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Associated Press Featured Article

September 23, 2010

Gulf oil well is dead but the pain will remain


The well that spewed millions of gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico is finally dead, but residents will be feeling the pain for years to come.

A permanent cement plug sealed BP's well nearly 2.5 miles below the sea floor, five agonizing months after an explosion sank a drilling rig and led to the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history.

Retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, the federal government's point man on the disaster, said Sunday that BP's well "is effectively dead" and posed no further threat to the Gulf. Allen said a pressure test to ensure the cement plug would hold was completed at 5:54 a.m. CDT (News - Alert).


But there is still plenty of oil in the water, and some continues to wash up on shore. Many people are still struggling to make ends meet with some waters still closed to fishing. Shrimpers who are allowed to fish are finding it difficult to sell their catch because of the perception — largely from people outside the region — that the seafood is not safe to eat. Tourism along the Gulf has also taken a hit.

The April 20 blast killed 11 workers, and 206 million gallons of oil spewed.

The gusher was contained in mid–July after a temporary cap was successfully fitted atop the well. Mud and cement were later pushed down through the top of the well, allowing the cap to be removed.

But the well could not be declared dead until a relief well was drilled so that the ruptured well could be sealed from the bottom, ensuring it never causes a problem again. The relief well intersected the blown–out well last Thursday, and crews started pumping in the cement Friday.

The spill caused an environmental and economic nightmare for people who live, work and play along hundreds of miles of Gulf shoreline from Florida to Texas. It also spurred civil and criminal investigations, cost gaffe–prone BP chief Tony Hayward his job, and brought increased governmental scrutiny of the oil and gas industry, including a costly moratorium on deepwater offshore drilling that is still in place.

The disaster also has taken a toll on the once mighty oil giant BP PLC. The British company's stock price took a nosedive after the explosion, though it has recovered somewhat. Its image as a steward of the environment was stained and its stated commitment to safety was challenged. Owners of BP–branded gas stations in the U.S. were hit with lost sales, as customers protested at the pump.

And on the financial side: BP has already shelled out $9.5 billion in cleanup costs, and the company has promised to set aside another $20 billion for a victims compensation fund. The company could face tens of billions of dollars more in government fines and legal costs from hundreds of pending lawsuits.

BP took some of the blame for the Gulf oil disaster in an internal report issued earlier this month, acknowledging among other things that its workers misinterpreted a key pressure test of the well. But in a possible preview of its legal strategy, it also pointed the finger at its partners on the doomed rig.

BP was a majority owner of the well that blew out, and it was leasing the rig that exploded from owner Transocean Ltd.

Related Images:


 FILE - In this May 1, 2010 file photo, Frank Campo, owner of Campo Marina, pauses as he discusses the threats to the region and his livelihood from the oil spill from the Deepwater Horizon rig at his Marina in Shell Beach, La. Retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, the federal government's point man on the disaster, said Sunday, Sept. 19, 2010, BP's well 'is effectively dead.' 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 U.S. history. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)

 FILE - This April 21, 2010 file photo shows the Deepwater Horizon oil rig burning after an explosion in the Gulf of Mexico, off the southeast tip of Louisiana. Retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, the federal government's point man on the disaster, said Sunday, Sept. 19, 2010, BP's well 'is effectively dead.' 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 U.S. history. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)

 FILE - In this May 6, 2010 file photo, the containment vessel is lowered into the Gulf of Mexico at the site of the Deepwater Horizon rig collapse. Retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, the federal government's point man on the disaster, said Sunday, Sept. 19, 2010, BP's well 'is effectively dead.' 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 U.S. history. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)

 FILE - In this July 5, 2010 file photo, Chris LaForce talks with other fisherman during a protest meeting at the city docks in Bayou La Batre, Ala. Retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, the federal government's point man on the disaster, said Sunday, Sept. 19, 2010, BP's well 'is effectively dead.' 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 U.S. history. (AP Photo/Dave Martin, File)

