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The cap over a broken BP wellhead at the
bottom of the Gulf of Mexico is collecting more gushing crude day
by day, but that's about the extent of the details known as
authorities try to pinpoint how much oil is escaping, where it's
going and what harm it will cause.


      The recently installed containment cap on the stricken BP
wellhead is helping to limit the leak, collecting more than 620,000
gallons of oil Monday, Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen said Tuesday in
Washington. Still, underwater video feeds continue to show a dark
geyser.

      "I have never said this is going well," said Allen, who's
monitoring the response effort for the government. "We're throwing
everything at it that we've got. I've said time and time again that
nothing good happens when oil is on the water."

      Authorities had earlier reported that the cap collected around
460,000 gallons Sunday and that it was capturing anywhere from a
third to three-quarters of the oil spewing out after a damaged
riser pipe was cut as part of the containment effort, increasing
the flow as a side effect.

      A member of the Coast Guard team that's trying to determine how
much oil is still leaking told The Associated Press it's possible
that estimates the team will generate could be a bit higher than
current government estimates.


      The team member, University of Texas engineering professor Paul
Bommer, said he understands why people might wonder why BP didn't
try the cap sooner, especially now that it appears to be doing its
job.


      "Hindsight is always 20/20," Bommer said. "I think we have to
give some credence to the notion they were trying to make things
better without making things worse."


      BP announced plans recently to swap out the current cap with a
bigger one next month that can capture more oil, raising questions
about why such plans weren't in place at first as a backup.


      "I know it takes some time to fabricate these things," Bommer
said. "It's not something you just go to Wal-Mart and buy."

      The success of the containment system siphoning off oil from the
leaking well, which has produced the nation's largest oil spill, is
limited by how tightly the cap sits over it and the ability of
ships on the surface to process the oil it traps.


      To deal with more oil, BP PLC is preparing to use an EverGreen
Burner made by Schlumberger Ltd., Schlumberger spokesman Stephen
Harris said. The device turns oil and gas into a vapor that is
burned.


      BP spokesman Mark Proegler said the company has not decided
whether to use the burner.


      Bommer's team, the Flow Rate Technical Group, includes federal
scientists, independent experts and academic researchers, and its
projections could ultimately be used to penalize BP judging by how
much oil escapes.


      BP CEO Tony Hayward is scheduled to testify before a
congressional committee June 17 about the company's role in a rig
explosion April 20 that killed 11 workers, and the ensuing spill.


      Hayward enraged many when he later said, "I'd like my life
back," and is sure to receive pointed questions from lawmakers
about the cause of the accident and the response to it.


      Allen said Tuesday that he would meet with BP to assess how well
it is handling claims for relief from people hurt by the spill.


      The aim is "to see if we need to provide any oversight," he
said, noting that "working claims is not something that's part of
BP's organizational competence here."


      Alabama Gov. Bob Riley called out the National Guard on Tuesday
to help spread the word among coastal residents that they could ask
BP for compensation, noting that few have applied. Guardsmen will
go through communities for three weeks telling people about the
claims process, he said.


      Tests have confirmed plumes of oil in low concentrations as far
as 3,300 feet below the surface and more than 40 miles northeast of
the well site, NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco said Tuesday.


      On the surface, oil is washing up thick in some areas, leaving
others relatively unscathed, and playing hide-and-seek in others.
The spill's fickle nature was evident this week near the
Alabama-Florida state line.


      On the Alabama side on Monday, oil-laden seaweed littered
beaches for miles, and huge orange globs stained the sands. But at
Perdido Key, on the Florida side, the sand was white and virtually
crude-free.


      On Tuesday morning, though, the Alabama side looked markedly
better, with calmer seas, signs that cleanup crews had visited and
sticky clumps of oil no longer clinging to washed-up seaweed.


      At hard-hit Barataria Bay, La., just west of the mouth of the
Mississippi River, crews ramped up coastal restoration efforts that
were already under way, and work is planned in coming days with
BP's announcement that it would begin paying.


      As the sun rose there Tuesday, marsh islands teemed with oily
brown pelicans and crude-stained white ibis. The birds
inadvertently used their oiled beaks like paint brushes, dabbing at
their wings, as the brown goo bled into their feathers.


      Some struggled to fly, fluttered and fell, while others just sat
and tried to clean themselves, sqwawking and flapping their wings.
Dolphins bobbed in the oily sheen nearby.


      Fishing guide Dave Marino looked out over the water in disbelief
and disgust. The 41-year-old firefighter has been fishing these
waters for 20 years.


      "I'm an optimistic guy, so hopefully it doesn't just overwhelm
the entire system," he said. "But if it continues to go on and
the oil keeps coming in, eventually the balance is going to tip.
Then what happens? Is it all over?"
    

Gallery

Lessons learned from the oil spill

Oil spill divides, threatens wider area

Cap collecting more oil as slick extends its reach

Long road to oil cleanup looms over Gulf Coast

The environmental cost of oil's journey to Minnesota

Disasters

The cap over a broken BP wellhead at the
bottom of the Gulf of Mexico is collecting more gushing crude day
by day, but that's about the extent of the details known as
authorities try to pinpoint how much oil is escaping, where it's
going and what harm it will cause.


Oil spill facts seem as cloudy as stricken waters

Go Deeper.

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