We may have spoken too soon. Operation Top Kill could take 24-48 more hours before we know if it has worked.
In the top kill maneuver, a 30,000-horsepower engine aboard a ship injected heavy drill liquids (called “mud”) into the well pushing the oil and natural gas back down the well. Once the mud overwhelms the escaping oil and stops the leaks, cement will be poured in the well to cap it.
Yesterday morning the process seemed to be working and I reported such on this blog. USCG Adm. Thad Allen told it was “going as planned.” It was only until late Thursday afternoon that we were told the the operation wasn’t succeeding and that pumping had halted at 11 p.m. Wednesday. So Allen fudged on the truth…that is unless the plan was to fail.
Last night, the “mud” pumping resumed, which is when Doug Suttles, BP’s chief operating officer, said, “It’s difficult to be optimistic or pessimistic. We have not stopped the flow.â€
Once again BP’s PR Blueprint is used –this time with Coast Guard help— the public is given the best case scenario (in the instance, told top kill is going as planned), only to later find that it isn’t working.
This is maddening. Please tell us the complete truth on the front end. We are adults – if the news is bad tell us. Fortunately we now know that we can’t trust anything that Adm. Allen tells us without independent verification….he is too close to BP to be our advocate.
