New Cap Placed on Leaking Well

It’s official: After two days of work, BP’s submarine robots have placed a new, tighter-fitting cap on the gushing Deepwater Horizon well in the Gulf of Mexico. This suggests, for the first time in nearly three months, that the leaking crude could be completely contained, thus keeping it from polluting the water—for now. Only a temporary fix, the 18-foot-high, 150,000-pound metal cap will provide aid until one of two relief wells, currently being drilled, reaches the pipe, most likely in mid-August. Starting tomorrow morning, according to National Incident Commander Thad Allen, the new cap will be tested and monitored for 48 hours to see if it truly diverts all of the gushing crude. The flow won’t stop instantaneously, said one expert: “Rather than like a train running into a brick wall, it’ll be more like putting the brakes on slowly.”