/
1x
Advertisement

BP permanently plugs oil well with concrete

’Static kill’ ensures no oil will leak into the water, U.S. government says
Add as preferred on Google(opens in a new tab)

BP announced Thursday its engineers have successfully plugged the hole at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico with mud and concrete, sealing it permanently. By 2:15 p.m. on Thursday, the company said it had pumped enough concrete and heavy mud into the hole—a process known as a “static kill”—to push the oil back to its original reservoir. BP will also pump mud and concrete through a relief well this month to suffocate the source of the oil. Retired U.S. Coast Guard admiral Thad Allen, the government’s point man on the oil spill disaster, said the plug will “virtually assure us that there will be no oil leaking into the environment.”

CBC News

Get the Best of Maclean’s straight to your inbox.

Sign up for news, commentary and analysis. Join 60,000+ Canadian readers.

By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy. You may unsubscribe at any time.