how well the static kill operation may have worked that was done last week. that s where they poured thousands of pounds of heavy mud and cement into the top of the well. some of that cement may have gone all the way down 13,000 feet to the bottom of the well and then up the sides of the casing. well, that s exactly where the relief well would be drilling into. so admiral thad allen and the government scientists aren t convinced there s enough cement there to seal permanently. so they want to go ahead with the relief well operation. that would reseem in aboume in days. there is another possibility, alex that the admiral brought up yesterday is that they want to ensure that the top of the casing is not compromised in any way. so they might want to change out the blowout preventer. if that happens, this time line changes. because they would have to bring it from onshore, presumably. it would take several days to hook up. they would have to test it and then they would proceed with the rel
reporter: good morning, alex. a bit of talk earlier this week that the crews possibly would not have to finish drilling that relief well because the current cap was so successful when it stopped the oil from leaking. is that still the case? well, remember the cap on top that was placed there july 15th was only temporary. last week, bp at the direction of the coast guard began what they call a static kill where they pour thousands of pounds of heavy mud and cement into the top of the well. it s thought some of that cement made it all the way down 13,000 feet down to the bottom of the well and then up the sides of the casing. well, that s exactly where the relief wells we ve been hearing about are supposed to intersect. the theory is that maybe there s enough cement there that the relief wells would not be needed. but thad allen has said he s looked at the readings, and they just are not confident that there s enough cement there to permanently kill the well at the bottom. so the r
get closer and closer. the key about intercepting this well at the bottom is then through the relief well they will put heavy mud and cement like they did during top kill. they will do it at the bottom. once that cement plug is in at the bottom of the well, national incident commander thad allen says he will consider this well killed. so they hope to intercept the well by this weekend, but it is tricky, delicate, precise work they have to do this week. chuck? hey, anne, does bp still own this well? bp still owns the well, yep. it shares it with two other companies. could they at any point in time decide to try to basically re-open the well? well, they say they will not re-open the wells. they will not re-open either the macondo well or the two relief wells. however, they say they may consider drilling into this
work in the gulf is starting to shift gears now that the well is not leaking oil. but some locals worry that bp won t finish the job. bp s tests show the well is cemented and it s holding and no oil has leaked since july 15th. but there are still questions over fishermen and restaurant owners getting paid. and the overall environmental impact of the worst spill the nation has ever seen has yet to be fully determined. nbc news correspondent charles hadlock is in venice, louisiana. charles, cha s next there? reporter: good morning, chris. this week ear going to be hearing about the bottom kill, the final leg of the relief well operation is under way this week. the final 100 feet they have to drill down to intersect the bottom of the well with. as early as thursday they will puncture the bottom of the well and begin flooding it with thousands of pounds of heavy mud. they will cap it with cement and this will bring the catastrophe in the gulf to a final end. that woel well with will no
carefully over the next several days and by thursday they should be in position to begin flooding the bottom of the well with a lot of mun, tons of mud and cement, and they ll cap it just like they did with the static kill at the top of the well last week. that effectively sealed the well from the top, they want to seal it from the bottom as well, just to make sure that this well is permanently killed. you know, charles, i heard you talk about having indulged in great seafood there lately, which is something a lot want to hear about. is the gulf water, i mean pardon me the gulf seafood industry, do they think everything is safe now? everything is safe, but what they re worried about is the perception that it s not safe. after all, we ve seen months of images of oily water. they ve got to fight that perception. the seafood is safe. i was at the seafood inspection program with run by the national oceanic and atmospheric administration over in mississippi this week, watching the ins