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| A fast moving wildfire burns above Elizabeth Lake Road in Leona Valley near Palmdale, Calif. on Thursday, July 29, 2010. Mandatory evacuations were issued for the community of Leona Valley on Thursday evening, Los Angeles County Fire Inspector Matt Levesque said. |
PALMDALE, Calif. (AP) -- Firefighters plan an aggressive air attack at first light Friday against a fast-moving wildfire that exploded in northern Los Angeles County, chewing through more than 7 square miles of dry brush, forcing thousands of evacuations and burning at least three structures.
There is zero containment, authorities said.
Three water-dropping helicopters and hundreds of firefighters worked through the night to get ahead of the blaze that broke out around 3 p.m. Thursday southwest of Palmdale. By early evening the winds picked up and pushed the flames north and east toward the suburbs of Los Angeles County's inland desert, authorities said.
Orange flames exploded through dry grasses, jumped roads and sped across the rural foothills that connect Los Angeles to the high desert.
"Man, it looks bad outside. If I step outside the restaurant, it's just insane-looking - black and orange smoke and helicopters going through, dropping water," said Jamie Karschamroon, 29, the co-owner of Crazy Otto's diner in Leona Valley.
The fire broke out north of a state highway that snakes through the San Gabriel Mountains, connecting Los Angeles to the high desert. Angeles National Forest lands lie on either side.
About 2,000 homes in the community of Leona Valley and parts of Palmdale were evacuated Friday, according to Los Angeles County fire officials.
Two outbuildings and a hay house were destroyed by the flames.
KCAL-TV showed at least two structures fully engulfed in flames near where the blaze jumped a road and sent firefighters and sheriff's deputies scattering.
"It's fuel- and topography-driven, but when fires have this much fuel and burn this hot they make their own wind," Levesque said.
The area is west of the 250-square-mile zone scorched by last summer's Station Fire, the largest wildland blaze in county history.
About 200 firefighters contained another blaze at 350 acres, Levesque said. A third fire was stopped at 30 acres.
Further north in Kern County, good weather helped firefighters build containment lines around two wildfires that destroyed homes in remote mountain communities earlier in the week.
A 2 1/2-square-mile blaze near Tehachapi on the western edge of the Mojave Desert was 44 percent contained after burning about 30 homes and other structures in a scattered community called Old West Ranch.
The community nonetheless remained evacuated, affecting about 150 people, said John Buchanan, spokesman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
The blaze erupted Tuesday afternoon and rapidly swept through an area where Kern County fire authorities say there is no history of any fires on record, meaning vegetation hadn't burned there in more than a century.
To the north, a fire that destroyed eight residences and a few outbuildings as it spread across about 25 square miles of the Sequoia National Forest in the Sierra Nevada was 20 percent contained, authorities said.
The cause of the fires is under investigation.
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| Two woman walk along the U.S.-Mexico border showing graffiti that reads "the walls" in Nogales, Sonora, Mexico, Tuesday, July 27, 2010. Arizona's new immigration law SB1070 takes effect Thursday, July 29. |
PHOENIX (AP) -- States that had been watching Arizona's immigration law in hopes of copying it received a rude awakening when a judge put most of the measure on hold and agreed with the Obama administration's core argument that immigration enforcement is the role of the federal government.
The ruling marked a repudiation of the Arizona law as U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton indicated that the government has a good chance at succeeding in its argument that federal immigration law trumps state law. It was an important first-round victory for the government in a fight that may not be settled until the U.S. Supreme Court weighs in.
But opponents of the law said the ruling sends a strong message to other states hoping to replicate the law. "Surely it's going to make states pause and consider how they're drafting legislation and how it fits in a constitutional framework," Dennis Burke, the U.S. Attorney for Arizona, told the Associated Press. "The proponents of this went into court saying there was no question that this was constitutional, and now you have a federal judge who's said 'hold on, there's major issues with this bill.'"
He added: "So this idea that this is going to be a blueprint for other states is seriously in doubt. The blueprint is constitutionally flawed."
Gov. Jan Brewer called Wednesday's decision "a bump in the road" and vowed to appeal.
Her spokesman Paul Senseman said the state would ask the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco on Thurdsay to lift Bolton's preliminary injunction and to expedite its consideration of the state's appeal.
The key sponsor of Arizona's law, Republican Rep. Russell Pearce, said the judge was wrong and predicted that the state would ultimately win the case.
In her temporary injunction, Bolton delayed the most contentious provisions of the law, including a section that required officers to check a person's immigration status while enforcing other laws. She also barred enforcement of parts requiring immigrants to carry their papers and banned illegal immigrants from soliciting employment in public places - a move aimed at day laborers that congregate in large numbers in parking lots across Arizona. The judge also blocked officers from making warrantless arrests of suspected illegal immigrants.
"Requiring Arizona law enforcement officials and agencies to determine the immigration status of every person who is arrested burdens lawfully present aliens because their liberty will be restricted while their status is checked," said Bolton, a Clinton appointee who was assigned the seven lawsuits filed against Arizona over the law.
Other provisions that were less contentious were allowed to take effect Thursday morning, including a section that bars cities in Arizona from disregarding federal immigration laws.
The 11th-hour ruling came just as police were preparing to begin enforcement of a law that has drawn international attention and revived the national immigration debate in a year when Democrats are struggling to hold on to seats in Congress.
The ruling was anxiously awaited in the U.S. and beyond. About 100 protesters in Mexico City who had gathered in front of the U.S. Embassy broke into applause when they learned of the ruling. They had been monitoring the news on a laptop computer. Mariana Rivera, a 36-year-old from Zacatecas, Mexico, who is living in Phoenix on a work permit, said she heard the news live on a Spanish-language news program.
"I was waiting to hear because we're all very worried about everything that's happening," said Rivera, who phoned friends and family with the news. "Even those with papers, we don't go out at night at certain times there's so much fear (of police). You can't just sit back and relax."
More demonstrators opposed to the law planned to gather on Thursday, with the Los Angeles-based National Day Laborer Organizing Network and the immigrant-rights group Puente saying they would march from the state Capitol at dawn.
