Government’s point man on oil spill says work is not done on plugging up leak

Allen: The job is not finished on Gulf oil spill

NEW ORLEANS — The government’s point man on the oil spill response says engineers will still try to firm up the now-plugged Gulf leak through a relief well.

Retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen told WWL-TV in New Orleans on Wednesday that pumping mud down the throat of the blown-out well quelled the immediate threat.

But he told the station that engineers will still pump mud and cement later this month through an 18,000-foot relief well to permanently plug the underground reservoir that’s fed the gusher.

Allen says “we’ve pretty much made this well not a threat but we need to finish this from the bottom.”

BP bottled up the leak on July 15 with a massive cap after it had spewed millions of gallons of oil into the sea, but that cap was always considered a temporary solution.