 FILE - In this June 21, 2010 file photo, a fisherman stands near commercial fishing boats in a marina at sunset in Grand Isle, La. Retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, the federal government's point man on the disaster, said Sunday, Sept. 19, 2010, BP's well 'is effectively dead.' 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 U.S. history. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)

 FILE - In this June 15, 2010 file photo, local fishermen hired to lay oil booms listen to Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal during his tour of oil impacted areas in the northern shores of Barataria Bay in Plaquemines Parish, La. Retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, the federal government's point man on the disaster, said Sunday, Sept. 19, 2010, BP's well 'is effectively dead.' 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 U.S. history. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)

 FILE - In this June 15, 2010 file photo, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal speaks to local fishermen hired to deploy booms to collect oil as he tours impacted areas in the northern shores of Barataria Bay in Plaquemines Parish, La. Retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, the federal government's point man on the disaster, said Sunday, Sept. 19, 2010, BP's well 'is effectively dead.' 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 U.S. history. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)

 FILE - In this June 3, 2010 file photo, a bird is seen on the beach at East Grand Terre Island along the Louisiana coast after being drenched in oil from the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, the federal government's point man on the disaster, said Sunday, Sept. 19, 2010, BP's well 'is effectively dead.' 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 U.S. history. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel, File)

 FILE - In this June 24, 2010 file photo, oil workers from the Gulf Island Fabrication Yard listen to Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal during a speech in Houma, La., where he spoke out against the six-month moratorium on deepwater drilling, saying it would kill thousands of Louisiana jobs. Retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, the federal government's point man on the disaster, said Sunday, Sept. 19, 2010, BP's well 'is effectively dead.' 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 U.S. history. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull, File)

 FILE - In this June 17, 2010 file photo, Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., holds an Associated Press photo taken by Charlie Riedel of an oil-covered pelican, the state bird of Louisiana, as he questions BP CEO Tony Hayward, on Capitol Hill in Washington, during the House Oversight and Investigations subcommittee hearing on 'the role of BP in the Deepwater Horizon Explosion and oil spill. Retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, the federal government's point man on the disaster, said Sunday, Sept. 19, 2010, BP's well 'is effectively dead.' 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 U.S. history. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

 FILE - In this June 3, 2010 file photo, a brown pelican is mired in heavy oil on the beach at East Grand Terre Island along the Louisiana coast. Retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, the federal government's point man on the disaster, said Sunday, Sept. 19, 2010, BP's well 'is effectively dead.' 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 U.S. history. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel, File)

 FILE - In this file photo made June 3, 2010, a brown pelican covered in oil sits on the beach at East Grand Terre Island along the Louisiana coast in the wake of the BP Deepwater Horizon rig explosion. Retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, the federal government's point man on the disaster, said Sunday, Sept. 19, 2010, BP's well 'is effectively dead.' 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 U.S. history. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel, File)

 FILE - In this June 9, 2010 file photo, a worker uses a suction hose to remove oil washed ashore from the Deepwater Horizon spill in Belle Terre, La. Retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, the federal government's point man on the disaster, said Sunday, Sept. 19, 2010, BP's well 'is effectively dead.' 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 U.S. history. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)

 FILE - In this June 4, 2010 file photo, a clean-up worker picks up an absorbent snare filled with oil on Queen Bess Island at the mouth of Barataria Bay near the Gulf of Mexico in Plaquemines Parish, La. Retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, the federal government's point man on the disaster, said Sunday, Sept. 19, 2010, BP's well 'is effectively dead.' 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 U.S. history. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)

 FILE - In this June 4, 2010 file photo, a clean-up worker picks up blobs of oil in an absorbent snare on Queen Bess Island at the mouth of Barataria Bay near the Gulf of Mexico in Plaquemines Parish, La. Retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, the federal government's point man on the disaster, said Sunday, Sept. 19, 2010, BP's well 'is effectively dead.' 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 U.S. history. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)



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