NEW ORLEANS — The federal official leading the Gulf oil spill cleanup said Friday a new containment cap and an additional ship collecting oil could effectively contain the spill in the next three days.
The work to replace a leaky containment cap on the well head with a tighter one will begin Saturday, National Incident Commander Thad Allen said Friday. At the same time, a ship connecting to a different part of the leak is expected to come online Sunday.
Oil will flow unimpeded into the Gulf during the cap switch for at least part of the weekend.
If all goes according to plan, the combination of the cap and the new vessel could collect all the leaking oil by Monday. Work continues on what officials hope will be the ultimate solution: a pair of relief wells intercepting the leaking well far below the seafloor.
The new containment cap is expected to form a better seal over the well head, to allow more of the oil to be collected and sent up to ships on the surface for collection or burning.
"Technically it's pretty achievable," Allen said. He said if the new cap can't be placed on the well, the old cap will be put back and there are multiple backup caps available in case any one cap fails.
Henry Moore sits on the beach as members of the Alabama National Guard build a barrier in Gulf Shores, Ala., on Friday. The barriers are to protect the beach during a concert to be held by Jimmy Buffet on Sunday to help promote tourism in Gulf states.
The new, tighter cap should be in place early Monday. Allen said the ship Helix Producer, which is to be hooked to a different part of the leaking well — lower than the new cap — will start collecting oil Sunday and be fully operational Tuesday. He has previously said that the full system should be able to collect 60,000 to 80,000 barrels a day.
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