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BP Admits "Top Kill" Fails, Will Try Cap Next
Updated at 12:48 a.m. ET
BP admitted defeat Saturday in its attempt to plug the Gulf of Mexico oil leak by pumping mud into a busted well, but said it's preparing yet another method to fight the spill after a series of failures.
Special Section: Disaster in the Gulf
BP PLC Chief Operating Officer Doug Suttles said the company determined the "top kill" method had failed after after it spent three days pumping heavy drilling mud into the crippled well 5,000 feet underwater.
"This scares everybody, the fact that we can't make this well stop flowing, the fact that we haven't succeeded so far," Suttles said. "Many of the things we're trying have been done on the surface before, but have never been tried at 5,000 feet."
(Scroll down to watch CBS News Correspondent Don Teague's report on the "top kill" failure)
BP CEO Tony Hayward said in a statement that he was "disappointed" the risky procedure failed.
"The team executed the operation perfectly, and the technology worked without a single hitch," Hayward said in the statement. "The scientific brains trust assembled here studied the data right through the process."
Hayward also said the decision to put the "top kill" procedure aside was made with the government.
President Obama said the continued flow of oil into the Gulf is "as enraging as it is heartbreaking."
"It is as enraging as it is heartbreaking, and we will not relent until this leak is contained, until the waters and shores are cleaned up, and until the people unjustly victimized by this manmade disaster are made whole," Mr. Obama said Saturday.
Mr. Obama says that while officials had hoped the "top kill" procedure would succeed, they were mindful that there was a significant chance it would not.
Not long after the release of Mr. Obama's statement, the White House announced that three administration officials would return to the Gulf Coast next week. Those officials are Interior Secretary Ken Salazar; Lisa Jackson, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency; and Jane Lubchenco, administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, according to a White House statement.
In the days after the spill, BP was unable to use robot submarines to close valves on the massive blowout preventer atop the damaged well, then two weeks later ice-like crystals clogged a 100-ton box the company tried placing over the leak. Earlier this week, engineers removed a mile-long siphon tube after it sucked up a disappointing 900,000 gallons of oil from the gusher.
In the latest try, BP engineers pumped more than 1.2 million gallons of heavy drilling mud into the well and also shot in assorted junk, including metal pieces and rubber balls.
The hope was that the mud force-fed into the well would overwhelm the upward flow of oil and natural gas. But Suttles said most of the mud escaped out of the damaged pipe that's leaking the oil, called a riser.
Suttles said BP is already preparing for the next attempt to stop the leak. Under the plan, BP would use robot submarines to cut off the damaged riser and then try to cap it with a containment valve. Officials say the cutting and capping effort would take at least four days.
"We're confident the job will work but obviously we can't guarantee success," Suttles said of the new plan.
The oil spill began after the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig exploded in April, killing 11 people. It's the worst spill in U.S. history - exceeding even the Exxon Valdez disaster in 1989 off the Alaska coast - dumping between 18 million and 40 million gallons into the Gulf, according to government estimates.
More Oil Spill Coverage
Obama: "Top Kill" Failure "Enraging as it is Heartbreaking"
BP's Credibility Sank as Oil Spill Grew
Obama Finally Leans into the Gulf Oil Spill
Obama Forced to Become Defender-in-Chief Over Oil Spill
Obama to Gulf Residents: "We're In This Together"
Word that the top-kill had failed hit hard in the fishing community of Venice, La., near where oil first made landfall in large quanities almost two weeks ago.
The permanent solution to the leak, a relief well currently being drilled, won't be ready until August, BP says.
Experts have said that a bend in the damaged riser likely was restricting the flow of oil somewhat, so slicing it off and installing a new containment valve is risky.
"If they can't get that valve on, things will get much worse," said Philip W. Johnson, an engineering professor at the University of Alabama.
Johnson said he thinks BP can succeed with the valve, but added: "It's a scary proposition."
"Everybody's starting to realize this summer's lost. And our whole lifestyle might be lost," said Michael Ballay, the 59-year-old manager of the Cypress Cove Marina.
Since the top kill began Wednesday, BP has pumped huge amounts mud into the well at a rate of up to 2,700 gallons per minute.
Earlier, Salazar, addressing reporters after he spoke at a high school graduation ceremony in Denver, said the relief well was the ultimate solution, but said something was needed to stop the spill until then.
"We're doing everything with the best minds in the world to make sure that happens," he said.
BP had pegged the top kill's chances of success at 60 to 70 percent. The company says the best way to stop the flow of oil is by drilling relief wells, but those won't be completed until August.
Chris Roberts, a councilman in Louisiana's Jefferson Parish, said he was frustrated by BP's failures and perceived lack of transparency.
"We're wondering whether or not they're attempting to give everybody false hope in order to drag out the time until the ultimate resolution to it" - the completion of the relief wells, Roberts said.
Meanwhile, Coast Guard and Minerals Management Service officials heard a sixth day of testimony during hearings into the disaster in Kenner.