Demonstrations also are planned for outside Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio's office, said activist Salvador Reza.
Lawmakers or candidates in as many as 18 states say they want to push similar measures when their legislative sessions start up again in 2011. Some lawmakers pushing the legislation said they would not be daunted by the ruling and plan to push ahead in response to what they believe is a scourge that needs to be tackled.
Arizona is the nation's epicenter of illegal immigration, with more than 400,000 undocumented residents. The state's border with Mexico is awash with smugglers and drugs that funnel narcotics and immigrants throughout the U.S., and the influx of illegal migrants drains vast sums of money from hospitals, education and other services.
"We're going to have to look and see," said Idaho state Sen. Monty Pearce, a second cousin of Russell Pearce and a supporter of immigration reform in his state. "Nobody had dreamed up, two years ago, the Arizona law, and so everybody is looking for that crack where we can get something done, where we can turn the clock back a little bit and get our country back."
Kris Kobach, the University of Missouri-Kansas City law professor who helped write the law and train Arizona police officers in immigration law, conceded the ruling weakens the force of Arizona's efforts to crack down on illegal immigrants. He said it will likely be a year before a federal appeals court decides the case.
"It's a temporary setback," Kobach said. "The bottom line is that every lawyer in Judge Bolton's court knows this is just the first pitch in a very long baseball game."
In the meantime, other states like Utah will likely take up similar laws, possibly redesigned to get around Bolton's objections.
"The ruling ... should not be a reason for Utah to not move forward," said Utah state Rep. Carl Wimmer, a Republican from Herriman City, who said he plans to co-sponsor a bill similar to Arizona's next year and wasn't surprised it was blocked. "For too long the states have cowered in the corner because of one ruling by one federal judge."
The core of the government's case is that federal immigration law trumps state law - an issue known as "pre-emption" in legal circles and one that dates to the founding of America. In her ruling, Bolton pointed out five portions of the law where she believed the federal government would likely succeed on its claims.
The Justice Department argued in court that the law was unconstitutional and that allowing states to push their own measures would lead to a patchwork of immigration laws across the nation and disrupt a carefully balanced approach crafted by Congress.
Arizona argues that the federal government has failed to secure the border, and that it has a right to take matters into its own hands.
For now, the federal government has the upper-hand in the dispute, by virtue of the strength of its arguments and the precedent on the pre-emption issue. The Bush administration successfully used the pre-emption argument to win consumer product cases, and judges in other jurisdictions have looked favorably on the argument in immigration disputes.
"This is clearly a significant victory for the Justice Department and a defeat for the sponsors of this law," said Peter Spiro, a constitutional law professor at Temple University who has studied immigration law extensively. "They will not win on this round of appeals. They'll get a shot after a trial and a final ruling by Judge Bolton."
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| From left to right, Maria Ramirez, Joseline Saragoza, 9, and Marcela Saragoza. all of Phoenix, cry as they celebrate at the Arizona capitol Wednesday, July 28, 2010 in Phoenix, shortly after portions of Arizona's new immigration law, SB1070, were blocked by a federal judge. The judge has blocked the most controversial sections of Arizona's new immigration law from taking effect Thursday, handing a major legal victory to opponents of the crackdown. The law will still take effect Thursday, but without many of the provisions that angered opponents, including sections that required officers to check a person's immigration status while enforcing other laws. The judge also put on hold a part of the law that required immigrants to carry their papers at all times, and made it illegal for undocumented workers to solicit employment in public places. |
PHOENIX (AP) -- A federal judge stepped into the fight over Arizona's immigration law at the last minute Wednesday, blocking the heart of the measure and defusing a confrontation between police and thousands of activists that had been building for months.
Coming just hours before the law was to take effect, the ruling isn't the end.
It sets up a lengthy legal battle that could end up before the Supreme Court - ensuring that a law that reignited the immigration debate, inspired similar measures nationwide, created fodder for political campaigns and raised tensions with Mexico will stay in the spotlight.
Protesters who gathered at the state Capitol and outside the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City cheered when they heard the news. The governor, the law's authors and anti-illegal immigration groups vowed to fight on.
"It's a temporary bump in the road," Gov. Jan Brewer said.
The key issue before U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton in the case is as old as the nation itself: Does federal law trump state law? She indicated in her ruling that the federal government's case has a good chance at succeeding.
The Clinton appointee said the controversial sections should be put on hold until the courts resolve the issues, including parts that required officers to check a person's immigration status while enforcing other laws.
In her temporary injunction, Boltondelayed provisions that required immigrants to carry their papers and banned illegal immigrants from soliciting employment in public places - a move aimed at day laborers.
The judge also blocked officers from making warrantless arrests of suspected illegal immigrants for crimes that can lead to deportation.
"Requiring Arizona law enforcement officials and agencies to determine the immigration status of every person who is arrested burdens lawfully present aliens because their liberty will be restricted while their status is checked," Bolton wrote.
The ruling came just as police were making last-minute preparations to begin enforcement of the law and protesters, many of whom said they would not bring identification, were planning large demonstrations against the measure.
At least one group had planned to block access to federal offices, daring officers to ask them about their immigration status.
"I knew the judge would say that part of the law was just not right," said Gisela Diaz, 50, from Mexico City, who came to Arizona on a since-expired tourist visa in 1989 and who waited with her family early Wednesday at the Mexican Consulate to get advice about the law.
"It's the part we were worried about. This is a big relief for us," she said.
At a Home Depot in west Phoenix, where day-laborers gather to look for work, Carlos Gutierrez said he was elated when a stranger drove by and yelled the news: "They threw out the law! You guys can work!"
"I felt good inside" said the 32-year-old illegal immigrant, who came here six years ago from Sonora, Mexico, and supports his wife and three children. "Now there's a way to stay here with less problems."
Opponents argued the law will lead to racial profiling, conflict with federal immigration law and distract local police from fighting more serious crimes. The U.S. Justice Department, civil rights groups and a Phoenix police officer asked for Wednesday's injunction.
Lawyers for the state contend the law was a constitutionally sound attempt by Arizona to assist federal immigration agents and lessen border woes, such as the heavy costs for educating, jailing and providing health care for illegal immigrants.
