BP plan to plug damaged well delayed

A procedure aimed at permanently plugging BP's damaged well in the Gulf of Mexico has been delayed because of debris in the relief well, a U.S. official says.

Retired U.S. Coast Guard admiral Thad Allen said Friday that debris was found in the bottom of the relief well that must be fished out before crews can pump mud into the damaged well in a procedure known as a static kill.

The sediment settled there last week when crews popped in a plug to keep the well safe ahead of tropical storm Bonnie.

They found it as they were preparing for the static kill and now they have to remove it. They had hoped to start the static kill as early as Sunday, but removing debris will take 24 to 36 hours.

After the static kill comes the bottom kill, where the relief well will be used to pump in mud and cement from the bottom.

BP hires firm to help with Gulf oil recovery

Meanwhile, BP's incoming CEO said Friday that the oil giant is hiring an emergency management consulting firm to help with the recovery effort.

Bob Dudley, who becomes BP's first non-British chief executive on Oct. 1, said Friday that former Federal Emergency Management Agency head James Lee Witt's consulting firm will support the company's recovery efforts.

Speaking from Biloxi, Miss., Dudley said that BP had seen some positive signs in recent days, but the incoming CEO added that the oil giant would be involved in recovery efforts for years to come.

"We look forward to connecting deeper to learn what it is we can do to help the towns and the cities and just across the beaches, get back completely back on their feet," Dudley said Friday.

Witt, who has served as director of FEMA and worked on the recovery effort after Hurricane Katrina, said his team will be working closely with BP, local leaders and state governments to try and focus on "what they feel is important for the long-term recovery efforts."

"I have seen communities come back stronger and better than ever before,"  Witt said.

BP did not say how much Witt's firm would be paid.

Local officials, especially in Louisiana, have been pushing for more long-term commitments amid reports that much of the oil on the water's surface is dissipating.

On Thursday, Allen, the government's oil-spill response chief, met with Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and a number of local officials to discuss the long-term recovery effort and what will happen once the flow of oil is permanently halted.

"One of the things we absolutely wanted to get today was their commitment that they're in it for the long-term," Jindal said.

"Look, all those [federal] people in the room, with no disrespect ... they're going to be rotated out to different jobs. Everybody here is still going to be here dealing with this oil whether it's a year from now or years from now."

Plaquemines Parish President Billy Nungesser said he thinks the cleanup effort is being scaled back even though oil is still showing up on the coast.

"We know there's a lot of oil out there," Nungesser said. "It's going to continue to come ashore, and we're going to hold their feet to the fire to make sure they're there until all the oil is gone out of the Gulf of Mexico before we pull all of the assets out of our parish."

Allen has said it has become harder to find oil on the surface of the Gulf, but Nungesser said Thursday that reports that oil has been disappearing have been exaggerated.

The flow of oil has been halted since July 15, when a custom-built containment cap choked off the flow. The company is still working on relief wells, which are viewed as a more permanent solution to plugging the well, which began leaking after an offshore rig exploded on April 20.