David Sims, BP's drilling operations manager for exploration and appraisal in the Gulf of Mexico, testified he was aware of well problems experienced by the Deepwater Horizon's drilling crew in the weeks and months leading up to the explosion. He said there were no serious problems the day the rig exploded.
Watch CBS News Videos Online
© 2010 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report. BP admitted defeat Saturday in its attempt to plug the Gulf of Mexico oil leak by pumping mud into a busted well, but said it's preparing yet another method to fight the spill after a series of failures.
Special Section: Disaster in the Gulf
BP PLC Chief Operating Officer Doug Suttles said the company determined the "top kill" method had failed after after it spent three days pumping heavy drilling mud into the crippled well 5,000 feet underwater.
"This scares everybody, the fact that we can't make this well stop flowing, the fact that we haven't succeeded so far," Suttles said. "Many of the things we're trying have been done on the surface before, but have never been tried at 5,000 feet."
(Scroll down to watch CBS News Correspondent Don Teague's report on the "top kill" failure)
BP CEO Tony Hayward said in a statement that he was "disappointed" the risky procedure failed.
"The team executed the operation perfectly, and the technology worked without a single hitch," Hayward said in the statement. "The scientific brains trust assembled here studied the data right through the process."
Hayward also said the decision to put the "top kill" procedure aside was made with the government.
President Obama said the continued flow of oil into the Gulf is "as enraging as it is heartbreaking."
"It is as enraging as it is heartbreaking, and we will not relent until this leak is contained, until the waters and shores are cleaned up, and until the people unjustly victimized by this manmade disaster are made whole," Mr. Obama said Saturday.
Mr. Obama says that while officials had hoped the "top kill" procedure would succeed, they were mindful that there was a significant chance it would not.
Not long after the release of Mr. Obama's statement, the White House announced that three administration officials would return to the Gulf Coast next week. Those officials are Interior Secretary Ken Salazar; Lisa Jackson, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency; and Jane Lubchenco, administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, according to a White House statement.
In the days after the spill, BP was unable to use robot submarines to close valves on the massive blowout preventer atop the damaged well, then two weeks later ice-like crystals clogged a 100-ton box the company tried placing over the leak. Earlier this week, engineers removed a mile-long siphon tube after it sucked up a disappointing 900,000 gallons of oil from the gusher.
In the latest try, BP engineers pumped more than 1.2 million gallons of heavy drilling mud into the well and also shot in assorted junk, including metal pieces and rubber balls.
The hope was that the mud force-fed into the well would overwhelm the upward flow of oil and natural gas. But Suttles said most of the mud escaped out of the damaged pipe that's leaking the oil, called a riser.
Suttles said BP is already preparing for the next attempt to stop the leak. Under the plan, BP would use robot submarines to cut off the damaged riser and then try to cap it with a containment valve. Officials say the cutting and capping effort would take at least four days.
"We're confident the job will work but obviously we can't guarantee success," Suttles said of the new plan.
The oil spill began after the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig exploded in April, killing 11 people. It's the worst spill in U.S. history - exceeding even the Exxon Valdez disaster in 1989 off the Alaska coast - dumping between 18 million and 40 million gallons into the Gulf, according to government estimates.
More Oil Spill Coverage
Obama: "Top Kill" Failure "Enraging as it is Heartbreaking"
BP's Credibility Sank as Oil Spill Grew
Obama Finally Leans into the Gulf Oil Spill
Obama Forced to Become Defender-in-Chief Over Oil Spill
Obama to Gulf Residents: "We're In This Together"
Word that the top-kill had failed hit hard in the fishing community of Venice, La., near where oil first made landfall in large quanities almost two weeks ago.
The permanent solution to the leak, a relief well currently being drilled, won't be ready until August, BP says.
Experts have said that a bend in the damaged riser likely was restricting the flow of oil somewhat, so slicing it off and installing a new containment valve is risky.
"If they can't get that valve on, things will get much worse," said Philip W. Johnson, an engineering professor at the University of Alabama.
Johnson said he thinks BP can succeed with the valve, but added: "It's a scary proposition."
"Everybody's starting to realize this summer's lost. And our whole lifestyle might be lost," said Michael Ballay, the 59-year-old manager of the Cypress Cove Marina.
Since the top kill began Wednesday, BP has pumped huge amounts mud into the well at a rate of up to 2,700 gallons per minute.
Earlier, Salazar, addressing reporters after he spoke at a high school graduation ceremony in Denver, said the relief well was the ultimate solution, but said something was needed to stop the spill until then.
"We're doing everything with the best minds in the world to make sure that happens," he said.
BP had pegged the top kill's chances of success at 60 to 70 percent. The company says the best way to stop the flow of oil is by drilling relief wells, but those won't be completed until August.
Chris Roberts, a councilman in Louisiana's Jefferson Parish, said he was frustrated by BP's failures and perceived lack of transparency.
"We're wondering whether or not they're attempting to give everybody false hope in order to drag out the time until the ultimate resolution to it" - the completion of the relief wells, Roberts said.
Meanwhile, Coast Guard and Minerals Management Service officials heard a sixth day of testimony during hearings into the disaster in Kenner.
