Tag: Afternoon Edition

Afternoon Edition

Afternoon Edition is an Open Thread

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1 BP holds breath as pipe cap begins capturing oil

by Allen Johnson, AFP

2 hrs 25 mins ago

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (AFP) – In the first breakthrough in its laborious bid to curb the worst US spill in history, BP said Friday a cap placed on a ruptured pipe was working and should capture most of the oil.

The news came as US President Barack Obama was heading back to the stricken Gulf of Mexico region for his third visit since an explosion tore through the BP-leased Deepwater Horizon rig more than six weeks ago.

Remote-controlled submarines grappled the cap into place over a sawn-off riser pipe nearly a mile (1.6 kilometers) below the surface late Thursday — in the latest of several attempts to contain the oil belching into the Gulf.

Afternoon Edition

Afternoon Edition is an Open Thread

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1 BP cuts off broken oil pipe with giant shears

by Allen Johnson, AFP

49 mins ago

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (AFP) – BP on Thursday successfully cut off a fractured oil pipe using giant shears, pressing ahead with its latest bid to seal the Gulf of Mexico leak as President Barack Obama announced a third trip to the region.

After a diamond-blade saw got stuck in the pipe lying a mile down on the sea bed, the British energy giant was forced to use rougher means to get the job done.

“The other saw that we attempted to use was not successful in getting the internal drill pipe so we replaced it with the shears, which don’t have as clean a cut, but we do have a cut now,” Admiral Thad Allen told reporters.

Afternoon Edition

Afternoon Edition is an Open Thread

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1 Oil closes in on Florida coast

by Patrick Baert, AFP

1 hr 38 mins ago

GRAND ISLE, Louisiana (AFP) – The giant Gulf of Mexico oil slick was Wednesday closing in on the pristine Florida coast, as deep sea robotic submarines hit a new snag in BP’s latest bid to contain the spill.

Forecasters said it was virtually certain Florida’s panhandle, a major draw for tourists from around the world, would be hit by the spill this week.

The latest official projections from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) show the slick to be about seven miles (11 kilometers) off the state’s shores, a Florida official told AFP.

Afternoon Edition

Afternoon Edition is an Open Thread

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1 Obama threatens court action over US oil spill

by Allen Johnson, AFP

1 hr 45 mins ago

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (AFP) – President Barack Obama Tuesday threatened legal action against those to blame for unleashing the nation’s worst ever oil spill, as BP once again battled to stop the six-week leak.

“If our laws were broken leading to this death and destruction, my solemn pledge is that we will bring those responsible to justice on behalf of the victims of this catastrophe and the people of the Gulf region,” Obama vowed.

Calling it the “greatest environmental disaster of its kind in our history,” Obama said the government had an “obligation” to find out what caused an explosion on the BP-operated Deepwater Horizon rig on April 20.

Afternoon Edition

Afternoon Edition is an Open Thread

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1 BP rushes new plan to stem Gulf oil leak

by Allen Johnson, AFP

Sun May 30, 7:02 pm ET

ROBERT, Louisiana (AFP) – BP engineers scrambled Sunday to implement another high-risk plan to stem the devastating Gulf oil spill now being described as likely the worst environmental disaster in US history.

Hours after the British oil giant acknowledged failure in its “top kill” attempt to plug the underwater well, company officials said it could take a week to implement the next bid — placing a cap over the leak.

“Right now we are going to a containment operation,” BP Managing Director Bob Dudley told CNN’s “State of the Union” program of the latest attempt to deal with the ruptured well nearly a mile (1,600 meters) under water.

Afternoon Edition

Afternoon Edition is an Open Thread

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1 Obama visits oil spill zone, ‘top kill’ results awaited

by Tangi Quemener, AFP

2 hrs 28 mins ago

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (AFP) – US President Barack Obama arrived in Louisiana Friday to view the oil spill response amid suspense over the latest bid to cap the massive leak in the Gulf of Mexico.

A day after he pledged to take responsibility for stopping and cleaning up the disastrous spill, Obama was in the region for his second visit to assess the situation.

Meanwhile, a US official cited progress in BP’s efforts to plug the leak, but the energy giant warned it would take two days to determine the measure’s success.

