REUTERS/BP/Handout
Thad Allen, oil spill response director for the federal government, said testing revealed a seep, located “a distance from the well.” Is the well damaged? (via Ecocentric)
In an official statement to BP, Allen said that tests revealed a seep and “undetermined anomalies at the wellhead.” He insisted that BP immediately stop the pressure tests and allow oil to spill into the Gulf once more. The major concerns are that the seeping oil contains a high percentage of methane and that damage to the wellbore could lead to oil leaking directly from the seafloor, which could not be stopped.
Ecocentric weighs in on the chain of command for the oil spill response:
Beyond the condition of the wellbore, however, Sunday’s odd chain of events once again raises the question of who exactly is in charge of this procedure. It’s not the first time there’s seemingly been a split between BP and the government … While Allen does have the final say what’s being done to the well, it’s still BP engineers who are running the show minute by minute, and the admiral is dependent on BP for the immediate information he needs to make those decisions.