Gulf Spill: Old Cap Removed and Oil Flows While Tighter Dome Readied

Using remote-controlled robots, workers removed a "top hat" containment cap from BP's spilling deep water well Saturday, allowing oil to gush freely while a tighter-fitting cap is readied for installation some 5,000 feet beneath the surface of the Gulf of Mexico.

The cap was pulled off just after mid-day central time, so workers could begin clamping on a dome that can capture more of the oil and funnel it up to collection ships on the surface, BP spokesman Mark Proegler told the AP. If all goes well, BP hopes that by Monday the new cap and a flotilla of ships will be in position to begin capturing most of the oil from a spill that has sent tens of millions of gallons surging into the Gulf since the April 20 explosion of the Deepwater Horizon rig killed 11 workers and blew out the well.

Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen said he had approved installation of the new "Helix Producer and capping stack" even though it requires leaving the well uncapped for a couple of days. "I validated this plan because the capacity for oil containment when these (new) installations are complete will be far greater than the capabilities we have achieved using current systems," Allen said. But the whole process could take seven to 10 days to complete, he cautioned.

BP officials are still counting on two relief wells as the permanent solution to a catastrophic problem that has spilled oil onto the coasts of five states, fouling beaches and polluting fisheries. Drilling of the first of the two wells is now less than 200 feet from its target and could hit paydirt in the next several weeks.