Oil continues to gush from a ‘cap’ put on top BP’s runaway well, not just from escape valves (which is expected), but from the seal on the bottom of the cap, which was supposed to nearly stop the flow of oil.
Evidence of the cap’s failure was seen in a live BP video feed from the
well site this morning showing the so-called “top hat” containment cap
rocking from side to side.

One likely cause for the cap’s inability to make a tight seal is the failure of a diamond wire saw to make a clean cut through the attachment pipe. The diamond wire saw became jammed and BP had to use a giant
shears cutting tool that leaves rough edges. Efforts to smooth the edges
later appear not to have done enough to result in a good fit between
the cap and the riser pipe.

BP’s official position this morning is that the cap “should work,” according to company COO Doug Suttles.

“I’m actually pretty confident this is going to work,” he said on ABC’s Good Morning America today. “It probably won’t capture all the flow, but it should capture the vast majority.” Suttles had estimated a
90 percent capture rate talking on CBS earlier Friday.

Gallow’s humor is becoming more common on websites where experts gather to discuss the spill in real time. One contributor to the popular site The Oil Drum, speculated
this morning that “Attempts after the top hat will be with the Scottish
terrier, race car, and iron, in that order.” Those are player pieces in
the board game Monopoly.

Meanwhile, pictures of oil-covered birds, some dead, are a reminder of the grim reality behind the spreading oil, which continues to flow into and across the Gulf of
Mexico.

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