allen said the plugging of the well, which actually
occurred more than two miles below the ocean floor or 18,000 feet
beneath the ocean’s surface, was confirmed by the
The spill started on
the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig commissioned by BP and operated by
Transocean Energy exploded into a fireball, killing 11 workers. The
disaster severed pipelines between the floating rig and the ocean
floor, ultimately releasing more than 4 million gallons of oil into
gulf waters, the largest such spill in U.S. history.
Allen said the task force will continue to monitor
cleanup efforts. The spill ruined the fortunes of a number of coastal
businesses, primarily in
most prominently the state’s formidable seafood industry. The region’s
lucrative deepwater drilling also is threatened by a federally mandated
moratorium on such activities until further precautions are taken to
deal with blowouts far below the ocean’s surface.
vowing to help those affected by the spill. “This road will not be
easy, but we will continue to work closely with the people of the Gulf
to rebuild their livelihoods and restore the environment that supports
them,” Obama said. “My administration will see our communities, our
businesses and our fragile ecosystems through this difficult time.”
———
(c) 2010, MarketWatch.com Inc.
Visit MarketWatch on the Web at http://www.marketwatch.com
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
