Adm. Thad Allen news stories on Newser

BP Well Is 'Effectively Dead'

Sun, 19 Sep 2010 10:56:54 CDT

A permanent cement plug sealed BP's well nearly 2.5 miles below the sea floor in the Gulf of Mexico, five agonizing months after an explosion sank a drilling rig and led to the worst offshore oil spill in US history. Retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen said today that...

BP Finishes Relief Well

John Johnson — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 07:25:48 CDT

It's been off the radar for a while, but BP has reached a milestone of sorts in the Gulf: The relief well is finally finished—it has intersected with the blown well, putting the company on the brink of a permanent fix (after 5 months), reports CNN . Next step is...

Storm Forces BP to Halt Work on Relief Well

Nick McMaster — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 14:30:00 CDT

BP engineers have suspended the drilling of a relief well in the Gulf of Mexico because of a tropical storm headed for the dig site, the Houston Chronicle reports. The crew of the Development Driller III will lock down the drilling rig for two or three days. By then, however,...

Boehner: Yeah, Repeal 14th Amendment

Polly Davis Doig — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 12:55:44 CDT

John Boehner jumped on the repeal-the-14th-Amendment bandwagon today, telling Meet the Press that it gives "incentive for illegal immigrants to come here." "I do believe it it is time for us to secure our border and enforce the law ... and allow this conversation about the 14th Amendment to continue," Boehner...

BP to Start Cementing Well

Rob Quinn — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 06:14:00 CDT

BP has been given the green light to cement its busted well in the Gulf of Mexico now that its "static kill" effort is going exactly as planned. Pouring heavy drilling mud into the Deepwater Horizon leak has reduced pressure, and BP plans to start pouring cement today, CNN reports....

BP: 'Static Kill' Is Working

Rob Quinn — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 07:35:40 CDT

The "static kill" attempt to seal off its leaking well in the Gulf of Mexico appears to have been a success, BP says. The procedure, which involved pumping heavy drilling mud into the mouth of the well, reached "the desired outcome," and the mud is keeping the oil down, the...

Rep: BP Doused Gulf With Dispersants

Sun, 01 Aug 2010 07:19:16 CDT

Despite an EPA directive to use oil dispersants sparingly, BP routinely pumped thousands of gallons a day into the Gulf of Mexico—with the Coast Guard's blessing, reports the New York Times. Though little is known about the dispersants' long-term environmental effects, the Coast Guard approved 64 of 74 waivers...

Oil Vanishes From Surface of Gulf

Kevin Spak — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 08:09:46 CDT

Finally there’s a glimmer of good news from the Gulf: the oil on the surface is disappearing a lot faster than anyone expected, according to the New York Times . The leak has been shut for almost two weeks, and “oil has a finite lifespan on the surface,” explains the head...

Bonnie Gone, Ships Return to BP Well

Sun, 25 Jul 2010 13:00:35 CDT

The effort to plug BP's leaky oil well in the Gulf of Mexico was back on track today as the skies cleared and crews raced to stop the gusher for good before another storm halts the operation again. A drill rig is expected to reconnect at around midnight to the...