By Eileen Fleming
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wwno/local-wwno-917690.mp3
New Orleans, La. – Bad weather is expected to delay the relief well operation by as much as three days. Retired Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen says the extra time will be used for testing the system that rings the outside of the well itself.
"We now know based on the volume and the total amount of cement that was put in that were just dealing with the casing pipe itself, which leads to the question of the status of the annulus. It was just a sequence of questions then trying to rule out everything you can to know as much about the well itself as you can."
Allen says there may be oil pushing into the system from the reservoir. Some may be stuck there by mud and cement pumped down the well. Or, he says, there may be nothing there. Allen says the relief well will be adapted to what's found, and proceed next week.
For NPR News, I'm Eileen Fleming in New Orleans.