They said Arizona shouldn't have to suffer from a broken immigration system when it has 15,000 officers who can arrest illegal immigrants.
In her ruling, Bolton said the interests of Arizona, the busiest U.S. gateway for illegal immigrants, match those of the federal government. But, she wrote, that the federal government must take the lead on deciding how to enforce immigration laws.
The core of the government's case is that federal immigration law trumps state law - an issue known as "pre-emption" in legal circles. In her ruling, Bolton pointed out five portions of the law where she believed the federal government would likely succeed on its claims.
Justice Department spokeswoman Hannah August said the agency understands the frustration of Arizona residents with the immigration system, but added that a patchwork of state and local policies would seriously disrupt federal immigration enforcement.
Federal authorities have argued that letting the Arizona law stand would create a patchwork of immigration laws nationwide that would needlessly complicate foreign relations. They said the law is disrupting U.S. relations with Mexico and other countries.
About 100 protesters in Mexico City who had gathered in front of the U.S. Embassy broke into cheers when they learned of Bolton's ruling. They had been monitoring the news on a laptop computer.
"Migrants, hang on, the people are rising up!" they chanted.
Mexico's Foreign Secretary Patricia Espinoza called the ruling "a first step in the right direction" and said staff at the five Mexican consulates in Arizona will work extra hours in coming weeks to educate migrants about the law.
"None of this is very surprising," said Kevin R. Johnson, an immigration expert and the law school dean at University of California at Davis. "This is all very much within the constitutional mainstream."
The federal government has exclusive powers over immigration to ensure a uniform national policy that aids in commerce and relations with other countries, Johnson said.
A century ago, differing policies among states led to problems that prompted the federal government to adopt a comprehensive immigration policy for the country, Johnson said.
Supporters took solace that the judge kept portions of the law intact, including a section that bars local governments from limiting enforcement of federal immigration laws. Those jurisdictions are commonly known as "sanctuary cities."
"Striking down these sanctuary city policies has always been the No. 1 priority," said Republican Sen. Russell Pearce, the law's chief author.
The remaining provisions, many of them revisions to an Arizona immigration statute, will take effect at 12:01 a.m. Thursday.
The state can appeal Bolton's ruling to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco. Whatever way that court rules, Bolton will eventually hold a trial and issue a final ruling.
Wednesday's decision was seen as a defeat for Brewer, who is running for another term in November and has seen her political fortunes rise because of the law's popularity among conservatives.
Her opponent, state Attorney General Terry Goddard, pounced.
"Jan Brewer played politics with immigration, and she lost," the Democrat said. "It is time to look beyond election-year grandstanding and begin to repair the damage to Arizona's image and economy."
Some residents in Phoenix agreed.
"A lot of people don't understand the connection between, 'Yes, we have a problem with illegal immigration' and 'We need immigration reform,' which is not just asking people for their papers," said Kimber Lanning, a 43-year-old Phoenix music store owner.
"It was never a solution to begin with."
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| Performer Aretha Franklin poses for a photograph in Philadelphia, Monday, July 26, 2010. Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Franklin are scheduled to perform together Tuesday at the Mann Center for the Performing Arts in Philadelphia. |
PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Condoleezza Rice is no stranger to the whims of royalty. So when the Queen of Soul herself, Aretha Franklin, decided the two should get together to play a song or two for charity, it was decreed.
The former U.S. secretary of state and Franklin take the stage Tuesday evening at Philadelphia's Mann Music Center in a rare duet for Rice, the classically trained pianist, and Franklin, the divalicious voice of a generation. Their aim is to raise money for urban children and awareness for music and the arts.
"It is a joint effort for the inner-city youth of Philadelphia and Detroit," Franklin told The Associated Press the night before their concert with the Philadelphia Orchestra. Their appearance will brim not only with Franklin's catalog of hits, but arias from the world of opera and classical music.
"We decided to give it a try," Franklin said. "So here we are, in the city of Brotherly - and Sisterly - Love."
Rice, better known as a diplomat and national security adviser, will accompany Franklin singing her hits "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" and "I Say a Little Prayer." Rice said she's been practicing furiously for her performance of Mozart's piano concerto in D Minor with the orchestra.
Franklin's repertoire will include songs from her new album "A Woman Falling Out of Love," to be released later this year.
Rice's given name is derived from the Italian opera stage instruction con dolcezza, meaning "with sweetness." Long a musician of note, she played from elementary school through college and beyond, in quartets and performing chamber music.
She has even played with cellist Yo-Yo Ma but "this will be the first time I've played with an orchestra since I was 18," she said.
When she learned that Rice played classical music, Franklin sent for one of her recordings "to hear what she sounded like."
Previously, she said, "All I had seen of Dr. Rice was in a political atmosphere. It just seemed foreign that she would be a classical pianist."
Franklin was surprised.
"She really does play," Franklin said. "She's formidable."
The two met at a White House function, Rice recalled. "We were just talking and chatting and she said 'You play, don't you?' And I said, 'Yes.' And she said we should do something together."
Rice told the AP their plan to play together was borne of their mutual appreciation for music and determination to keep it near and accessible to children.
Franklin, relaxing in her hotel suite and holding a single long-stemmed peach-hued rose, deplored school budget cuts of music and arts programs as "a travesty" that cannot be allowed.
"Imagine what all of this would be without music. If you have to cut, cut something else. Not the music. We need the music. It soothes the savage beast. We need the music."
Rice, in a separate interview, agreed.
"Nothing makes me more unhappy than when I hear people talk about music education in the schools as extracurricular," Rice said.
Both women lauded each other's talents, and abilities, but Rice made it clear she'll leave the singing to Franklin.
"You do not want to hear me sing!" Rice said. "I'm a good choir musician, but I think I will stick to playing the piano."
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| WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange speaks during a press conference in London Monday July 26, 2010. Assange said Monday he believes there is evidence of war crimes in the thousands of pages of leaked U.S. military documents relating to the war in Afghanistan. The remarks came after WikiLeaks, a whistle-blowing group, posted some 91,000 classified U.S. military records over the past six years about the war online, including unreported incidents of Afghan civilian killings and covert operations against Taliban figures. |
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The monumental leak of classified Afghan war documents threatened Monday to create deeper doubts about the war at home, cause new friction with Pakistan over allegations about its spy agency and raise questions around the world about Washington's own ability to protect military secrets.
