The Associated Press
In this Wednesday photo provided by the U.S. Coast Guard, the mobile offshore drilling unit Q4000 holds position directly over the damaged Deepwater Horizon blowout preventer as crews work to plug the wellhead using a technique known as “top kill.” The procedure is intended to stem the flow of oil and gas and ultimately kill the well by injecting heavy drilling fluids.
NEW ORLEANS (July 12, 2010)—Officials are set to test a new cap installed over a well head in the Gulf of Mexico which hopefully can reduce or abate spewing crude.
Retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen said the integrity test could begin later in the day.
The tests are designed to determine if the new cap system can withstand the intense pressure being created by the gushing oil.
BP underwater robots have been steadily assembling heavy metal
pieces in what could be the most significant progress yet toward
containing the gushing oil well.
BP says it's ahead of schedule as it goes into the 83rd day of
the environmental and economic disaster that began when an oil rig exploded in April, killing 11 workers.
USCG 07.12.10
