BP Top Kill Effort Meeting with Success (Live Feed)

by Jordan Yerman | May 27, 2010 at 08:57 am

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BP Top Kill Seems to Be Working So Far

BP's Top Kill operation has apparently slowed down the Gulf of Mexico oil leak, but it is too soon to call Top Kill a success. (BP Top Kill live feed)

Whether or not Top Kill succeeds, the larger question of why BP has been left in charge of the cleanup operation remains unanswered: oil has been leaking from the broken Deepwater Horizon station for over a month.

Also pending: a revised estimate of exactly how much oil has been flowing into the Gulf of Mexico. Original estimates pegged the flow at 5,000 barrels per day, but it could actually be several times that much.

Once engineers had reduced the well pressure to zero, they were to begin pumping cement into the hole to entomb the well. To help in that effort, he said, engineers also were pumping some debris into the blowout preventer at the top of the well.

BP, though, is shying away from delcaring the Top Kill operation a success. Even if the flow of hydrocarbons is slowed down, the well itself still must be capped. The chance of success was estimated at 60-70%, and one potential risk is opening additional leaks.

"We don't anticipate being able to say anything definitive on that until later today," BP spokesperson Tom Mueller said Thursday.

CNN correspondent Sandra Endo said the fallout from the oil disaster has ravaged the local tourism industry.

"It's pretty desolate here. A lot of the businesses -- hotels, restaurants, the fishing industry here – have really come to a standstill," Endo told CTV's Canada AM from Grand Isle.