The White House called the disclosures "alarming."
The torrent of more than 91,000 secret documents, one of the largest unauthorized disclosures in military history, sent the Obama administration scrambling to assess and repair any damage to the war effort, either abroad or in the U.S. The material could reinforce the view put forth by the war's opponents in Congress that one of the nation's longest conflicts is hopelessly stalemated.
The leaks come at a time when President Barack Obama's Afghanistan war strategy is under congressional scrutiny and with polls finding that a majority of Americans no longer think the war there is worth fighting. Still, the leaks are not expected to prevent passage of a $60 billion war funding bill. Despite strong opposition among liberals who see Afghanistan as an unwinnable quagmire, House Democrats must either approve the bill before leaving at the end of this week for a six-week vacation, or commit political suicide by leaving troops in the lurch in war zones overseas.
The Pentagon also was looking at possible damage on the ground in Afghanistan.
"Someone inadvertently or on purpose gave the Taliban its new 'enemies list,'" declared Rep. Jane Harman, D-Calif., who said the White House indicated the disclosures compromised a number of Afghan sources.
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs emphasized that the documents covered the period before Obama ordered a major increase in U.S. troops fighting in Afghanistan, and the administration denied they would cause any policy shift in the fight against Taliban insurgents.
Indeed, despite the furor over the publication of the reports on the WikiLeaks whistleblower website, the information did not reveal any fundamentally new problems in the war effort. Military officers, current and former, described the documents as mostly tactical spot reports, including hunches about possible suspects and bomb plots that couldn't be verified. Some of the reports contain errors; others appear to be based on flimsy evidence.
Still, much of the material is anything but encouraging.
Underscoring the difficulties the U.S. faces, the documents include the first publicly released indication that the Taliban has used portable surface-to-air missiles against U.S. helicopters. One report on a June 2005 incident said a Black Hawk helicopter used evasive measures to avoid getting hit east of Kandahar by what its crew chief identified as a portable missile.
The documents also report potential Iranian support of an Afghan terrorist group.
They said that on Jan. 30, 2005, Iranian intelligence agencies brought the equivalent of $212,800 in Afghan currency across the Iranian border and transferred it to a 1990s-model white Toyota Corolla station wagon occupied by members of Hizb-i-Islami, a Taliban-allied insurgent group led by former Afghan Prime Minister Gulbuddin Hekmatyar. The money trail was lost.
Col. Dave Lapan, a Defense Department spokesman, said the military would probably need "days, if not weeks" to determine "the potential damage to the lives of our service members and coalition partners."
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange said the release of documents was just the beginning. He told reporters in London that some 15,000 more files on Afghanistan were still being vetted by his organization.
The documents are described as battlefield reports compiled by various military units that provide an unflinching view of combat operations between 2004 and 2009, including U.S. frustration over reports that Pakistan secretly aided insurgents fighting U.S. and Afghan forces.
The material portrays Pakistan as playing a double game when it came to the struggle against Afghan militants, with security officials secretly providing insurgents with aid. Both the U.S. and Pakistan say that view is outdated, but one American analyst said it probably is correct.
"The Pakistan government gave up claiming that it could control its intelligence agencies around the time they invented them. I don't think they even try," said Paula R. Newberg, director of the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy at Georgetown University.
In Islamabad, the Pakistani Ministry of Foreign Affairs called the leaked documents "misplaced, skewed and contrary to the factual position on the ground." And it said that U.S.-Pakistani counterterrorism cooperation against "our common enemies" will continue.
State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley argued that there is a "new dynamic" in the U.S. relationship with Afghanistan and Pakistan since the period covered by the leaked documents. He acknowledged, however, that the U.S. remains concerned about weaknesses in the relationship, including the problem of corruption in the Afghan government.
"These documents highlight issues we've long known about," Crowley said.
WikiLeaks, a self-described whistleblower organization, posted the reports to its website Sunday night. It did not say who provided the documents.
Crowley said it was unclear whether the leak was related to a U.S. military intelligence analyst who is being held in Kuwait, on charges of mishandling classified information on military computers in Baghdad.
Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., said the documents released so far "reflect the reality, recognized by everyone, that the insurgency was gaining momentum during these years while our coalition was losing ground."
The Taliban's resurgence led Obama to announce in December 2009 a major increase of forces to Afghanistan as part of a new civil-military strategy, Lieberman pointed out.
Shortly after the documents were posted on the Internet, Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said they raised questions about whether the U.S. was pursuing a realistic policy with Afghanistan and Pakistan. He said they showed the urgency of making the "calibrations" necessary "to get the policy right."
Sen. Kit Bond of Missouri, the ranking Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee, called the leak disturbing.
"The damage to our national security caused by leaks like this won't stop until we see more perpetrators in orange jump suits," Bond said.
The military has detained Bradley Manning, a former Army intelligence analyst in Baghdad, for allegedly transmitting classified information. But the latest documents could have come from anyone with a secret-level clearance, Lapan said.
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| FILE - In this June 16, 2010 file photo, BP Chief Executive Officer Tony Hayward, left, and BP Managing Director Bob Dudley arrive with other BP executives at the White House in Washington. Hayward _ who incensed many on the Gulf Coast by saying he wanted his life back as they struggled with the fallout from the company's massive oil spill _ will be replaced, a senior U.S. government official said Sunday, July 25, 2010. Dudley, who is currently overseeing the British company's spill response, is one of the most likely to replace Hayward. |
NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- The man overseeing the much-maligned response by BP PLC to the Gulf oil spill crisis is the likely choice to replace gaffe-prone Tony Hayward to run the company and would become the first American to ever head the oil giant.
A senior U.S. government official said Sunday that Hayward is on his way out but didn't know who would be his successor. The official was briefed on the decision last week and spoke on condition of anonymity because an announcement had not been made.
