Bad Weather Could Reopen BP Well

By John Vlahakis

The onset of a tropical depression in the Bahamas is forcing the government and BP to decide whether they need to evacuate personnel and reopen the closed well. The National Hurricane Center in Miami said that the storm forming in the Bahamas is tracking towards the eastern and central parts of the Gulf of Mexico. Work on plugging the well has been suspended just days before the completion of a relief tunnel, that could close the well permanently. A decision has not been made as to withdraw all of the ships surrounding relief operations, but BP has already sent skimmer boats around the site back to safe harbors. Coastline booming operations are being lifted, because of the potential for the storm to send swells that could swamp the booms and sink them. A new storm surge will push ocean water further into the marshlands, and send new oil flows into these areas once the storm hits. The worst part of this scenario is that the government could require the reopening of the cap that has contained the oil for a week. The fear is that the current cap could be severely damaged while in place during the storm, according to retired Cost Guard Admiral Thad Allen. BP suspended work on the relief tunnels and wells just days before completion, and has been removing personnel from the site. Shell Oil has already removed all of its workers from their well sites. BP stated that they would not be able to return to work on the site until two weeks after the storm had passed by. And if that means reopening the well again, oil would flow back into the Gulf for possibly another two weeks. Even if the storm does not come near the well, wave surges from the storm could keep BP from finishing the job by the 1^st of August as had been planned.