Gulf well yet to be plugged for good

BP’S broken Gulf of Mexico oil well is not yet plugged for good, and work on what has been touted as the permanent solution will need to continue, the US government said yesterday.

Retired Coast Guard admiral Thad Allen, the government’s point man for the spill response, said officials were still evaluating the best way to finish the relief well that is part of the “bottom kill” operation. But he said that crews must move forward drilling the relief well.

“The relief well will be finished,” he said. “We will kill the well.”