slowly on this because it was such a big environmental disaster. they want to make sure all the is are dotted and all the ts are crossed when it comes to safety and capping another huge spill like that again, they want to make sure that the safety measures are in place so that they can cap the thing like right now. yeah. and just quickly, one thing that has happened is that four big oil companies after the spill last year knot got together, including shell, spent $1 billion to create a containment cap that they had to prove to the government would work to cap the well. it s amazing to me that we didn t have this in the industry beforehand. clearly, it took months to plug that hole. we can prove to the government we can do this and now we need to start getting these permits a little more quickly. the word they use is frequent. so a lot of lobbying in washington trying to get more permission. poppy, live in new york, thank you. we want to business news correspondent stephanie elam
there s oil all over the place. i don t know. reporter: as crews worked through failed attempts to seal the fractured well including a containment cap, a top hat, top kill, and junk shot, the companies that worked and managed the rig looked to shift the blame. did bp make a fundamental misjudgment? i was not involved in that decision so it s impossible for me to answer that question. reporter: while the crude continued to choke off the wildlife and wetlands in the heart of one of america s most unique and precious resources. once the oil gets into these fragile, very important ecosystems, it will be there for years and possibly decades, having long-term impact. reporter: july 15, 85 days after the explosion, engineers shut down all of the valves on a tight-fitting containment stack. for the first time in nearly three months, there was no oil looking into the gulf. then 20 days later, more than 70 barrels of cement were pumped
here. there s oil all over the place. i don t know. reporter: as crews worked through failed attempts to seal the fractured well including a containment cap, a top hat, top kill, and junk shot, the companies that worked and managed the rig looked to shift the blame. did bp make a fundamental misjudgment? i was not involved in that decision so it s impossible for me to answer that question. reporter: while the crude continued to choke off the wildlife and wetlands in the heart of one of america s most unique and precious resources. once the oil gets into these fragile, very important ecosystems, it will be there for years and possibly decades, having long-term impact. reporter: july 15, 5 days after the 85 days after the explosion, engineer shut down all of the valves on a at this time-fitting containment stack. for the first time in nearly three months, there was no oil looking into the gulf.
wouldn t be visiting the gulf. what do they attribute their success to there, they haven t had many soiled beaches or people starting to come back? reporter: well, i think the nun one thing they attribute it to is finally able to watch and see this wellhead with no oil coming out. as we were showing as so many were seeing the oil emanating and washing up on the beaches, that was the repellent, the thing that kept people away. since they put on the containment cap, even before the static kill that was the thing bringing the people back and the long-term reputation of the area, families, generations of people coming here, flocking to the coast. you think of birds migrating, people migrate, too, and this time of the year coming down to the gulf shores, pristine beaches, enjoying the beaches, enjoying the seafood and one more thing on that, t.j., just a few days ago they opened up all the waters off the coast of mississippi for recognize cessional and commercial fishermen, with the excep
help us understand, yes, we have been told, this thing is not going to be a threat to us anymore, and it s dead but they are still trying to kill it again? reporter: absolutely. this is basically going to seal it off for good. the measure they will undergo today will involve the final process of what we are referring to is the bottom kill. that will be the continuation of digging the relief well. the relief well itself is something that has been dug right along the broken well. it goes down 17,000 feet, and they are within 100 feet of where they want to inject the combination of cement and mud and that should kill it off altogether. and it started off with the containment cap. and then, of course, the status kill, and then the bottom kill. and then the final step for many people, that battle is over