Spill investigators want to find undersea evidence

At the present that BP appears to have vanquished its breaked well, authorities are rotating their attention to gathering proof from what could amount to a crime scene at the base of the sea.

The wreckage — as well as the failed blowout preventer and the blackened, twisted bits and pieces of the drilling raised area that blow up, burned and sank in mile-deep water in the Gulf in April — may be Exhibit A in the effort to establish who is accountable for the biggest peacetime oil spill in history.

Hundreds of investigators can't wait to get their hands on proof. The FBI is conducting a criminal exploration, the Coast Guard is seeking the reason of the blast, and lawyers are pursuing millions of dollars in compensation for the families of the 11 workers killed, the dozens injured and the thousands whose livelihoods have been damaged.

"The items at the bottom of the sea are a big deal for everybody," said Stephen Herman, a New Orleans lawyer for injured rig workers and others.

BP Relief Tunnel Should Reach Well in Days

Tropical rainstorms touching toward the Gulf of Mexico Wednesday in danger to close down undersea labors to seal BP's ruptured well break off work just as engineers get close to plugging the leak with mud and cement.

Retired U.S. Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen thought a weather system brewing in the Carribean might force crews to abandon their watch over the new cap that's been bottling oil a mile below the surface of the water for nearly a week.

Scientists have been scrutinize undersea cameras and data for days, trying to settle on 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.

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BP Prepares to Test New Cap Installed on Leak

Behind protecting a new, tight-fitting cap on top of the leaking well in the Gulf of Mexico, BP equipped Tuesday to begin tests to see if it will hold and stop fresh oil from polluting the waters for the first time in nearly three months.

The oil giant is expecting to know within 48 hours if the new cap, which landed Monday after almost three days of thorough, around-the-clock work a mile below the Gulf's surface, can stanch the flow. The answer is only temporary, but it offers the best hope yet for cutting off the gush of catch the wind brown oil.

The limits setting up was good news to weary Gulf Coast inhabitants who have warily waited for BP to make good on it’s swear to clean up the mess. Still, they advised that even if the oil is stopped, the consequences are far from over.

"I think we're going to see oil out in the Gulf of Mexico, roaming around, attractive shots at us, for the next year, maybe two," Billy Nungesser, president of Louisiana's oil-stained Plaquemines Parish, said Monday. "If you told me today no more oil was coming ashore, we've still got a massive cleanup ahead."

Preliminary Tuesday, the cap will be tested and checked to see if it can withstand force from the gushing oil and gas. The examinations could last anywhere between six to 48 hours, according to National Incident Commander Thad Allen.

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