Quote:

---

A dual-pronged effort to fight the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico shows some promising signs, the head of the government's oil spill response team said Friday.

Crews on Friday were taking advantage of what retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen called "a weather window that we may not see again this summer" to hook up oil-recovery vessel the Helix Producer.

They also hope to begin replacing the existing containment cap on the leaking well Saturday with a larger, more permanent one the Obama administration is calling the "sealing cap."

Allen said the Helix Producer, which can keep up to 25,000 barrels of oil out of the water per day, could be hooked up to the breached well sometime Friday and the ship's recovery capabilities could be functional by Sunday.

In addition, he said the current containment cap "can be removed quite quickly" and BP could start replacing it with a new sealing cap as early as Saturday. Crews need special tools to switch out the cap, so it could be three to four days until they're in a position to put the new cap on, Allen said.

"I would think once the capping device is on, we would get the most accurate flow rate to date," the retired admiral said.
Switching out the containment caps would increase the potential oil gathered each day to between 60,000 and 80,000 barrels, Allen said. The new alignment would allow for four oil recovery vessels, rather than the maximum of three allowed in the current setup.

However, while the caps are being switched out, the 15,000 or so barrels of oil the Discoverer Enterprise ship is currently swallowing daily would flow freely into the Gulf, so having the Helix Producer up and running to gulp up the gushing oil would be crucial.

Allen said Friday he had several conversations with BP Chief Managing Director Bob Dudley on Thursday night, following up on a letter from the Obama administration demanding answers within 24 hours on BP's timeline for oil containment and recovery. Allen said he expected answers from BP by midday Friday.

Federal responders also are hoping to take advantage of a new aerial weapon in their arsenal Friday. A 178-foot-long U.S. Navy blimp, known as the MZ-3A, flew from New Orleans, Louisiana, toward Mobile, Alabama, on Friday morning and could make its first flight to survey the disaster area from above, weather permitting.

Officials said they hope the blimp will help reduce the time between spotting oil and getting skimmers to the scene.

"Having something at a low altitude that can stay on scene a very long time is extremely valuable. We are anxious to see how it works," Allen said.

---

Hippie Operative Nikovich Nikita Nicovna Talibani,
signing off