The United States Government allowed BP to keep its well sealed for testing for another 24 hours. This means that the government allows BP to continue its integrity test despite the most recent anomalies which were observed around the well. So far, however, the sealing process has been a success, keeping oil from leaking out of the well for almost a week now, in what has become the first good news since the tragedy occurred.
Now, the latest reports show the presence of methane surrounding the well, and a recorded seep during Sunday morning. These irregularities are the first since the well was sealed successfully, and may affect the testing severely.
Still, Thad Allen, the National Incident commander, has allowed BP to continue for one more day. On the other hand, Allen and his crew will continue to deeply monitor the situation, looking for the slightest hints of malfunctions and any indication that the sealing will only make the situation worse.
BP is also monitoring the situation broadly, and is collaborating with the United States government to gather data and analyze whether the information obtained calls for the sealing to remain, or be taken away, allowing oil to spill out once more to the already vastly damaged Gulf.
For the first time, a cap has successfully sealed the gushing of oil from the Macondo well of BP. It is not entirely over, as there are still complications as expected. A lot of lawsuits are still pending and created, the environment is still affected severely, plants and animals are dying as millions of gallons of oil are still floating in the gulf, and even the cap is not really the permanent solution to the stopping of oil flow.
The rig explosion in April 20 has caused BP’s shares to fall sharply and reach its lowest drop in 13 years, down to 12 percent according to Thursday’s morning data. This company, Beyond Petroleum, is based in London and is one of the oil giants of the United Kingdom, with its desire to create environment friendly solutions, but now it’s reputation is highly tarnished due to what many consider as the worst oil spill in history, and the most expensive.
Wildlife has been vastly affected by the deadly oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. In particular, pelicans are greatly troubled by the oil. Their feathers end up soaked in oil whenever they try to grab a fish. These birds were brought to the Louisiana bird rehabilitation center where they received aid from volunteers.
The BP oil leak off the gulf of Mexico continues to worsen, and many predict that the worst possible scenario will be that the leak will stop by December. This is, according to Barack Obama, the worst environmental disaster in the history of the United States.