Progress on Stopping Oil Leak As U.S. Proposes Two Drilling Moratoriums

A Coast Guard admiral said that the effort to plug the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico appeared to be working, while other U.S. officials said the government is proposing or extending drilling moratoriums in the Arctic and in the deep seas. Admiral Thad Allen, who is in charge of the oil spill response, said that the effort to stop the huge flow of oil by pumping mud and drilling fluids into the drill hole has largely halted the spill. Meanwhile, government scientists reported that the amount of oil that has been flowing from the ruptured drilling pipe for weeks is about 12,000 to 25,000 barrels a day, two to five times higher than original estimates. If that is so, the spill will far exceed the amount of oil released during the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster. As a result of the spill in the Gulf, U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced that the Obama administration is suspending exploratory drilling in the Arctic Ocean off Alaska until sometime next year. And President Obama was expected to announce the extension of a moratorium on deepwater drilling until the causes and impact of the current spill are investigated.