President Obama met today with the co-chairs of the National Commission on the BP oil spill, former Senator Bob Graham of Florida and former EPA Administrator, Bill Reilly, tasked with thoroughly examining the spill and the causes of the greatest environmental disaster in US history.
As Obama kicked off the Commission’s work, BP continued to struggle with yet another procedure, following the failed “top kill” operation on Saturday. Known as the Lower Marine Riser Package (LMRP) Cap Containment System, the plan entails cutting and then removing the damaged riser from the top of the failed Blow-Out Preventer (BOP), to leave a cleanly-cut pipe over which the “top cap” would be placed. In turn, the cap is designed to be connected to a riser from the Discoverer Enterprise drillship with the intention of capturing most of the oil and gas flowing from the well.
While there is no certainty that the LMRP procedure would work, National Incident Commander Thad Allen said today that the cut riser could lead to a 20 percent increase in oil flow before the “top cap” is installed. There is also the added concern that the containment effort introduces additional dangers with the anticipated active hurricane season and the potential for severe weather systems.
BP has also down-played the success of the “top cap” noting that the operation has not been previously carried out in 5,000 feet of water and the deployment of the containment system cannot be assured.
Meanwhile, the proposal by Louisiana to construct sand berms to keep oil away from certain areas of coastline could pose damage to environmentally sensitive areas, but according to Allen, was still under active consideration.
BP said that drilling of the two relief wells continue, but will not be completed before another three months. And most likely oil will continue to flow until August.
