BP Announces 'Top Kill' Failure

BP’s latest effort to stop its oil well from spewing thousands of barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico is failing, the company says. The “top kill” procedure, which involved pushing huge amounts of heavy mud into the leak, has not stopped the gushing, even after a “junk shot” (adding in assorted debris like golf balls and knotted rope) was attempted Friday night. The pumping of the mud has been halted, and company technicians are not optimistic. However, company COO Doug Suttles said it was too soon to tell whether the top kill would work, and that it was a process of continually stopping and starting, then re-evaluating. Suttles said the rate of the leak had not diminished. BP is preparing for another procedure, the “lower marine riser package cap,” which would involve sawing off the riser and using a device to cap it, which would control the flow of the leak.