COLLEEN LONG and DAVID DISHNEAU
Associated Press Writers
NEW ORLEANS – Tropical rainstorms moving toward the Gulf of Mexico Wednesday threatened to shut down undersea efforts to seal BP’s ruptured well, interrupting work just as engineers get close to plugging the leak with mud and cement.
Retired U.S. Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen said a weather system brewing in the Carribean could force crews to abandon their watch over the experimental cap that’s been bottling oil a mile below the surface of the water for nearly a week.
Scientists have been scrutinizing underwater cameras and data for days, trying to determine if the cap is displacing pressure and causing leaks underground. If storms keep them from seeing the cap and getting those readings – for up to four days, Allen said – BP could reopen the well to avoid missing signs it is buckling.