Key Gulf Oil Spill Evidence Raised     09/05 09:09

   Investigators looking into what went wrong in the Gulf of Mexico oil spill 
are a step closer to answers now that a key piece of evidence is secure aboard 
a ship.

   ON THE GULF OF MEXICO (AP) -- Investigators looking into what went wrong in 
the Gulf of Mexico oil spill are a step closer to answers now that a key piece 
of evidence is secure aboard a ship.

   Engineers took 29 hours to lift the 50-foot, 300-ton blowout preventer from 
a mile beneath the sea. The five-story high device breached the water's surface 
at 6:54 p.m. CDT, and looked largely intact with black stains on the yellow 
metal.

   FBI agents were among the 137 people aboard the Helix Q4000 vessel, taking 
photos and video of the device. They will escort it back to a NASA facility in 
Louisiana for analysis.

   The AP was the only news outlet with a print reporter and photographer on 
board the ship.

   The blowout preventer was placed into a metal contraption specifically 
designed to hold the massive device at 9:16 p.m. CDT Saturday. As it was 
maneuvered into place, crew members were silent and water dripped off the 
device.

   Crews had been delayed raising the device after icelike crystals --- called 
hydrates --- formed on it. The device couldn't be safely lifted from the water 
until the hydrates melted because the hydrates are combustible, said Darin 
Hilton, the captain of the Helix Q4000.

   Hydrates form when gases such as methane mix with water under high pressure 
and cold temperatures. The crystals caused BP PLC problems in May, when 
hydrates formed on a 100-ton, four-story dome the company tried to place over 
the leak to contain it.

   As a large hatch opened up on the Helix to allow the blowout preventer to 
pass through, several hundred feet of light sheen could be seen near the boat, 
though crews weren't exactly sure what it was.

   The April 20 explosion aboard the Deepwater Horizon killed 11 workers and 
led to 206 million gallons of oil spewing from BP PLC's undersea well.

   Investigators know the explosion was triggered by a bubble of methane gas 
that escaped from the well and shot up the drill column, expanding quickly as 
it burst through several seals and barriers before igniting.

   But they don't know exactly how or why the gas escaped. And they don't know 
why the blowout preventer didn't seal the well pipe at the sea bottom after the 
eruption, as it was supposed to. While the device didn't close --- or may have 
closed partially --- investigative hearings have produced no clear picture of 
why it didn't plug the well.

   Documents emerged showing that a part of the device had a hydraulic leak, 
which would have reduced its effectiveness, and that a passive "deadman" 
trigger had a low, perhaps even dead, battery.

   Steve Newman, president of rig owner Transocean, told lawmakers following 
the disaster that there was no evidence the device itself failed and suggested 
debris might have been forced into it by the surging gas.

   There has also been testimony that the blowout preventer didn't undergo a 
rigorous recertification process in 2005 as required by federal regulators.

   Testimony from BP and Transocean officials also showed that repairs were not 
always authorized by the manufacturer, Cameron International, and that 
confusion about the equipment delayed attempts to close the well in the days 
after the explosion.

   A Transocean official has said he knew the blowout preventer was functioning 
because he personally oversaw its maintenance, and he said the device underwent 
tests to ensure it was working. The device, he said, had undergone a 
maintenance overhaul in February as it was being moved to the Deepwater Horizon 
to be placed over BP's well.

   Also, according to testimony, a BP well site leader performed a pressure 
test April 9 on the blowout preventer, and he said it passed.

   Some have cautioned that the blowout preventer will not provide clues to 
what caused the gas bubble. And it is possible a thorough review may not be 
able to show why it didn't work.

   That could leave investigators to speculate on causes using data, records 
and testimony.

   Lawyers will be watching closely, too, as hundreds of lawsuits have been 
filed over the oil spill. Future liabilities faced by a number of corporations 
could be riding on what the analysis of the blowout preventer shows.

   A temporary cap that stopped oil from gushing into the Gulf in mid-July was 
removed Thursday. No more oil was expected to leak into the sea, but crews were 
standing by with collection vessels in case.

   The government said a new blowout preventer was placed on the blown-out well 
late Friday.


(KA)