BP Delays New Attempt to Stop Oil Leak

BP Delays New Attempt to Stop Oil Leak
By CAMPBELL ROBERTSON
VENICE, La. — As Louisiana state and local officials continue to hammer BP and the federal agencies responding to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, repeatedly threatening to “take matters into our own hands” if the response falls short, BP said Monday morning that it was further delaying its next attempt to shut off the leak.

The oil company has been planning to attempt a procedure known as a top kill, in which heavy fluid would be pumped into the well. Doug Suttles, chief operating officer for exploration and production, said in an interview on NBC on Monday morning that the top kill would be attempted Wednesday morning. BP had previously said it hoped to execute the procedure on Tuesday.

The top kill is one of several proposed methods of stanching the flow of at least 210,000 gallons of oil a day that has been threatening marine life and sensitive coastal areas in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida. BP officials have emphasized that none of the methods have been tried before at the depth of this leak, and Mr. Suttles noted the difficulties of working at such depths in explaining why the attempt was being delayed.

At a news conference at a marina here on Sunday, Gov. Bobby Jindal recited a timeline of his requests to BP and the Coast Guard for containment boom, skimmers and other supplies, saying that the resources were still far from adequate weeks later.

Around 65 miles of Louisiana coastline had been “oiled,” he said, as local officials held aloft pictures of oil-coated pelicans and a porpoise.

Saying that promises of more supplies frequently fell through, Mr. Jindal said he was going to send members of the Louisiana National Guard and Wildlife and Fisheries agents to monitor the oil and even to locate boom and other response supplies, which he and other officials said were available but sitting unused.

Mr. Jindal also urged the Army Corps of Engineers to immediately approve a plan to build artificial barrier islands out of sand to hold back the oil, a plan widely praised by local parish officials but questioned by some experts. He said he would raise the issue with President Obama in a conference call on Monday.

In response to increasing criticism that the White House has not acted aggressively enough on the spill, the Obama administration is sending Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano into the region on Monday at the head of a bipartisan Congressional delegation.

Lisa P. Jackson, head of the Environmental Protection Agency, was in the region on Sunday, meeting with frustrated Louisiana residents.

In a news conference on Sunday outside the BP headquarters in Houston, Mr. Salazar repeated the phrase that the government would keep its “boot on BP’s neck” for results. He also said the company had repeatedly missed deadlines and had not been open with the public.

Mr. Salazar added, “If we find they’re not doing what they’re supposed to be doing, we’ll push them out of the way appropriately.”

That statement, however, conflicted with comments made only hours earlier by the Coast Guard commandant, Adm. Thad W. Allen, who said on CNN’s “State of the Union” program that the access BP has to the mile-deep well site meant that the government could not take over the lead in efforts to stop the leak.

“They are necessarily the modality by which this is going to get solved,” he said.

On Saturday, the tensions between BP and local authorities came to a boiling point in Jefferson Parish, when local officials declared they were going to commandeer 40 boats of fishermen who had signed up to help with the spill but had since remained idle. They had spotted oil moving past the shoreline beaches through passes into Barataria Bay, which is surrounded by wildlife-rich wetlands.

“BP was not acting quickly enough in getting the skimmers and the booming boats out,” said Thomas Capella, a Jefferson Parish councilman. “If they weren’t going to do it, we’re going to do it ourselves.”

As soon as the boats were prepared, BP stepped in and began working to send the boats out, Mr. Capella said. As of Sunday, there were about 50 boats in the area working to contain the oil and prevent more from seeping through the passes, he said.

But the sight of oil in the bay at this time of year, just as shrimp season has opened, is demoralizing.

“It is a worst-case scenario right now for fishing and shrimping,” Mr. Capella said.

Brian Knowlton contributed reporting from Washington.