Afternoon Edition

Afternoon Edition is an Open Thread

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1 Oil stops gushing from Gulf of Mexico well

by Karin Zeitvogel, AFP

Thu May 27, 10:29 am ET

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (AFP) – BP has stopped the oil gushing out of a ruptured Gulf of Mexico well, US officials said Thursday, but cautioned it was still too early to declare victory in the five-week disaster.

“They’ve been able to stabilize the wellhead, they’re pumping mud down it. They’ve stopped the hydrocarbons from coming up,” said Coast Guard chief Thad Allen, who is coordinating the US government’s battle against the oil spill.

He told local radio WWL First News that BP “had some success overnight” but cautioned the British energy giant was “in a period of kind of wait and see right now where they see how the well stabilizes.”

Afternoon Edition

Afternoon Edition is an Open Thread

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1 BP starts ‘top kill’ operation to stop oil leak

by Allen Johnson, AFP

35 mins ago

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (AFP) – BP on Wednesday launched a complex, risky deep sea operation to cap the Gulf of Mexico oil leak, under huge pressure to get it right this time and stop the five-week-old gusher.

Shortly after winning final approval from US officials for the procedure to go ahead, the British energy giant announced the maneuver dubbed a “top kill” had begun at 1800 GMT.

But after several previous failed attempts to cap the oil, BP boss Tony Hayward has already downplayed hopes of success, cautioning such a procedure has never been tried before at such depth and against such pressure.

Afternoon Edition

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1 Long odds that BP’s desperate ‘top kill’ will plug oil leak

by Stephane Jourdain, AFP

1 hr 13 mins ago

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (AFP) – BP on Tuesday readied an ambitious plan to smother a ruptured underwater oil pipeline in heavy drilling fluid and cement, although company officials conceded that the “top kill” procedure has long odds for success.

BP’s top officer downplayed the likelihood that the desperate effort will succeed in actually sealing the pipe, which is spewing hundreds of thousands of gallons of crude into the Gulf each day.

“If it was on land we would have a very high confidence of success, but… we need to be realistic about the issues around operating in a mile of water,” BP CEO Tony Hayward told reporters on Monday.

Afternoon Edition

Afternoon Edition is an Open Thread

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1 Pressure mounts on BP ahead of ‘top kill’

by Stephane Jourdain, AFP

25 mins ago

GALLIANO, Louisiana (AFP) – US officials piled pressure on BP Monday ahead of a make-or-break operation to plug the Gulf of Mexico oil leak, as fragile shorelines and rare birds became smothered in more thick crude.

Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, pleading for sand barriers to be constructed to protect the coast, recounted grim tales of birds unable to fly because their feathers were fused together by oil.

“The Brown Pelican, our state bird. Several months from being removed from the endangered species list,” Jindal implored at a press conference alongside top US government officials in the small town of Galliano.

Afternoon Edition

Afternoon Edition is an Open Thread

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1 Louisiana marshes hit by Gulf oil slick

by Clement Sabourin, AFP

Thu May 20, 6:47 pm ET

VENICE, Louisiana (AFP) – Crude oozed Thursday into US wetlands, prompting furious Louisiana officials to accuse BP of destroying fragile marshes beyond repair and leaving coastal fishing communities in ruin.

With some of the worst fears of environmental disaster being realized in the marshlands of the Mississippi Delta, BP was also forced to concede it had underestimated the amount of oil leaking into the Gulf of Mexico.

The British energy giant had always maintained only 5,000 barrels — or 210,000 gallons — of crude was gushing each day from a pipe ruptured when its Deepwater Horizon rig exploded one month ago and sank.

Afternoon Edition

Your Afternoon Edition is brought to you by your substitute host, TMC. ek is off this afternoon. This is an Open Thread. Enjoy

BP accused of cover-up

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(Reuters) – BP Plc said on Thursday it was siphoning off more of the oil gushing from its ruptured Gulf of Mexico well, but the energy giant faced “cover-up” allegations over its struggling response to the catastrophic month-old spill.

“The oil plume escaping from the riser pipe has visibly declined today,” BP spokesman Mark Proegler said after the company announced that a mile-long tube tapping into the larger of two leaks from the well was now capturing 5,000 barrels (210,000 gallons/795,000 liters) per day of oil.

However, a live video feed of the leak, provided by BP, showed a black plume of crude oil still billowing out into the deep waters.

“It’s just not working,” U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer, who heads the Environment and Public Works Committee, told CNN as she watched the BP video. The California Democrat denounced a “cover-up” of the real size of the oil spill.

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