The Coast Guard has told BP to fire when ready with its so-called "top kill" plan. The idea is to pump mud into the gushing well to plug it, a practice that has worked on land but never been tried at these ocean depths. The Coast Guard's approval was the last authorization BP needed to proceed, reports the New Orleans Times Picayune. No word yet on when that will happen, but it will likely take at least a day to figure out whether it worked, notes MSNBC.
(More British Petroleum stories.)