BP plans to replace containment cap next month
Monday, June 7, 2010
HOUSTON (AP) -- BP PLC says it plans next month to replace a cap over the oil well blowout at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico with a slightly bigger cap.
Company spokesman Robert Wine told The Associated Press on Monday that the company believes the bigger cap will fit over more of the outflow pipes than the current cap.
He says it will "provide a better, tighter fit." But he says the change will allow oil currently being collected to again spew out into the Gulf during the changeover.
Oil has been shooting into the water since a BP oil rig exploded off Louisiana on April 20, killing 11 workers.
Crews have outfitted the blowout with the smaller cap, which officials say is capturing more than 460,000 gallons of oil per day.
BP continues to drill relief wells in hopes of a permanent solution.
