BP finishes new sealing cap operation
VENICE, La., July 12 (UPI) -- British oil company BP said Monday it has completed the installation of a new sealing cap on the Deep Water Horizon well in the Gulf of Mexico.
The move clears the way for testing to begin Tuesday on the integrity of the well, BP said on its Web site. The tests should show whether a quick end is in sight for the oil gushing from its deep water well in the Gulf of Mexico, the company said.
Doug Settles, BP's chief operating officer, said with the new cap in place the systems that have been collecting the gushing oil could be shut down and valves on the new cap would be closed to stop the oil flow outright, The New York Times reported.
Once those valves are closed, if tests show the pressure rising and holding -- indicating there is no significant damage along the length of the 13,000-feet well bore -- the valves could remain closed, ending the three-month flow that has resulted in an environmental disaster in the gulf region, the Times said.
"The best-case scenario: The pressures rise to the point we anticipate they would. We'd likely be able to keep the well shut in," the Times quoted Suttles as saying at a morning briefing.
He said scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy would help analyze the test results.
However, if tests show pressure in the well remains low, Suttles said, it would indicate a problem with the "integrity" of the well -- the valves would have to be reopened, oil would again gush from the well and the collection systems would have to be restarted, the Times reported.
The newspaper said the collection systems would have to operate until the company completes work on relief wells to permanently seal the well, which might not happen for weeks.
National Incident Commander Thad Allen issued a statement Monday saying the measurements to be taken Tuesday during a well integrity test "will provide valuable information about the condition of the well below the sea level and help determine whether or not it is possible to shut the well for a period of time, such as during a hurricane or bad weather, between now and when the relief wells are complete."
Allen said the test is likely to run for 6 to 48 hours "or more depending on the measurements that are observed."
Earlier, a leader of the commission charged with investigating the gulf oil spill said he's disappointed with the response but is withholding judgment for now.
"The oil industry has developed breathtaking technology in terms of what it can do: go down 5,000 feet, go out in all directions from below the sea sub-surface," William Reilly told CNN. "And one has to ask the question, 'Why this big difference? Why haven't we done better in putting resources into response?' ... We ought to have been better equipped to deal with oil on the surface of the ocean than we are. And that's my principal reaction to the response."
Reilly, a former Environmental Protection Agency administrator, and former Florida Sen. Bob Graham are co-chairmen of the National Oil Spill Commission, which was to conduct its first public meeting Monday.
"Given the resources that were around, which as I say I think were wholly inadequate to the challenge, I'll wait and form my judgment after I do a little more homework," Reilly said.
Salazar again suspends deep water wells
WASHINGTON, July 12 (UPI) -- U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar Monday issued new suspensions of deep water drilling on the Outer Continental Shelf.
In a statement, Salazar said he directed the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement to issue the new suspensions "to ensure that oil and gas companies first implement adequate safety measures to reduce the risks associated with deep water drilling operations and are prepared for blowouts and oil spills."
The suspensions will last until Nov. 30, the statement said, or until such time as Salazar determines deep water drilling can proceed safely. He conceded the new suspensions are similar to those struck down earlier by a federal judge, but said they were driven by new evidence. A federal appeals court last week refused to lift the judge's order, and said it would hear the case next month.
"More than 80 days into the BP oil spill (in the Gulf of Mexico), a pause on deep water drilling is essential and appropriate to protect communities, coasts, and wildlife from the risks that deep water drilling currently pose," Salazar said. "I am basing my decision on evidence that grows every day of the industry's inability in the deep water to contain a catastrophic blowout, respond to an oil spill and to operate safely."
Shallow water drilling activities use different technologies and do not present the same type of risk as deep water drilling operations, Salazar said, and can continue if operators are in compliance with safety and environmental requirements.
Financial reform gains 2 GOP votes
WASHINGTON, July 12 (UPI) -- Two Republican members of the U.S. Senate indicated Monday they will support financial reform legislation, signaling the bill might pass the Senate this week.
Olympia Snowe of Maine and Scott Brown of Massachusetts said they were prepared to support the final version of the bill, The New York Times reported. The decision by Snowe and Brown to back the measure might give Senate Democrats enough votes to pre-empt a Republican filibuster, the newspaper said.
Democrats had expected they would need to rely on the vote of whoever is named to fill the seat left vacant by the death of Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., but it appears they will have enough votes to end debate and proceed to a final vote, the report said.
As the proposed legislation stood before the July Fourth holiday, it retained the so-called Volcker rule -- named after former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker -- which forbids banks to make risky bets with their own funds.
Snowe announced her decision in a statement in which she called the proposed legislation "an aggressive overhaul" and said the reform would help "ensure we avoid another financial catastrophe such as the one that plunged our nation into the worst recession since the Great Depression."
"And this effort must include real and substantial consequences for those whose reckless actions caused the crisis in the first place while guaranteeing the transparency and accountability of taxpayer dollars," Snowe said.
Berwick sworn in at CMS
WASHINGTON, July 12 (UPI) -- Donald Berwick was sworn in Monday as head of the U.S. agency that administers Medicare and Medicaid amid persistent political squabbling about his appointment.
President Barack Obama appointed Berwick last week, while the Senate was in recess, to run the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The move averted the need for Senate confirmation hearings on the nomination.
In making the appointment, the president accused Senate Republicans of delaying the appointment for political reasons.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said on the Senate floor Monday the administration avoided the confirmation hearing process out of fear the public would reject Berwick's "well-known views about government-run care about how he plans to implement the president's plan to cut a half-trillion dollars from Medicare while limiting the choices seniors now enjoy."
Two Senate Democrats -- Dick Durban of Illinois and Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island -- defended the appointment, Modern Healthcare reported.
Whitehouse said Berwick is "simply, hands down" the best choice to run CMS and apply provisions of healthcare reform legislation "both vigorously and wisely."
