BP to Start Cementing Well

BP has been given the green light to cement its busted well in the Gulf of Mexico now that its "static kill" effort is going exactly as planned. Pouring heavy drilling mud into the Deepwater Horizon leak has reduced pressure, and BP plans to start pouring cement today, CNN reports. BP officials says the first step of the procedure has gone "extremely well."

Retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen has approved the cementing, but he stresses that BP must still go ahead with a second, ongoing well-plugging effort that involves injecting mud and cement down a relief well, which is expected to be completed by mid-August. "I made it clear that implementation of this procedure shall in no way delay the completion of the relief well," Allen said. (More static kill stories.)