After 100 days, still a lot of work to do in gulf, officials say

With BP’s troubled oil well temporarily capped and a permanent fix progressing, government officials marked the 100th day of the Gulf of Mexico spill Wednesday by emphasizing the challenges ahead in resolving one of the worst environmental problems in the nation’s history.

“I would characterize this as the first 100 days,” Coast Guard Rear Adm. Paul Zukunft, the federal on-scene coordinator, said at a news briefing in New Orleans. “We have a lot of work in front of us.”

In Congress, lawmakers bickered over proposed rules that would define the offshore industry’s future. And on CNN, new BP Chief Executive Robert Dudley offered a qualified assurance that his company’s gusher, if not the aftereffects, was a thing of the past.

“I think — no guarantees — but I believe there will be no more oil flowing into the gulf as of the 15th of July,” he said, referring to the day crews temporarily sealed the well with a giant mechanical cap.

One of the most important remaining challenges will be BP’s attempt to seal the well, which had been leaking as many as 60,000 barrels of oil per day since the April 20 explosion of the Deepwater Horizon rig. An attempt to tamp down the oil with heavy drilling mud injected from the top — the so-called static kill — will probably begin late Sunday or early Monday.

Then, around Aug. 10, crews will attempt to intersect the well far undersea with a relief bore that they will use to jam mud and cement into the bottom of the renegade well. That process could take days or weeks.

Thad Allen, the federal spill response chief, said Wednesday that he had high hopes for the maneuvers, but noted that there were backup plans. They include a second relief well, and, if that fails, a scheme to draw off the oil to nearby production platforms.

“We are optimistic that we will get this thing done,” Allen said.

Since the closure of the well with the cap, oil has become increasingly difficult to find on the surface, although scientists remain concerned about large amounts of oil undersea.

Gulf Coast residents now are anxious about losing the only work that was available to sidelined fishermen: cleaning up for BP. Allen said he planned to meet with south Louisiana parish presidents Thursday morning to discuss “how we transition from a response posture, and, once the well is killed, what needs to be done.”

Allen said it was likely that oil would continue coming ashore for four to six weeks. And Zukunft added that there will be much work for crews beyond skimming, including collecting and disposing of what he called a “staggering” amount of protective boom, about 11 million feet, that has been strung along coastlines from Louisiana to the Florida Panhandle.

On Capitol Hill, Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) called for a congressional investigation into BP’s plans to write off about $10 billion from its federal taxes because of cleanup costs.

“That would be unacceptable,” Nelson said in requesting the Senate Finance Committee investigation.

Rep. Charlie Melancon (D-La.), in a letter to Dudley, called on BP to devote the tax credits to coastal restoration projects in Louisiana. “Although you may believe that you have a legal right to claim these credits, this action does nothing but further hurt the name of your company and provoke anger and despair in the residents of Louisiana,” he wrote.

Melancon, who is sponsoring legislation to exempt families’ BP disaster payments from federal taxes, said in a statement, “There’s something seriously wrong with our tax code when huge corporations like BP can write off the damages they caused, but the Louisiana families and businesses directly harmed by BP are nickel-and-dimed by the IRS.”

Partisan sparring over spill legislation intensified in the Senate, complicating an already difficult effort in an election year to get a bill to President Obama’s desk swiftly.

Republicans complained that a Democratic proposal to remove the $75-million liability cap for economic damages from spills would shut out smaller companies from offshore drilling and increase U.S. dependence on foreign oil.

They assailed the Democratic bill as a job killer. And they accused Democrats of pursuing a partisan bill that is doomed to fail.

“What should have been a bipartisan bill was hashed out in secret and then written behind closed doors,” Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, the top Republican on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, said on the Senate floor. “Republicans were shut out of the room, but of course will now be blamed for holding up the bill.”

Democrats, in turn, accused Republicans of working to protect BP. They contend their bill, which includes measures to promote energy efficiency and alternative-fuel vehicles, would create jobs. And they accused Republicans of standing in the way of considering broader energy and climate-change mitigation measures.

“Republicans should come to their senses and remember that they represent the American people, not BP,” said Jim Manley, a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.).

richard.fausset@latimes.com

richard.simon@latimes.com

Fausset reported from Atlanta; Simon reported from Washington