Gulf Cleanup Shifts Focus to Booms

The gushing well in the Gulf of Mexico may now be plugged, but the cleanup is far from over. BP crews will now shift their efforts from skimming oil to collecting the millions of feet of hard and absorbent boom that were initially installed to block its flow. “This same boom now becomes a risk and a hazard because it can create damage in the marshes, it can wash up on the roads, it can wrap around the docks,” said BP chief operating officer Doug Suttles. The news follows the development earlier Friday that the oil giant is considering drilling in the same well they just plugged—to extract the estimated $4 billion worth of leftover crude.