Cap holds on BP oil well. Obama holds-off celebration.
A surge of almost irrepressible joy ran through dedicated well-watchers Thursday afternoon. In the newsroom, all the tickers lit-up and the alarms went off as the news services and cable networks simultaneously broke the story: The blown-out BP oil well is capped, and the video feeds show no oil leaking into the Gulf of Mexico. Although she may have spoken prematurely, a Tent City Networks correspondent spoke on behalf of the whole newsroom crew, saying, “The moment reminds me of hearing for the first time of the Iran hostages’ release. You cannot help heaving a huge sigh of relief.”
Older, wiser observers, “inspired more by compassion than passion,” counselled prudence and patience. President Barack Obama echoed the sages’ caution, saying that press reports and live camera shots are encouraging: “[E]veryone feels like we’re done, and we’re not,” Obama said. “We’ve still got a big job to do.”
Like retired Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen and a six-pack of senior BP officials, the President reminded Americans that pressure-testing and seismic readings continue as engineers gradually increase pressure in the well’s main “borehole.” If the main hole suffered extensive damage in the April 20 explosion, the cap may create too much pressure in the well’s main line, bursting it and triggering underground leaks even harder to manage than the original spill.
By late Friday, pressure in the well had reached 6700 pounds per square inch, and tests had revealed no signs of compromised “well integrity.” The optimal pressure is 7500 pounds per square inch, and some experts expressed concern that the well had not reached the optimum quickly enough. Seismic, acoustic, and visual tests continue as oil pressure slowly and steadily increases. “I think we’re at a point where there’s enough uncertainty about the meaning of the pressure that we’re seeing that we have to use due diligence moving forward. We don’t want to do harm or create a situation that cannot be reversed,” cautioned Admiral Allen.
Asked about plans for another visit to the Gulf coast, Obama said that he had no immediate plans for a tour, but he predicted he would return to the region “in the next couple of weeks.”
