Oil CEO On Scene
National News
by
Jay Gray
last edited on
Monday, May 24, 2010
The crisis in the Gulf is in its 34th day now. Oil is still pouring out of the crippled Deepwater Horizon well and inching toward the coast. As BP prepares to try and stop the leak, Washington is beginning to apply more pressure. A fleet of ships is moving into the spill zone now. And video released Monday shows robotic submersibles positioning equipment on the floor of the Gulf.
They're preparing for a top kill, which has been pushed back to Wednesday now. Why is it taking so long? "It is very difficult, 5,000 feet below the surface and it's never been done before," says USCG Adm. Thad Allen, Incident Commander.
That will be day 36 since the well collapse, and would be the first attempt to stop the leak. "They will be held accountable we will keep our boot on their neck until the job gets done," adds Interior Secretary Ken Salazar.
That boot was firmly planted in the spill zone today as Salazar and the secretary of homeland security led a congressional delegation on a tour of the region. "BP in my mind no longer stands for British Petroleum, it stands for beyond patience," said Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL).
Or big problem, something the company's CEO acknowledged after a first hand look today along the Louisiana shoreline. "I feel devastated, gutted. What I can tell you were are going to kill every drop of oil off the shore," vowed BP CEO Tony Hayward.