Now engineers are confident enough in the strength of the cap that they decided Thursday to leave it sealed while most of the ships on the surface were ordered to evacuate ahead of the approaching Tropical Storm Bonnie. The storm, which blossomed over the Bahamas and was to enter the Gulf of Mexico by the weekend, could delay by another 12 days the push to plug the broken well for good using mud and cement, retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen and BP officials conceded. Even if it’s not a direct hit, the rough weather will push back efforts to kill the well by at least a week.
“While this is not a hurricane, it’s a storm that will have probably some significant impacts, we’re taking appropriate cautions,” Allen said in Mobile, Alabama. The delay would be worse if BP had to fully open the cap while the ships closely monitoring the well head left. More oil would have been allowed to spew into the Gulf until they returned. A week of steady measurements through cameras and other devices convinced Allen they don’t need to open vents to relieve pressure on the cap, which engineers had worried might contribute to leaks underground and an even bigger blowout.
