Cap removed from ruptured well

BP has successfully removed a temporary cap from the ruptured Deepwater Horizon well in the Gulf of Mexico. The cap had initially sealed the well July 15. The next step is to remove the damaged blowout preventer and replace it with a new one. Then a relief well will be completed and the ruptured well will be permanently sealed with mud and cement. The Deepwater Horizon exploded April 20, killing 11 workers and dumping 206 million gallons of oil in the Gulf of Mexico. The damaged blowout preventer will be taken to NASA's Michoud facility in New Orleans for forensic study by the Coast Guard and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, which are jointly investigating the disaster. (Sources: USA Today, Reuters, 09/02/10) Meanwhile, NOAA reopened 5,130 square miles of Gulf waters stretching from the far eastern coast of Louisiana, through Mississippi, Alabama, and the western Florida panhandle. The closed area now measures 43,000 square miles, 18 percent of the federal waters in the Gulf. At the height of the spill, 37 percent was closed. In another well-related incident, there was a fire aboard the Mariner Energy production platform in the Gulf of Mexico Thursday. There were no fatalities and apparently no oil leak.