News
Damaged Gulf well appears shut down as water clears
By: cnn.comPosted On: 08/04/2010 1:42 P
Seventy-four percent of the oil that leaked from the well that sank into the Gulf of Mexico in April has been collected, dispersed or evaporated, according to a government report released Wednesday.
The study, from agencies including the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the U.S. Geological Survey and the Department of the Interior, says of the total amount of oil that was spewed into the Gulf of Mexico (the most recent estimate is 205.8 million gallons), just 26 percent remains in the water, either on or just below the surface as light sheen and weathered tar balls.
The tar balls are either washing ashore, being collected from the coastlines, or buried in sand and sediment and are in the process of being degraded, the report said.
The report bolsters a top Obama administration energy official's statement Wednesday that the oil spill crisis is "turning a corner," with the "vast majority" of the oil now gone and the procedure to permanently seal BP's crippled well apparently working.
"We definitely are making progress. The oil hasn't been leaking for some time," Carol Browner, director of the White House Office of Energy and Climate Change Policy, said on CNN's "American Morning." "The static kill is going well, but ultimately, it's the relief wells we ordered drilled that will be the 'final kill-kill.' Probably, in the next 10 to 14 days that will be done, but (it was) an important step last night."
"Our scientists and external scientists believe that the vast majority of the oil has now been contained. It's been skimmed. Mother Nature has done its part. It's evaporated. And so, I think we're turning a corner here," Browner added.
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