BP said Monday that "no final decision" had been made about management changes. The oil company said its board would meet Monday evening, a day before it announces earnings for the second quarter. Shares were up 2.2 percent at 407.6 pence ($6.31) in early trading in London.
One of the most likely replacements would be Bob Dudley, BP's managing director, who spent part of his boyhood in Mississippi and has been running the day-to-day oil response since June. He would be the first American to head BP PLC since it was founded as the Anglo-Persian Oil Co. in 1909, according to a spokesman.
In television interviews Monday, Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass., who heads the subcommittee on energy and environment, welcomed news that Hayward might be replaced. But he expressed caution about Dudley, noting it was Dudley who said earlier this month that the oil well could possibly be fixed by July 27. Work on relief wells expected to permanently kill the well is not yet complete.
"I'm hopeful that Mr. Dudley will be more responsible, but a total change in the culture of this company is neccessary," Markey told CBS' "Early Show."
There also has been speculation that BP could tap Iain Conn, a Scot who runs BP's refining and marketing arm and also serves on BP's board of directors. BP's board would have to approve a change in company leadership.
To analysts and Gulf residents, it would be a welcome change for a company that has been criticized as being out of touch with the concerns of U.S. fishermen, tourists and residents affected by the catastrophe.
"He's a very good delegator," Oppenheimer & Co. senior analyst Fadel Gheit said of the 54-year-old Dudley.
It also helps that Dudley can identify with the people and the region.
Dudley spent time growing up in Hattiesburg, Miss., an easy drive from the coast. He spent two decades climbing the ranks at Amoco Corp., which merged with BP, and lost out to Hayward on the CEO's slot three years ago.
Dudley is viewed as more of a diplomat than Hayward, who angered U.S. lawmakers with his refusal to answer many of their questions during testimony in Washington on the spill. That was after infuriating scores of frustrated Gulf residents by infamously declaring "I'd like my life back," in May.
In his first week running the spill response, Dudley shuttled between the Gulf and Washington, defended BP engineers after a setback, toured a center where oil-covered turtles are treated and enlisted the help of a politically connected relief expert.
He also has held a nationally broadcast town-hall style meeting with Gulf residents and has been in daily contact with U.S. government officials.
BP has not confirmed that Hayward is being replaced. Early Sunday, company spokesman Toby Odone seemed to downplay media speculation about the departure, saying he "remains BP's chief executive, and he has the confidence of the board and senior management."
It's been more than three months since an offshore drilling rig operated by BP exploded off Louisiana on April 20, killing 11 workers and setting off the spill. A temporary plug has stopped oil from gushing for more than a week now, but before that the busted well had spewed anywhere from 94 million to 184 million gallons into the Gulf.
Since the explosion, Hayward has made several highly publicized gaffes. Among them: going to a yacht race while oil washed up on Gulf shores, and uttering the now-infamous: "I'd like my life back" line.
Gheit, the analyst, said it was too bad Hayward's career was derailed by the spill, but "unfortunately he became a sacrificial lamb in a politically charged world."
Dudley would be well-suited to take over, Gheit said, while noting that it is never an easy time to instill new leadership in a company.
"I'm not sure if removing Tony Hayward is going to throw BP's problems away," Gheit said.
New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu said BP's attitude about making things right is more important than who is running it.
"BP, from I think everybody's perspective, made a very bad mistake," he said. "I think what the world expects from BP is an acknowledgment that something was done wrong. I think BP has a long way to go to gain the trust of the people."
The company has already spent roughly $4 billion on its response to the crisis. The final tally could be in the tens of billions of dollars.
News that the CEO will depart came as no surprise to people living along the Gulf.
Patrick Shay, 43, sat on a porch swing of his cottage in Grand Isle on Sunday, his front yard filled with small, white crosses, each bearing the name of sealife or ways of life the oil spill has killed.
"He seems like a pretty self-absorbed person, so I'm not surprised to hear he would walk away in the middle of all this," he said. "If anything it will help. They need to get him out of the way and get this cleaned up."
David Duet, 62, of LaRose, La., filled his ice chest at the grocery store in Grand Isle, where he brings his camper every weekend despite the oil.
"I don't think he's directly responsible for the spill, but he still had to answer for it," said Duet, who worked on oil rigs for more than 22 years. "I can understand the time it took to cap it. I know how hard things are out there."
Crews trying to plug the leaky well for good had to stop work late last week because of the threat from Tropical Storm Bonnie, but the effort was back on track as skies cleared Sunday. A drill rig was expected to reconnect to the relief tunnel that will be used to pump in mud and cement to seal the well, and drilling could resume in the next few days.
Completion of the relief well that is the best chance to permanently stop the oil now looks possible by mid-August, but retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, the government's point man for the spill, said he wouldn't hesitate to order another evacuation based on forecasts similar to the ones for Bonnie.
More than two weeks after the fatal Duck Boat accident on the Delaware, KYW Newsradio has learned that the Streets Department never once compiled safety reports on tour passenger vehicles — reports that have been required annually under city law since 2006.
KYW’s Mike Dunn reports legislation signed into law that year by then-mayor John Street requires the Streets Department to issue a report each March on the safety of all tour vehicles operating in the city — including amphibious vehicles like Ride the Ducks.
The report would have looked at how the vehicles operated on city streets, including information about traffic violations by the tour vehicles, accidents including on the streets and the river, and injuries to passengers.
One week after KYW Newsradio requested the 2009 and 2010 reports, Deputy Streets Commissioner Steve Buckley admitted that staffers simply didn’t know the law and have never prepared the reports:
“The current staff was really unfamiliar with the code, and had not prepared the report. The chief traffic engineer was unaware that the report had to be prepared.”
For full story go to:
http://kyw.cbslocal.com/
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| The Helix Q4000 is seen burning off gas at the Deepwater Horizon oil spill site in the Gulf of Mexico, off the Louisiana coast, Thursday, July 22, 2010. |
ON THE GULF OF MEXICO (AP) -- Work to permanently choke off the oil well that had been spewing into the Gulf of Mexico was at a standstill Friday after ships around the site were ordered to evacuate ahead of the approaching Tropical Storm Bonnie.
