BP's Well Nearly Dead

By Eileen Fleming

New Orleans, La. – BP has finished pumping cement into the bottom of the well, which spewed more than four million barrels of oil into the gulf. The company says test results should tell if the seal is permanent. Engineers say 74 barrels of cement were pumped into the well about three miles under the seabed. It appears to be dry. BP will test the seal with 15,000 pounds of pressure. Cement was shot through a hole drilled into the busted line by a relief well. The company started two relief wells when it became clear that attempts to cap the leak immediately after the April 20th explosion were not working. National Incident Commander Thad Allen has insisted that even after the well was capped in July and topped off with mud and cement in August that he wouldn't consider the well dead until the bottom kill was finished.
For NPR News, I'm Eileen Fleming