NEW ORLEANS (AP) - BP mounted a more aggressive response to the
oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico on Sunday as it started deploying
undersea sensors to better measure the ferocious flow of crude
while drawing up new plans to meet a government demand that it
speed up the containment effort ahead of President Barack Obama's
visit to the coast.
The financial ramifications of the disaster are growing by the
day as the White House and states put pressure on BP to set aside
billions of dollars to pay spill-related claims in a move that
could quickly drain the company's cash reserves and hasten its path
toward possible bankruptcy.
BP was also trying to meet a Sunday deadline to respond to a
letter from the Coast Guard demanding that it intensify the efforts
to stop the spill. One of the actions BP took Sunday was to use
robotic submarines to position sensors inside the well to gauge how
much oil is spilling.
The robots were expected to insert the pressure sensors through
a line used to inject methanol - an antifreeze meant to prevent the
buildup of icelike slush - into a containment cap seated over the
ruptured pipe, BP spokesman David Nicholas said.
BP was installing the sensors at the request of a federal team
of scientists tasked with estimating the flow. The necessary
equipment was first identified last week, and the installation
procedures were approved over the weekend, said Coast Guard Lt.
Cmdr. Tony Russell, a spokesman for Rear Adm. Thad Allen, the top
federal official in charge of the spill response. The work should
be completed by Tuesday.
Scientists have wanted better data on the flow rate. But Russell
said the installation of the sensors had to be timed so it did not
interrupt the work of the containment cap. That cap was installed
earlier this month and has been gradually brought toward its full
capacity, although oil continues to escape the well.
Scientists haven't been able to pin down just how much oil is
leaking into the Gulf, although the high-end estimates indicated
the spill could exceed 100 million gallons. The government has
stressed that the larger estimates were still preliminary and
considered a worse-case scenario.
Allen, the Obama administration's point man on the oil spill, on
Sunday said government officials think the best figures are from a
middle-of-the-road estimate, which would put the spill at around 66
million gallons of oil. That is about six times the size of the
Exxon Valdez spill.
BP is currently capturing about 630,000 gallons of oil a day,
but hundreds thousands more are still escaping into the Gulf. The
company has said that it could begin siphoning an additional
400,000 gallons a day starting Tuesday by burning it using a
specialized boom being installed on a rig - and any new success
would be welcome news for Obama as he returns to the Gulf.
The president was scheduled to arrive in the Gulf on Monday for
a two-day visit that will be followed by a nationally televised
address to the American people on Tuesday and a sit-down with BP
executives Wednesday. The crisis has already become a crucial test
for the Obama presidency as it takes a greater toll on his image
with each day that more oil gushes into the sea.
"We're at a kind of inflection point in this saga, because we
now know that, what essentially what we can do and what we can't
do, in terms of collecting oil, and what lies ahead in the next few
months," senior adviser David Axelrod said on NBC's "Meet the
Press. "And he wants to lay out the steps that we're going to take
from here to get through this, through this crisis."
Obama wants an independent, third party to administer an escrow
account paid for by BP to compensate those with "legitimate"
claims for damages. The amount of money set aside will be discussed
during talks this week between the White House and BP, but the
request will most definitely be in the billions.
Louisiana's treasurer has told The Associated Press that it
wants $5 billion. Florida said it wants $2.5 billion.
"We are aware of the request," said BP spokeswoman Sheila
Williams in London. She declined to comment further.
BP could have to tap its cash reserve to pay the fund while also
borrow money to comply. That, however, presents a potential problem
because the company's borrowing costs are likely to be a lot higher
due to investor concerns.
Oil again began washing up in heavy amounts along the shores of
Orange Beach, Ala. on Sunday afternoon as the winds shifted,
turning the surf into an oily red mixture that left brown stains at
the surf line.
A plane flew along the coast pulling a sign that read: "Obama,
55 days. What's it gonna take?"
Earlier in the day, crews wearing rubber globes and boots used
shovels to scoop up the oil, sand and tar ball mixture and put it
into trash bags.
The disposal of oil-soaked dirt and sand is part of a broad
effort playing out across the Gulf Coast to clean up the mess.
Waste Management received a contract from BP to transport waste
produced by cleanup crews assigned to work the stretch of the
coastline. Ken Haldin, a Waste Management spokesman, said Sunday
that the company has designated 65 trucks and 535 containers that
are being filled with solid oil waste.
Waste Management has designated three landfills in three
different states that are operated by the company to handle the
oily refuse. Haldin noted that before the refuse is dumped, it has
to be analyzed by both the waste removal company and by local
government environmental authorities to make sure it is
nonhazardous.
Waste Management also is handling some of the liquid waste
skimmed from the ocean by cleanup crews, and has set up special
equipment, including vacuum trucks, along the docks that separates
oil from the water. Once separated, the oil will be resold to oil
services companies.
"This is a major mobilization effort," noted Haldin.
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