There had been worries that the cap that has mostly contained the oil would have to be reopened and left gushing if a major storm came through. But engineers were confident enough in the strength of the cap that they decided to leave it sealed while most of the ships on the surface were told to leave the area.
Meanwhile, a tropical storm watch was issued early Friday for the northern Gulf coast from Destin, Fla., to Morgan City, La.
The storm, which blossomed over the Bahamas and was to enter the Gulf of Mexico by the weekend, could delay by another 12 days the push to plug the broken well for good using mud and cement, retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen and BP officials conceded. Even if it's not a direct hit, the rough weather will push back efforts to kill the well by at least a week.
"While this is not a hurricane, it's a storm that will have probably some significant impacts, we're taking appropriate cautions," Allen said in Mobile, Ala.
Bonnie had maximum sustained winds near 40 mph Friday as it swirled about 80 miles south-southeast of Miami.
The delay in work would be worse if BP had to fully open the cap while the ships closely monitoring the well head left. More oil would have been allowed to spew into the Gulf until they returned.
A week of steady measurements through cameras and other devices convinced Allen they don't need to open vents to relieve pressure on the cap, which engineers had worried might contribute to leaks underground and an even bigger blowout. The cap was attached a week ago, and only minor leaks have been detected.
Allen said earlier in the day that evacuating the vessels could leave the well head unmonitored for up to a few days. He said he ordered BP to make sure the ships carrying the robotic submarines watching the well are the last to leave and the first to return.
Allen issued the order Thursday night to begin moving dozens of vessels from the spill site, including the rig that's drilling the relief tunnel engineers will use to permanently throttle the free-flowing crude near the bottom of the well. Some vessels could stay on site, he said.
"While these actions may delay the effort to kill the well for several days, the safety of the individuals at the well site is our highest concern," he said in a statement.
It was unclear Thursday night whether some of the vessels would go back to port or head farther south in the Gulf out of the path of the storm and await orders once the storm passes. The Coast Guard cutter Decisive, the hurricane guard for the vessels at the spill site, was awaiting instructions. In an evacuation, the Decisive is the last vessel to leave the area.
Bonnie caused flooding in Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and Haiti before reaching tropical storm strength later Thursday, and Allen said crews expected sustained wind above 39 mph at the spill site by early Saturday.
Seas already were choppy in the Gulf, with waves up to five feet rocking boats as crews prepared to leave, and more of the smaller boats involved in the coastal cleanup were called into port, Coast Guard Rear Adm. Paul Zukunft said.
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal said he expects local leaders in coastal parishes to call for evacuation of low-lying areas as early as Friday morning.
At the spill site, the water no longer looks thick with gooey tar. But the oil is still there beneath the surface, staining the hull of cutters motoring around in it.
One large vessel - the Helix Q4000 - is burning off oil collected from the water, and bright orange flames flared at the side of the ship.
Scientists say even a severe storm shouldn't affect the well cap, nearly a mile beneath the ocean surface 40 miles from the Louisiana coast. "Assuming all lines are disconnected from the surface, there should be no effect on the well head by a passing surface storm," said Paul Bommer, professor of petroleum engineering at University of Texas at Austin.
Charles Harwell, a BP contractor monitoring the cap, was also confident.
"That cap was specially made, it's on tight, we've been looking at the progress and it's all good," he said after his ship returned to Port Fourchon, La.
Before the cap was attached and closed a week ago, the broken well spewed 94 million to 184 million gallons into the Gulf after the BP-leased Deepwater Horizon rig exploded April 20, killing 11 workers.
Work on plugging the well came to a standstill Wednesday, just days before authorities had hoped to complete the relief shaft. Allen said Thursday he has told BP to go ahead preparing for a second measure called a static kill that would pump mud and cement into the well from the top, a move he said would increase the relief well's chances for success. BP will have to get final approval from Allen before starting the procedure.
Vice President Joe Biden visited cleanup workers in southern Alabama, and said he was cheered the cap could remain on.
"After the storm's passage we will be right back out there," Biden said.
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| FILE - Federal Reserve Chairman, Ben. S. Bernanke, listens during a forum at J. Sergeant Reynolds Community College in Richmond, Va., in this June 9, 2010 file photo. Bernanke heads to Congress Wednesday July 21, 2010 with a message of reassurance: The Fed stands ready to take new steps to bolster the recovery if the economy worsens. |
The Fed chief kicks off back-to-back appearances on Capitol Hill at a delicate time for the economy. The recovery, which had been flashing signs of strengthening earlier this year, is losing momentum. And fears are growing that it could stall.
Consumer have cut spending. Businesses, uncertain about the strength of their own sales or the economic recovery, are sitting on cash, reluctant to beef up hiring and expand operations. A stalled housing market, near double-digit unemployment and an edgy Wall Street shaken by Europe's debt crisis are other factors playing into the economic slowdown.
Bernanke, who is scheduled to deliver his twice-a-year economic report to the Senate Banking Committee on Wednesday afternoon, will probably again downplay the odds that the economy will slide back into a "double dip" recession. But at the same time, he'll strike a more cautious tone, pointing out that the fragile economy is still vulnerable to shocks.
To strengthen the economy, the Fed is likely to hold a key bank lending rate at a record low near zero well into 2011, or possibly into 2012, economists predict. That would mean rates on certain credit cards, home equity loans, some adjustable-rate mortgages and other consumer loans would stay at their lowest point in decades.
Ultra-low lending rates, however, haven't done much lately to rev up the economy. Consumers and businesses are cautious and aren't showing an appetite to spend as lavishly as they usually do in the early stages of economic recoveries.
Even though the prospects of deflation - a widespread and prolonged drop in prices for goods, the value of stocks and homes and in wages - is remote, some Fed officials are worried about it. Keeping rates low would help prevent deflationary forces from taking hold.
Against such a backdrop, Fed officials at their June meeting cut their forecasts for growth this year. They also saw the need to explore new options for energizing the rebound. That's a turnaround from earlier this year when they were moving to wind down crisis-era supports.
If the recovery were to deteriorate, the Fed could revive programs to buy mortgage securities or government debt. It could lower the interest rate paid to banks on money left at the Fed or cut the rate banks pay for emergency Fed loans. The Fed also could create a new program to spark more lending to businesses and consumers in a bid to lure them to ratchet up spending and grow the economy.
