Seepage Detected Near Oil Well in Gulf Oil Spill

Federal officials stated that there is seepage near the oil well. For 24 hours, the well will remain in testing mode.
Seepage Detected Near Oil Well in Gulf Oil Spill
7/19/2010
Updated:
10/1/2015
<a><img src="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/09/Allen102982939.jpg" alt="BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill National Incident Commander Retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen points to an illustration of the well cap stack and where leaks have been spotted during a news conference on July 19, in Washington DC.  (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)" title="BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill National Incident Commander Retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen points to an illustration of the well cap stack and where leaks have been spotted during a news conference on July 19, in Washington DC.  (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)" width="320" class="size-medium wp-image-1817201"/></a>
BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill National Incident Commander Retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen points to an illustration of the well cap stack and where leaks have been spotted during a news conference on July 19, in Washington DC.  (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Federal officials stated that there is seepage near the oil well. For 24 hours, the well will be allowed to remain in testing mode.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs announced on Sunday that in addition to the seeping near the well, the well head was also leaking.

The seep, two miles away from the well, was first discovered by Admiral Thad Allen, the retired Coast Guard admiral who had formerly directed federal response to Hurricane Katrina. Allen heads the joint government-BP response to the Gulf oil spill.

In a letter to BP Chief Managing Director Bob Dudley, Allen stated that the BP Company should put more effort into monitoring the ocean floor.

“Given the current observations from the test, including the detected seep a distance from the well and undetermined anomalies at the well head, monitoring of the seabed is of paramount importance during the test period,” Allen wrote.

He also proposed that the well cap should be removed if the seeping is to cause more damage.

“When seeps are detected, you are directed to marshal resources, quickly investigate, and report findings to the government in no more than four hours. I direct you to provide me a written procedure for opening the choke valve as quickly as possible without damaging the well should hydrocarbon seepage near the well head be confirmed.”

The testing of the cap is still going on, under the condition that the BP Company continues to observe the well with care.

“I authorized BP to continue the integrity test for another 24 hours and I restated our firm position that this test will only continue if they continue to meet their obligations to rigorously monitor for any signs that this test could worsen the overall situation,” stated Allen on the Deepwater Horizon Response website.

The pressure readings on the well were continually rising slowly according to BP, but they were not as high as scientists expected, which is a sign that there is a leak somewhere around the well head. This could mean that the test cap should be removed so that the leak can be fixed.

The worst outcome would be that the well could collapse due to oil leaking under the ocean floor, according to government officials.

If BP is lucky, however, no more oil will spew from the well before it is plugged permanently. The company has so far paid more than $200 million dollars to thousands of people who have filed claims related to the Gulf spill, according to a press release.