Cement plug on oil well secure, says BP
Published: Sunday, August 08, 2010, 1:21 PM Updated: Sunday, August 08, 2010, 1:22 PM
The Associated Press
NEW ORLEANS -- BP says the cement sealing the busted oil well in the Gulf of Mexico has hardened as crews prepare for the final phase of drilling a relief well.
The oil giant said Sunday that pressure tests on the cement plug poured down the throat of the blown-out well show the seal is solidly in place.
That means BP engineers can begin drilling the final 100 feet of a relief well meant to permanently seal the blowout.
Crews will carefully drill about 30 feet at a time, and BP says it will likely be next weekend before the two wells meet. BP didn't make it clear Sunday if workers had begun drilling.
Engineers will use the relief well for a "bottom kill," pumping more mud and cement into the busted well in what is expected to completely seal the well for good.
GULF ISLANDS NATIONAL SEASHORE, Fla. -- Waves of gooey tar blobs were washing ashore on the white sand of the Florida Panhandle and nearby Alabama beaches Friday as a slick from the BP spill moved closer to shore.
Spotters who had been seeing a few tar balls in recent days found a substantially larger number starting before dawn on the beaches of the Gulf Islands National Seashore and nearby areas, a county emergency official said. The park is a long string of connected barrier islands near Pensacola.
Keith Wilkins from Escambia County emergency management said tar patties were are pretty thick on parts of the beach, as much as one every foot.
Small gobs of reddish brown oil washed up in the surf for the first time in nearby Gulf Shores, Ala., on Friday morning and a petroleum smell tinged the air.
Sam Champion from Good Morning America was in Pensacola Friday morning and picked up globs of tar off of the famously white beaches
Oil spill Florida update: Florida hotlines, beaches, FOSIL, health, wildlife and oiled birds photos
June 10, 3:06 PMTampa Headlines Examiner Charisse Van Horn
The oil spill continues to make its way to Florida and impact the state on a variety of levels. Florida Governor Charlie Crist announced several hotlines specific to Florida residents to help deal with the oil spill disaster as it affects our state. The Florida Oil Spill information line or FOSIL is available from 8:00 a.m., until 6:00 p.m., ET and provides current updates regarding the oil spill. You may access the Florida Oil Spill Information line at 1-888-337-3569.
Many across Florida are concerned that we will see the ill-effects of oiled birds and wildlife as witnessed in Louisiana. Florida has not been faced with these detrimental health effects at this time. In fact, many oiled and rehabilitated birds have been transported to Tampa and surrounding Florida wildlife refuges and set free.
Though tar balls, mousse and light oil sheen have been confirmed from Escambia to Bay County as well as in Perdido Pass, Florida beaches remain open. Florida has not used dispersants in our waters and at this point, there is no plan to. A total of 311,780 feet of oil containment boom has been instituted in Florida Gulf waters.
April 30, 2010, Governor Crist issued the first state of emergency following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill crisis. He extended the state of emergency to include additional counties on May 3rd and May 20th.
Governor Crist said, “As of today, oil continues to spill from the well. All efforts to stop the discharge have either failed or have only marginally abated the flow, and thus the oil will likely continue to leak from the well for months.
Moreover, the sever, detrimental impact of the spill will continue to affect Florida long after the discharge is stopped, due to the unprecedented amount of oil that has been introduced into the Gulf of Mexico.
Depending on weather and ocean currents, this ecological disaster poses a potential threat to Florida’s entire coastline.
As Governor, I am responsible to meet the dangers presented to this state and its people by this emergency. Therefore, by virtue of the authority vested in me by Article IV, Section 1 (a) of the Florida Constitution and by the State Emergency Management Act (Chapter 252, Florida Statutes), and all other applicable laws, I issue the following executive order:
Section 1: Because of the foregoing conditions, I find that a continuation of the state of emergency is necessary, due to the threat that oil leaking from the Deepwater Horizon well poses to the State of Florida.
Section 2: I extend Executive Order 10-99, amended by Executive Order 10-100, 10-106, 10-115, and 10-131, for sixty days through August 28, 2010.
Our Florida hazwoper site is meant to offer to the public all hazwoper hazmat training classes. We have 40 hour hazwoper training, 24 hour hazwoper training, hazwoper packages, 1st responder and special offers on bulk sales.See our sitemap for more information. Contact us for more information or see news on the spill.
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