Port Vila, Vanuatu (PressExposure) June 24, 2010 -- BP were forced to remove the cap that had been holding some of the crude, letting tens of thousands of gallons more oil spill into the Gulf of Mexico. An undersea robot knocked a venting system, on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig.
This is another setback in a long line of many, in the nine-week effort to cut off the oil gusher, as thick pools of oil washed up in Florida, on the Pensacola Beach.
When the robot hit it, gas rose through the outlet, which carries warm water down, to prevent hydrates, ice-like crystals, from forming.
The containment cap had collected about 700,000 gallons of oil in 24 hours and sucked it up to a ship on the surface. That's oil that's now pouring into the Gulf. Another 438,000 gallons was burned on the surface by a separate system that was not affected by the problem with the cap.
After ice crystals clogged a four-story containment box, threatening to make it float away, BP had to cancel the attempt to place it over the well, in May.
The smaller cap had been in place since early June. It had worked well up to now. To get it in place though, crews had to cut away a piece of the leaking pipe, meaning the flow of oil could now be stronger than before.
Somewhere between 67 - 1127 million gallons have been spilt since April 20, from the Deepwater Horizon rig, which is 5000 feet underwater. The current estimation is that 2.5 million gallons a day are spilling into the Gulf. BP was leasing the rig from Transocean Ltd.
Dudley has been appointed by BP to head the new Gulf Coast Restoration Organization, which is in charge of cleaning up the spill. He replaces the loose-lipped BP CEO Tony Hayward, who has been widely criticized for his manner of handling of the crisis.
Using shovels to scoop up pools of oil that washed up overnight, turning the sand orange, dozens of workers struggle on in Florida.
Tar balls have been reported as far east as Panama City, Florida and heavier oil is predicted to wash ashore further east along the coast line in the coming days. Oil has also washed up on beaches in Alabama and coated wetlands in Louisiana.
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