[StBernard] BP's MC 252 well permanently killed on Sunday

[Westley Annis]

BP's MC 252 well permanently killed on Sunday

National Incident Commander Thad Allen announced successful completion of
well kill operations of BP's Macondo 252 Well Sunday.  A temporary cap
stopped the oil from flowing on July 15. Mud and cement were later pushed
down through the top of the well, allowing the cap to be removed. The DDIII
relief well started in May intersected the blown-out well Thursday and crews
started pumping in cement on Friday. It was permanently sealed from the
bottom in a process known as "bottom kill". Pressure testing confirmed that
the cement had hardened, sealing off the last path for oil to escape. The
well is now considered effectively dead.

 

"After months of extensive operations planning and execution under the
direction and authority of the U.S. government science and engineering
teams, BP has successfully completed the relief well by intersecting and
cementing the well nearly 18,000 feet below the surface," Admiral Allen said
on Sunday. "With this development, which has been confirmed by the
Department of the Interior's Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, we can
finally announce that the Macondo 252 well is effectively dead."   

 

Allen says that while additional regulatory steps will need to be taken, the
Macondo well poses no continuing threat to the Gulf of Mexico. Oversight of
the well will transition from the National Incident Command to the Bureau of
Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement under the process laid
out in the National Response Framework. The Department of the Interior and
the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation, and Enforcement will
oversee the continuing decommissioning of the Macondo well and its
associated relief wells.

 

"Now the Deepwater Horizon well has been permanently capped," St. Bernard
Parish Councilman Fred Everhardt, Jr. said Monday, "we can get onto other
things at hand and bring back the integrity of our seafood and our way in
life St. Bernard Parish."

 

"The permanent kill of the well is good news for the Gulf Coast. We can't
lose focus of what is still left to do, cleaning up any additional oil that
is out there and restoring the damage that has been done to our marshes,
beaches, and seafood industry," St. Bernard Parish Craig Taffaro said.
"While scaling down of response and cleanup activities is imminent and
ongoing, there is a still a tremendous amount of work to be done to 'make it
right'. We are far from being in a pre oil spill state in terms of our
natural resources and assured livelihood for our community. This is what we
will be focusing on as a parish and we hope that everyone else is on the
same page."