A summary of events Wednesday, July 14, Day 85 of the Gulf of
Mexico oil spill that began with the April 20 explosion and fire on
the drilling rig Deepwater Horizon, owned by Transocean Ltd. and
leased by BP PLC, which is in charge of cleanup and containment.
The blast killed 11 workers. Since then, oil has been pouring into
the Gulf from a blown-out undersea well.


STOPPING THE STOPPING THE FLOW
BP froze activity on two key projects Wednesday meant to choke
off the flow of oil billowing from its broken well in the Gulf of
Mexico after days of moving confidently toward controlling the
crisis. The development was a stunning setback after the oil giant
finally seemed to be on track following nearly three months of
failed attempts to stop the spill, which has sullied beaches from
Florida to Texas and decimated the multibillion dollar Gulf fishing
industry. The oil giant and the government said more analysis was
needed before testing could proceed on a new temporary well cap -
the best hope since April of stopping the geyser. Work on a
permanent fix, relief wells that will plug the spill from below
with mud and cement, also was halted.