BP caps the dome believed to be source of oil sheen

An abandoned piece of equipment that is believed to be the source of an oil sheen spotted near the site of the massive 2010 BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has been capped and plugged, BP says. The London-based oil giant says it placed a 750-pound cap over an 86-ton steel container that the company had deployed in a failed effort to contain the spill. BP also inserted plugs on the top and sides of the container, which had been lowered over a leaking drill pipe in an effort to funnel oil to the surface. BP and the Coast Guard both say no oil has been seen leaking out of the container since it was capped and plugged. The operation started Tuesday and lasted roughly 26 hours. The sheen appeared on the Gulf’s surface in September. BP plans to monitor the sheen by satellite for several more days. The Coast Guard says it has directed BP to submit a plan for either removing remaining oil from the container or removing the container itself after the oil is removed. Last week BP said a three-day inspection confirmed that its Macondo well, which blew out and led to the nation’s worst offshore oil spill, isn’t leaking.