Rigs return to relief wells in Gulf of Mexico

NY Times:

As Tropical Storm Bonnie weakened to a mere tropical depression over the Gulf of Mexico on Saturday, a drilling rig and about a dozen other ships working to repair the crippled Macondo oil well reversed course and began heading back to the well site.

Workmen scrambled on Friday to pack up their gear and to move out of the storm’s projected path, after BP and the Coast Guard had decided to suspend operations.

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Once the drilling rig returns and sets a section of steel casing into the wellbore of the relief well, BP has been given permission to start pumping heavy mud into the leaky oil reservoir with the hope of killing the well before the relief well is complete. That process could be completed sometime in early August, depending on weather.

Jane Lubchenco, the administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, told reporters that the weakening storm had produced modest waves of three to five feet over the area around the well so far, and those waves would only grow a bit more as the storm moves through. She expressed optimism that the storm would dissipate the slick, leading to faster biodegradation of the oil.

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The ships should be able to easily handle the swells.  It will be interesting to see if the biodegredation of the oil effects that which has already reached the marshes in Louisiana.

The well cap they now have in place which will allow them to try another top kill should be seen as a potential answer to the problem of  handling a disastrous blowout.  That certainly lessens the stated purpose of the current moratorium.  It should be lifted as soon as possible so that the crews can return to work on other wells before the rigs are moved to Africa.