BP's Diamond Saw Is Stuck in Pipe

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. (More Gulf oil spill stories.)