BP: Cap in place over damaged well

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BP: Cap in place over damaged well
VENICE, La., (UPI) -- Technicians using robotic submarines Thursday guided a cap to the top of the seafloor well spewing oil into the Gulf of Mexico, BP officials said.

Oil and natural gas kept discharging from the well as engineers tried to fit the cap onto the opening about 10 p.m. EDT, CNN reported.

BP Chief Executive Officer Tony Hayward said Thursday the effort to cap the well had reached a "milestone" when engineers managed to slice of the top of the damaged riser pipe -- making it possible for the dome to be lowered into place.

"The next 12 to 24 hours will give us an indication of how successful this attempt will be," Hayward said at BP's U.S. headquarters in Houston.

The U.S. Coast Guard said the cap would be in place sometime Thursday night, but it would be some time before it could be determined whether the operation is successful, CNN said.

The White House announced Thursday President Barack Obama will return to the Louisiana coast Friday to assess the latest work to clean up the oil spill that has been polluting the gulf since April 20, when the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded, killing 11 workers. It sank two days later.

Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, the national incident commander, said the cut on the riser pipe was rougher than planned, making it "a bit more challenging" to seal and place a containment cap on the crippled pipe. It also was possible that oil could leak from the seal because of the irregular cut.

If that happens, Allen said, "we will have the option to use undersea dispersants" to deal with any leaking oil.

Meanwhile, protesters said they would rally across the United States starting Thursday, calling for the U.S. government to seize the assets of BP over the gulf oil spill.

Organizers of the Seize BP grassroots campaign said they planned demonstrations in more than 50 cities, CNN said.

"From Florida to Seattle, Washington, from Hawaii to New York, all over California and many, many states across the country, people will be taking to the streets over the next week to demand that the assets of BP be seized now," said Richard Becker, a member of the San Francisco chapter of the group. "We know millions of people are deeply concerned about what's going on in the gulf right now and we expect large numbers of people to come out to the protests."

Allen said on CNN Thursday the public needs to brace for the possibility that the leak wouldn't be stopped until August when relief wells are expected to be finished.

Weather is beginning to play a role in the oil spill cleanup as shifting patterns threatened to push more oil toward the shores of Mississippi, Alabama and Florida, state officials said.

Mississippi reported weathered oil and tar balls washed ashore on its barrier islands Tuesday. On Wednesday, Florida Gov. Charlie Crist warned crude could reach the white sand beaches in the Panhandle "in a day or two."

In Louisiana, where oily goo has fouled the coastal ecosystem for two weeks, state officials said the White House approved a plan to dredge up walls of sand offshore and BP agreed to fund the $360 million construction cost.
 
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