New cap, ships could contain gulf oil leak by Monday ?

The federal official leading the Gulf of Mexico oil spill cleanup says a new containment cap and an additional ship collecting oil could effectively contain the spill in the next three days. The work to replace a leaky containment cap on the wellhead with a tighter one will begin Saturday, says National Incident Commander Thad Allen. At the same time, a ship connecting to a different part of the leak is expected to become operative Sunday. Oil will flow unimpeded into gulf waters during the cap switch for at least part of the weekend. If all goes according to plan, the combination of the cap and the new vessel could collect all the leaking oil by Monday, stopping it from escaping into the gulf for the first time since April 20. “I use the word ‘contained,’ ” Allen says. ” ‘Stop’ is when we put the plug in down below.” Work continues on what officials hope will be the final plugging of the well—drilling on two relief wells through which mud and cement will be pumped to halt the leak once and for all. That’s expected to happen sometime in mid-August. The new containment cap is expected to form a better seal over the wellhead, to allow more of the oil to be gathered and sent up to ships on the surface for collection or burning.