David Sims, BP's drilling operations manager for exploration and appraisal in the Gulf of Mexico, testified he was aware of well problems experienced by the Deepwater Horizon's drilling crew in the weeks and months leading up to the explosion. He said there were no serious problems the day the rig exploded.
Watch CBS News Videos Online
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Who needs the Gulf of Mexico? Hey, you seen one ocean you seen 'em all.
there are many many liberally educated boys who want everything continually provided to them, plus being recognized for being smart, holy & good. huh & wow.
many copy the dominent projected feelings present in the energy spheres. huh.
instead think & act based on ones own predicament, picks & trip.
plus see & understand the mirror in the eyes of all reflecting back on the one.
copying only results in being a mimicker =
stupid.
plus by mimicking one will not get closer to the real work.
but then, many many liberally educated boys elect not to work.
huh.
i may not agree with the bp ceo or obama, but i do see the common predicament that helps bind or divide me from deciding my own true trip through this red realm, thereby resulting in my true work with the appropriate lessons.
later gators.
ultimately no one in govt has a clue or any practical experience to solve the engineering problems associated with this well. only the oil companies have that experience.
yes bp made big mistake.
yes we made a big mistake thinking we can reduce our risk by ignoring our energy requirements & hoping that wind & solar (now accounting for maybe 1/2 of 1% of our energy) will somehow someway get us out of this big fat mess we have created.
as i think bilbo baggins said: it's risky walking out the door in the morning.
special interest groups have convinced us to be paralyzed with fear to develop practical energy sources, thus here we are having created a very situation & disaster because of our intolance for risk.
face the facts kids...this is the red realm, not world based on hope! it's just risky here...no way to change that.
if i am ever looking for vast experience in greedy taxing & drunken spending beyond any comprehension, i know exactly where to go!
yippeee...ain't our president & congress great!
We have the Government saying we will hold them to the fire, but we can't fix this. We can be part of a comprhensive solution/plan to make things better---but industry MUST and will fix this problem.
Industry response, a refreshing, candid--we did it!! Wow someone in big oil who is willing to step up and be counted, rather than play the blame game!
Thank you Mr. President for showing big oil the high road.
Keep up the good work, make sure they stay on that road.
This is why we elected you!!
When the blame game starts in ernest, Please Mr. President can you make an effort to solve the political problem that allowed for the lack of CLEAR, SIMPLE, easily enforcible, common sense regulations. We need enforcment, with a clear mandate, simple procedures, and equally clear, simple, strongly mandated, and transparent, oversight---with teeth
We spent millions, perhaps billions to save the darter snake??
I don't get it. I just don't get it!!!
What is a darter snake??
the emphasis is on practical!
there are only a handful of radical citizens who want us all to live in tents, only ride bicycles or walk & dismantle our industrial complex.
yea, i think it would be cool to live in a lovely perfect realm, but let's face it, this realm isn't that place! example: i have attempted for years to coax ants out of my home(s) with various non-toxic essential oils/herbs etc. i have even kindly asked them to leave. well they never do so now say: get out or die. not fun to kill but this is the "red realm". i may wish & hope for something else, but i am still here as long as i am here.
like france, japan, et al we should already have nuclear supplying most of our electrical needs.
we should already have converted all trucks, cars, vehicles to natural gas.
we are 30 years behind because we have allowed the radical fear-of-energy-growth & walking out of doors in the morning crowd to paralyze us into a big fat mess.
if we lived in a perfect world/realm we might be able to simply pray & rely on hope.
however, as a buddhist i understand this place i have chosen to show up at & learn a thing or two, as the "red realm". not a nice place...but a great gross physical place to learn really great lessons. one lesson is that i have to show up & think & take responsibility for my own trip. daddy, buddha, jesus, bush, obama, or even mommy will not make everything ok for me. it is up to me.
we have voted for representatives who are not thinking in practical terms "red realm" terms.
we have arrived at the perfect place by not thinking & relying on hope - a big fat mess.
unless we want to de-industrialize we must start now to develop rational practical energy sources.
it's our pick.
Strangely enough, this situation may have been depicted and predicted by the Book of Revelation prophecy:
8:8 And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood;
8:9and there died the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, even they that had life; and the third part of the ships was destroyed.
What could be the meaning of these words?
a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea - isn't this oil rig?
and the third part of the sea became blood -crude oil is reddish!
If you find it hard to believe that the Gulf spill alone can kill 1/3 of animals and destroy 1/3 of ships, then please read about other oil spills and accidents.
and the third of the ships were destroyed - this probably concerns fishing industry vessels.
after 30+ years of failure we must instruct our representatives to immediately create a practical energy policy.
if we had a practical energy policy we would have nuclear supplying our electical needs, with natural gas fueling our current vast fleets of diesel trucks & gasoline powered automobiles.
if we had the foregoing we would not be boxed into a corner drilling in deeper & deeper waters w/o proper & proven technology to prevent the mess we see today.
ultimately we the citizens are at fault for this mess.
we can take responsibility now by voting for responsible & practical representatives who do the work & then pass the torch.
no more stupid rock star politicians who desire a life-time appointment living in high style gorging on power.