The federal government lets BP keep oil cap closed in the Gulf of Mexico

Despite a drip from the oil well in the sea floor the federal government allowed to keep the oil cap on the broken well, although the company promised to supervise the well permanently for leaks. This happening created a break between the company and the government. Thad Allen former admiral in the Coast Guard said this Monday that the experts of the government had received the answers they needed about how BP is monitoring the seabed close to the well, which stopped from leaking since Thursday when the cap was fixed.

Late Sunday a leak was discovered at a considerable distance from the well and Mr. Allen asked the BP Company in a letter to monitor more accurate the sea floor. The content that is leaking from the well is unknown because Mr. Allen didn’t reveal that information.

Since the pressure reading wasn’t as high as they expected it means that there could be a leak somewhere else, meaning that the cap must be opened again to prevent a bigger disaster and damage to the oil installation which will mean that a harder way to fix the oil well would be necessary. If the leak is underground could let oil and gas escape to the soil of the sea.

“When seeps are detected, you are directed to marshal resources, quickly investigate, and report findings to the government in no more than four hours. I direct you to provide me a written procedure for opening the choke valve as quickly as possible without damaging the well should hydrocarbon seepage near the well head be confirmed,” said Thad Allen in a letter to BP Managing Director Bob Dudley.

When asked about the monitoring and the seep, Mark Salt the representative of BP Company, said that “we continue to work very closely with all government scientists on this.”

Monday morning Mr. Allen said that there was a conference between the federal science team and the BP Company.

“During the conversation, the federal science team got the answers they were seeking and the commitment from BP to meet their monitoring and notification obligations,” Allen said.

The BP Company can continue the test with the cap shut but only if they will respect their obligations to monitor the well and the surroundings for any signs that could show any deterioration.

The government and the BP said that they don’t know how much time the test will take. The deadline was Sunday but it went beyond with no official word.

Carol Browner White House energy advisor said that Mr. Allen gave them an extension until Monday afternoon. And she said for the ABC show “Good morning America” that the monitoring it is very important to see if the oil doesn’t leak or break out of the pipe.

“Clearly we want this to end. But we don’t want to enter into a situation where we have uncontrolled leaks all over the Gulf floor,” Browner said.

Monday the BP Company stated that the cost of dealing with the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has risen to four billion dollars. The company said that they made payments for the individual claims on the coast of US up to 207 million dollars. Until now there were 116, 000 claims and more that 67, 000 payments were made, totaling the amount of 207 million dollars.

During the test when the cap was shut and the well wasn’t leaking, BP and the government should enjoy there success being the first real victory in fighting the flow. Instead the two sides spent these two days arguing about the equipment on the bottom of the sea that stops the oil jet.

The disagreement appeared when Mr. Allen said that the cap should be moved on a mile long pipe to pump the crude to ships. The next day, chief operating officer, Doug Suttles said that the cap should stay where it is until the relief wells would be finished.

The plan of the government is to pipe the oil to the surface which would take the pressure of the broken well but requires three more days of flowing oil before doing this.

Thad Allen who gets to decide last and final said that the containment plan that they discussed last time didn’t change and that he and the BP Company were on the same side.

The BP Company wants to avoid to broadcast again the flow of million gallons pumping in the sea out of the broken well for weeks.

“I can see why they’re pushing for keeping the cap on and shut in until the relief well is in place,” said Daniel Keeney, president of a Dallas-based public relations firm.

Under Allen’s plan oil would have to be released again into the Gulf which would be better because there wouldn’t be any concerns about the oil could get out through another route. These concerns arise from the pressure readings which was lower than they expected.

The engineering experts are trying to find out if the low pressure readings means a leak elsewhere, maybe in the seabed which could make it unstable and if that more oil then expected flowed into the Gulf since the Deepwater Horizon exploded on April 20, becoming America’s worst environment crisis.

It will take years for the Gulf to recover after somewhere between 94 million and 184 million gallons have been flowing into the water. Even if you can see the improvements in the water since the day it was stopped the flora and fauna of the Gulf will recover in many years.

What do you think about the extend period of the testing?