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Storm Bonnie takes aim at oil spill

Other News Materials 24 July 2010 06:18 (UTC +04:00)
Ships working to siphon oil from the BP Plc spill in the Gulf of Mexico were wrapping up operations Friday as they prepare to evacuate ahead of a storm, dpa reported.
Storm Bonnie takes aim at oil spill

Ships working to siphon oil from the BP Plc spill in the Gulf of Mexico were wrapping up operations Friday as they prepare to evacuate ahead of a storm, dpa reported.

   Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen, who is overseeing the US government response to the months-old spill, said leaving the well site unattended does not pose a serious risk to the capped leak. Operations could be suspended for up to 48 hours while the storm passes, he said.

   Other vessels, used to monitor the oil well for leaks, will remain on the scene longer to keep on eye on the well, and would be the first to return after the storm passes, Allen said.

   The storm known as Bonnie weakened slightly to a tropical depression Friday afternoon and had sustained winds of 55 kilometres per hour, the National Hurricane Centre in Miami said. Tropical storm warnings were in place from western Florida through parts of Louisiana.

Bonnie had already brought strong winds and rains to much of Florida earlier Friday.

   The well site could begin to feel Bonnie's effects by early Saturday morning and the storm was expected to pass through sometime between Saturday and early Monday, Allen said.

Forecasts showed it reaching the northern Gulf of Mexico late Saturday.

   BP has been instructed to leave the containment cap in place despite the evacuation, Allen said. Data from ships collecting seismic and sound data on the closed well have indicated that the cap is holding without leaks.

President Barack Obama was briefed on the evacuation Friday.

"The president stressed that the team needs to be prepared for all scenarios and do everything needed to protect the residents and communities of the Gulf Coast including the oil response personnel and ensure that all oil response efforts will resume as soon as the storm passes," the White House said in a statement.

   Last week, BP managed to install a tight-fitting cap onto the well that had been gushing tens of thousands of barrels of oil a day into the ocean for nearly three months.        The cap is only a temporary solution to the leak. BP is drilling relief wells in hopes of flooding concrete into the shaft of the damaged well to permanently reseal the oil reservoir deep beneath the seabed.

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