The economic hurdles to taking such steps would be high, analysts say. There's also unease within the Fed about taking additional stimulative steps because of fear they could spur inflation or speculative excesses by investors later on.
Bernanke will be under more pressure than usual because it's an election year. Upset by high unemployment, rising foreclosures and lackluster wage gains, voters may seek to punish incumbent Democrats and Republicans in Congress if the economy doesn't get better. The unemployment rate, now at 9.5 percent, is expected to stay high - in the 9 percent range - through the end of this year, under the Fed's forecast.
Despite the wobbly recovery, there's little appetite in Congress to enact a major new stimulus package. Senate Republicans in particular have balked at spending more when the government is already saddled with record high budget deficits.
Bernanke appears before the House Financial Services Committee on Thursday.
When Bernanke delivered his economic report to Congress in February, he struck a confident note that the rebound would endure. But he warned it would not be robust enough to quickly lower unemployment. At the same time, he was laying the groundwork for the Fed to start boosting rates once the recovery was firmly entrenched.
Now, given rising threats to the rebound, prospects of a rate increase this year have disappeared, and the Fed is more focused on keeping the recovery alive.
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| Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., left, is joined by newly-sworn Sen. Carte Goodwin, D-W.Va., right, after the Senate cleared a hurdle to restore unemployment benefits to millions of Americans who have been out of work for more than six months, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, July 20, 2010. The 60-40 vote came moments after Goodwin, a successor to West Virginia Democrat Robert Byrd, took his oath of office. |
WASHINGTON (AP) -- With a GOP filibuster safely broken, the Senate is poised to pass legislation restoring jobless benefits for millions of people unable to find work in the frail economic recovery.
Wednesday's vote is a formality after the Democratic-controlled Senate voted 60-40 Tuesday to move ahead on the bill. The measure would then go to the House for one final vote and on to President Barack Obama later this week.
At issue are payments averaging $309 a week for almost 5 million people whose 26 weeks of state benefits have run out. Those people are enrolled in a federally financed program providing up to 73 additional weeks of unemployment benefits.
About half of those currently eligible have seen their benefits cut off since funding expired June 2. The jobless benefits are a lifeline to millions of people struggling to find work in what has so far been a largely jobless recovery.
"I can't tell you how relieved we will be when Congress passes this. We have in Pennsylvania about 200,000 people who have lost their unemployment compensation coverage because of their inaction," said Pennsylvania Secretary of Labor and Industry Sandi Vito. "Folks need this money for their mortgages, for food, and so our goal is to get them their payments as quickly as possible."
The filibuster-breaking vote came moments after Democrat Carte Goodwin was sworn in to succeed West Virginia Democrat Robert Byrd, who died last month at 92. Goodwin was the crucial 60th senator needed to defeat the Republican filibuster. The Senate gallery was packed with Goodwin supporters, who broke into applause as he cast his "aye" vote.
Republicans say they support the benefits extension. But with the exception of Maine GOP moderates Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins, who voted with Democrats Tuesday, they insist any benefits be financed by cuts to programs elsewhere in the $3.7 trillion federal budget.
The election-year battle has been amplified by the White House and Democrats, who are emphasizing the plight of the unemployed while arguing that putting money in the pockets of jobless families would also boost economic revival.
"This bill is about jobs because unemployment insurance goes to people who will spend it immediately," said Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont. "That would increase economic demand. And that would help support our fragile economic recovery."
Many Republicans have voted in the past for deficit-financed benefits extension - including as recently as March and twice in 2008, during the Bush administration. But now they are casting themselves as standing against out-of-control budget deficits, a stand that's popular with their core conservative supporters and the tea party activists whose support they're courting in hopes of retaking control of Congress.
"We've repeatedly voted for similar bills in the past. And we are ready to support one now," said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. "What we do not support - and we make no apologies for - is borrowing tens of billions of dollars to pass this bill at a time when the national debt is spinning completely out of control."
The measure would reauthorize the extended benefits program through the end of November, providing payments to millions of people who've been out of work for six months or more. Maximum benefits in some states are far higher than the $309 a week nationwide average payment. In Massachusetts, the top benefit is $943 a week; in Mississippi, it is $235.
Tuesday's action capped months of battling over the jobless benefits extension, which started in February as just one piece of a broader jobs package that included many other provisions, such as restoring expired business tax breaks and helping state governments pay their bills.
That broader measure advanced in fits and starts - including a measure that passed the Senate in March that would have added $100 billion to the deficit. But the sands shifted and it collapsed in June despite being cut back considerably.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., then pressed a bare-bones jobless benefits measure - only to fall one vote short because of Byrd's death.
The White House has signaled it may seek another renewal of benefits in November if unemployment remains painfully high.
Philadelphia recreation commissioner Susan Slawson says that after a two-year hiatus the Dell Music Center is back in business:
“Everything you see in this venue is new. The lawn, all of the cement, the chairs… From the railings to the lights to the lights that are on the chairs underneath — none of this was here in 2007.”
At the grand reopening ceremony of the venue — once called the Robin Hood Dell East – Slawson says the amphitheatre at 33rd and Ridge Avenue means a lot to the community:
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| An amphibious craft is salvaged from the Delaware River in Philadelphia, Friday, July 9, 2010. An amphibious sightseeing boat that stalled in the Delaware River was knocked over by an oncoming barge Wednesday, spilling 37 people overboard and leaving two passengers unaccounted for after a frantic rescue effort. |
PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Friends have dropped white roses into the Delaware River in Philadelphia in memory of the two Hungarian students who died after the tourist boat they were on was struck by a barge Wednesday.
City officials and religious leaders joined other exchange students, host families and the Hungarian ambassador to the United States on Saturday for a memorial service dedicated to 20-year-old Szabolcs Prem and 16-year-old Dora Schwendtner.
At the end of the ceremony, wreaths and flowers were dropped into the river and a pair of doves were released.
Thirty-three other passengers and the two crew members of the duck boat that sank Wednesday were all rescued.
