"Static Kill" of Oil Well to Be Delayed

(CBS/AP)  Updated at 6:43 p.m. ET

The government's point man for the Gulf oil spill says there's been a delay in a procedure that will help stop the gusher for good.

Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen said Friday that debris was found in the bottom of the relief well that must be fished out before crews can pump mud into the broken well in a procedure known as a static kill.

This comes as BP admits it's scaling back cleanup operations with fewer boats skimming and laying boom and fewer workers on land, CBS News Correspondent Don Teague reports from Grand Isle, La.

The sediment settled in the relief well last week when crews popped in a plug to keep it safe ahead of Tropical Storm Bonnie. They found it as they were preparing for the static kill and now they have to remove it. They had hoped to start the static kill as early as Sunday, but removing the debris will take 24 to 36 hours and like push the kill back to Tuesday.

"It's not a huge problem, but it has to be removed before we can put the pipe casing down," Allen said Friday.

The procedure intended to ease the job of plugging the blown-out well for good.

The static kill involves pumping heavy mud into the busted well from the top. Then comes the bottom kill, where the relief well will be used to pump in mud and cement from the bottom; that process will take days or weeks, depending on the effectiveness of the static kill.

Special Section: Gulf Coast Oil Disaster

Separately Friday, Bob Dudley, who heads BP's oil spill recovery and will take over as CEO in October, said it's "not too soon for a scaleback" in the cleanup, and in areas where there is no oil, "you probably don't need to see people in hazmat suits on the beach."

According to BP's website, more than 47,000 people were employed responding to the spill about three weeks ago, Teague reports. On Friday, the number has fallen to below 33,000, difficult news for out-of-work fishermen who now rely on BP paychecks.

Dudley added, however, that there is "no pullback" in BP's commitment to clean up the spill. Dudley was in Biloxi, Miss. to announce that former Federal Emergency Management Agency chief James Lee Witt will be supporting BP's Gulf restoration work.

Suggestions that the environmental effects of the spill have been overblown have increased as oil has disappeared from the water's surface, though how much of the oil remains underwater is a mystery. Dudley rejected efforts to downplay the spill's impact, saying, "Anyone who thinks this wasn't a catastrophe must be far away from it."

BP is hiring Witt, FEMA director under President Clinton, and his public safety and crisis management consulting firm. BP did not say how much Witt would be paid.

Gulf Visibly Cleaner, Oil Rare

Plaquemines Parish President Billy Nungesser said it's clear the cleanup effort is being scaled back even though oil is still showing up on the coast.

"We know there's a lot of oil out there," Nungesser said. "It's going to continue to come ashore, and we're going to hold their feet to the fire to make sure they're there until all the oil is gone out of the Gulf of Mexico before we pull all of the assets out of our parish."

The gusher set off by an April 20 oil rig explosion spewed between 94 million gallons and 184 million gallons into the Gulf before a temporary cap stopped the flow July 15.

[barryjc]

I don't understand the following.
1. The well pressure only inreased very slowly after being capped which puts in question the integrity of the casing. Forcing mud down in there will cause the pressure to rise. Isn't that risky?
2. If the static kill is completed, sealing off the top end, then the "bottom kill" proceeds what happens to the pressure in between the two ends? Won't it increase dramatically?
Why all of a sudden this keen interest in doing a static kill when the bottom kill is so close to happening anyway?

[rwsmith29456]

Man, I can't wait until they do it. I'm tired of hearing about static kill all the time. Almost as bad as Palin.

[Mortar_29]

Interesting.

You know, someone did the numbers and came up with a comparison.

If FedEx Field, where the Redskins play and seat 90,000 people, was filled to the top with water (used as a comparison to the amount of water in the Gulf of Mexico), then the amount of oil spilled into the Gulf during this mess would be equal to a 24 ounce coke bottle in the stadium

[Lifeson2112]

I've suspected all along the media was hyping this up. My sister is vacationing in Florida now and said there isn't a drop of oil and no smell in the air of oil. I don't discount a lot of people are suffering due to job/income loss. But it may have been made worse than it should have been by media hype and government regulation run amok.

[laproud007]

I'm sure the attorneys and the news media would be linning up to represent the guy (or gal)that got the one bad coke. Plus, they would be recalling the whole lot of Cokes produced with that one. LOL