BP’s ‘static kill’ procedure to plug well briefly delayed

The first part of a two-step process to plug BP’s busted Macondo well will be delayed briefly, Thad W. Allen, the retired Coast Guard admiral who leads the government’s spill response, said Friday.

A procedure called a “static kill” will now happen Monday or Tuesday rather than Sunday or Monday, Admiral Allen said, so that debris can be cleared out from the bottom of a relief well on Friday. Technicians installing a final section of pipe casing into the first of two relief wells, which will intercept the runaway well by mid-August, found the debris had collected during a recent storm.

Full story: Procedure to Plug Well Briefly Delayed – NYTimes.com