the effectiveness of the cement they finished pouring down the well, needing to wait at least a day for the compound to set. it doesn't really dry. today's procedure coming a day after they pumped enough mud down to reverse the flow of the oil. admiral thad allen having given his permission for the cement only if bp continued with the digging of the relief wells. the gusher will have to be plugged from two directions. think of the relief well as bottom kill. bp still refusing to say what they will be doing with the relief wells. kent wells saying, we need to take each step at a time. clearly we need to pump cement. if we do it from the top we might alter what we do with the relief well. but the relief well is still part of the solution. the ultimate objective is getting this well permanently sealed. admiral allen responding, the well will not be killed until we do the bottom kill and do whatever needs to be done. i am the national incident commander and i issue the orders.