BP funnels some oil from broken well to surface before mile-long tube dislodges

Tube brings some oil to surface before dislodging

HAMMOND, La. — BP says engineers trying to stop an oil leak deep beneath the Gulf of Mexico used a mile-long tube to funnel some oil to the surface before it became dislodged.

In a news release, BP says it halted the process early Sunday after the tube became dislodged, but some of oil and gas mixture coming from the broken well made it to a tanker at the surface.

BP says engineers are trying to get the tube to work again deep beneath the ocean.

The company has unsucessfully tried several other ways to contain the massive oil spill fouling the Gulf. The permanent solution of completing a relief well is still months away.

Associated Press writers Ramit Plushnick-Masti in Houston; Noaki Schwartz in Los Angeles; Janet McConnaughey near Fort Jackson; Jason Dearen in New Orleans; Erica Werner, Matthew Daly and Frederic J. Frommer in Washington, and Melinda Deslatte in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, contributed to this report.