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BP's Diamond Saw Is Stuck in Pipe

Coast Guard says it will have to be freed before the cut can be completed

By the Associated Press

Posted Jun 2, 2010 9:18 AM CDT

(AP) – The saw being used to cut through the pipe on the damaged oil well in the Gulf of Mexico has become stuck, Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen said at a press conference this morning, stalling the latest attempt to contain the BP oil gusher. The goal is now to free the saw and finish the cut later in the day, Allen said. This is the second major cut in the effort to contain— not plug—the nation's worst spill. Allen says the first cut with giant shears was successful overnight.

The best chance at plugging the leak involves a relief well that is at least two months from completion. In Florida, officials confirmed an oil sheen visible about nine miles from Pensacola beach. Winds were forecast to blow today from the south and west, pushing the slick closer to western Panhandle beaches. Emergency crews began scouring the beaches for oil and shoring up miles of boom. County officials will use it to block oil from reaching inland waterways but plan to leave beaches unprotected because they are too difficult to protect and easier to clean up.

Memorial crosses symbolizing what is lost due to the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion and oil spill stand in the front yard of a house in Grand Isle, La., Tuesday, June 1, 2010. This is breaking people, property owner Patrick Shay, not pictured, said of the spill's effect on Grand...
Memorial crosses symbolizing what is lost due to the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion and oil spill stand in the front yard of a house in Grand Isle, La., Tuesday, June 1, 2010. "This is breaking people,"...   (Patrick Semansky)
Crews collect oil washed up along the beach of Dauphin Island, Ala., Tuesday June 1, 2010.
Crews collect oil washed up along the beach of Dauphin Island, Ala., Tuesday June 1, 2010.   (John David Mercer)
A supply vessel passes through an oil sheen near the site of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico near the coast of Louisiana, Monday, May 31, 2010.
A supply vessel passes through an oil sheen near the site of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico near the coast of Louisiana, Monday, May 31, 2010.   (Jae C. Hong)
In image made from video released by British Petroleum (BP PLC), robot submarines use a circular saw-like device to cut a pipe at the Deepwater Horizon oil rig Tuesday, June 1, 2010. BP has turned to another temporary fix, an effort to saw through the pipe leaking the oil and...
In image made from video released by British Petroleum (BP PLC), robot submarines use a circular saw-like device to cut a pipe at the Deepwater Horizon oil rig Tuesday, June 1, 2010. BP has turned to...   ((AP Photo/BP PLC))
  (W. Castello)
Louisiana National Guard Sgt. Chad Birch, left, fills up a tiger dam with water under floodlights on a beach in Grand Isle, La., Tuesday, June 1, 2010. The National Guard is working around the clock to complete the dam, which is designed to protect the island's entire shoreline along the...
Louisiana National Guard Sgt. Chad Birch, left, fills up a tiger dam with water under floodlights on a beach in Grand Isle, La., Tuesday, June 1, 2010. The National Guard is working around the clock to...   (Patrick Semansky)
Oil surrounds the site of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico near the coast of Louisiana, Monday, May 31, 2010.
Oil surrounds the site of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico near the coast of Louisiana, Monday, May 31, 2010.   (Jae C. Hong)
  (R. Segal)
Hermit crabs covered in reddish-brown oil are shown on the coast at Dauphin Island, Ala., Tuesday, June 1, 2010.
Hermit crabs covered in reddish-brown oil are shown on the coast at Dauphin Island, Ala., Tuesday, June 1, 2010.   (John David Mercer)
Members of the Louisiana National Guard stand by after hooking up sandbags to helicopters for deployment against the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in Buras, La., Tuesday, June 1, 2010.
Members of the Louisiana National Guard stand by after hooking up sandbags to helicopters for deployment against the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in Buras, La., Tuesday, June 1, 2010.   (Gerald Herbert)
In this image made from video released by British Petroleum (BP PLC), oil can be seen pouring out of the blowout preventer, left, as robot submarines work near it early Wednesday June 2, 2010.
In this image made from video released by British Petroleum (BP PLC), oil can be seen pouring out of the blowout preventer, left, as robot submarines work near it early Wednesday June 2, 2010.   ((AP Photo/BP PLC))
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plugthegulf.com
Jun 2, 2010 11:45 PM CDT
plugthegulf.com - we need your support!
plugthegulf.com
Jun 2, 2010 11:45 PM CDT
plugthegulf com - we need your support!
cognitivefilter
Jun 2, 2010 9:03 PM CDT
GOD PLEASE

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