'Top Kill' Fails to Stop Gulf Oil Leak

by Allen Johnson

BP's "top kill" operation to plug the ruptured well in the Gulf of Mexico has failed, the energy giant has said, in a stunning setback to efforts to stem the worst oil spill in US history.

BP and federal authorities said they are now turning to a new strategy to stop the leak, but it will take at least four to seven days before it can be put in place.

At least 20 million gallons are now estimated to have gushed into the ocean since the disaster unfolded five weeks ago, threatening an environmental and economic catastrophe across hundreds of kilometers of the US Gulf Coast.

"After three full days of attempting 'top kill,' we have been unable to overcome the flow from the well, so we now believe it's time to move on to the next of our options," BP Chief Operations Officer Doug Suttles told a press briefing.

Engineers had spent days pumping some 30,000 barrels of heavy drilling fluid into the leaking well head on the ocean floor in a high-pressure bid to smother the gushing crude and ultimately seal the well with cement.

But the effort failed, and when asked specifically why, Suttles had no direct answer.

"We don't know that for certain," he said, adding that "we were unable to sustainably overcome the flow."

The announcement marks the latest failure for BP, which despite a series of high-tech operations over the past month has appeared powerless to bring the disaster to heel since an explosion on the BP-leased Deepwater Horizon oil rig April 20 that killed eleven workers. The rig sank two days later.

The British energy giant had stressed that "top kill" was the best chance at stopping the leak other than drilling an entirely new relief well, a process that has already begun but is expected to take another two months.

"Obviously, we're very disappointed in today's announcement and I know all of you are anxious to see this well secured," US Coast Guard Rear Admiral Mary Landry told the briefing.

"It's been our number one goal since day one, but we also want to assure you we've had a very, very aggressive response posture and we're going to continue to do so," she said.

Efforts will now focus on severing the damaged riser pipes that lay crumpled on the ocean floor, then installing a containment device that could capture the leaking oil and syphon it to the surface.

BP and the Coast Guard said it would take four to seven days before the contraption -- dubbed the "Lower Marine Riser Package," or LMRP -- can be put in place.

And Suttle said even if LMRP works, it would only contain a majority of the oil and not all of it.

BP chief executive Tony Hayward said he was "disappointed" in the operation's failure but stressed that company officials "remain committed to doing everything we can to make this situation right."

The setback came a day after President Barack Obama visited the region for the second time since the oil spill began 40 days ago, in an attempt to bring new urgency to the response.

Obama toured some of the affected areas in Louisiana on Friday and pledged "to continue to do whatever it takes to help Americans whose livelihoods have been upended by the spill."

Obama said he would triple the number of workers clearing up soiled beaches, after he saw the effects of the spill up close, picking up and examining tar balls that washed ashore in Louisiana.

"I'm here to tell you that you're not alone. You will not be abandoned. You will not be left behind," he promised to local residents.

Since the oil spill began, an estimated 12,000 to 19,000 barrels of crude have been gushing into the Gulf each day.

The disaster has already closed stretches of coastal fishing waters, endangering the seafood industry and tourism businesses, and threatening a catastrophe for Louisiana marshes, home to many rare species.

Government data released Thursday suggested between 18.6 million gallons and 29.5 million gallons of oil have poured into the Gulf -- far more than the roughly 11 million gallons of crude spilled in the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster.

Amid the environmental catastrophe, there were also growing fears for the health of cleanup workers exposed to the oil and chemical dispersants.

Four more crewmen aboard ships helping burn off surface oil were evacuated to hospital late Friday after falling ill, a day after the Coast Guard announced that seven workers were evacuated for medical emergencies.

Landry said Saturday that the Coast Guard would continue to use undersea dispersants, chemicals which help break up the crude into droplets that can evaporate or biodegrade more quickly, but which critics say could also be a health hazard.

On Saturday, Louisiana state officials called on BP to create a 300-million-dollar fund to mitigate the immediate and long-term impact of the spill on businesses and local residents.

State agencies also sent a letter to the British oil giant seeking another 457 million dollars to fund a 20-year seafood safety plan, warning that "the future of this industry is in peril." (AFP)