Officials say the 11 other visiting Hungarian students are likely to cut short their planned three-week stay.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) - The bodies of two missing Hungarians who were aboard a tourist boat that was hit by a barge and sank into the Delaware River this week have been recovered, and investigators continued their search Saturday for clues about the collision.
The body of 16-year-old Dora Schwendtner was spotted by a crew on a fishing boat before dawn Friday about two miles downriver from the site of Wednesday's crash. The second body was retrieved later in the day, after a barge brought in to help to lift the duck boat off the river's bottom was moved, and was identified late Friday as that of Szabolcs Prem, 20, the other missing Hungarian tourist.
Both victims were identified based on personal effects, said Jeff Moran, spokesman for the Philadelphia medical examiner's office. He said both died of drowning and the manner of death was ruled an accident. Coast Guard officials are working with the Hungarian embassy to arrange return of the remains.
The six-wheeled duck boat, carrying 35 passengers and two crew, had been stopped five to 10 minutes before the crash. Crew members told investigators they shut off the engine after white smoke that smelled like burning rubber came out of the hood.
Crew members said they told passengers to put on life jackets just before the collision.
Within seconds, the boat capsized and sank, though there were no serious injuries among the rescued passengers.
Investigators are left with several questions: How did the crash happen? What caused the duck boat to spew smoke? Did its skipper let other vessels know it was adrift? Did the captain and crew of the tug boat pushing the empty barge know - or should they have known - the duck boat was idle in the water, its anchor deployed?
The NTSB spent Friday interviewing the two crew members and 16 passengers on the duck boat.
"They told amazing stories of heroism," said NTSB member Robert Sumwalt. "One young man said he gave his life jacket to someone else, then he swam to shore."
Interviews with the five crew on the tug were scheduled for Saturday.
Joseph Dady, president of the National Mariners Association and a tug boat pilot himself, told The Associated Press that tugs always have blind spots when they're pushing barges.
In this case, where the tug's wheelhouse was relatively low and the barge was light and floating high in the water, the blind spot could have been large, he said.
The Coast Guard requires lookouts on board tugs or barges in such situations. Dady said they're often not posted and the rule is rarely enforced, though U.S. Coast Guard Capt. Todd Gatlin disputed that.
Tug pilots are also required to use radar, but the duck boat did not have a radar reflector, so it's not clear whether it would have shown up on a boat's radar.
Darrell Wilson, a spokesman for K-Sea Transportation Partners, which operates the tug, said he would not discuss whether a lookout was posted or whether the radar was working.
Another question is whether the tugboat pilot heard any distress signal from the duck boat.
The boat's 58-year-old captain, Gary Fox, had put out a distress call on Channel 13, which is monitored by boaters but not recorded, said Chris Herschend, president of Ride the Ducks, the Norcross, Ga.-based company that owns the boat.
Fox told the NTSB that he tried to sound his boat's air horn when the barge was less than 400 yards away, Sumwalt said. But the air horn, which Fox said worked in a test that morning, didn't sound.
The Coast Guard has said that it received a transmission over an emergency channel around the time of the collision, but that no voices or other recognizable sounds could be discerned. It wasn't clear whether that signal was heard, or understood, on the tug.
Schwendtner and Prem were among 13 Hungarian students, two Hungarian teachers, four U.S. students and three U.S. teachers on a tour hosted by Marshallton United Methodist Church in suburban Philadelphia.
Black flags were raised Friday at the victims' school and at the city hall in their hometown of Mosonmagyarovar, in northwestern Hungary. School principal Karoly Hansagi told the state news agency MTI that a candlelight vigil would be held Saturday night.
Ride The Ducks began sending out boats again Saturday in Atlanta, San Francisco and Branson, Mo., and expected to soon resume operations in Newport, Ky. Boats in Philadelphia remained out of service.
All Ride The Ducks vessels have been inspected and deemed safe, Herschend said in a statement.
A private memorial for the victims was scheduled for Saturday, followed by a public laying of wreaths and flying of doves.
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| In this image taken from video provided by BP PLC, the arm of a remotely operated vehicle works at the Deepwater Horizon oil spill site in the Gulf of Mexico, Saturday, July 10, 2010. Undersea robots manipulated by engineers a mile above were expected to begin work Saturday removing the containment cap over the gushing well head in the Gulf of Mexico to replace it with a tighter-fitting cap that could funnel all the oil to tankers at the surface. If all goes according to plan, the tandem of the tighter cap and the tankers could keep all the oil from polluting the fragile Gulf as soon as Monday. But it would be only a temporary solution to the catastrophe unleashed by a drilling rig explosion. It won't plug the busted well and it remains uncertain that it will succeed. |
NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- Robotic submarines removed the cap from the gushing well in the Gulf of Mexico on Saturday, beginning a period of at least two days when oil will flow freely into the sea.
It's the first step in placing a tighter dome that is supposed to funnel more oil to collection ships on the surface a mile above. If all goes according to plan, the tandem of the tighter cap and the surface ships could keep all the oil from polluting the fragile Gulf as soon as Monday.
BP spokesman Mark Proegler said the old cap was removed at 12:37 p.m. CDT on Saturday.
"Over the next four to seven days, depending on how things go, we should get that sealing cap on. That's our plan," said Kent Wells, a BP senior vice president.
It would be only a temporary solution to the catastrophe unleashed by a drilling rig explosion nearly 12 weeks ago. It won't plug the busted well and it remains uncertain that it will succeed.
The oil is flowing mostly unabated into the water for about 48 hours - long enough for as much as 5 million gallons to gush out - until the new cap is installed.
The hope for a permanent solution remains with two relief wells intended to plug it completely far beneath the seafloor.
Engineers now begin removing a bolted flange below the dome. The flange has to be taken off so another piece of equipment called a flange spool can go over the drill pipe, where the sealing cap will be connected.
The work could spill over into Sunday, Wells said, depending on how hard it is to pull off the flange. BP has a backup plan in case that doesn't work: A piece of machinery will pry the top and the bottom of the flange apart.
On Friday, National Incident Commander Thad Allen had said the cap could be in place by Monday. That's still possible, given the timeline BP submitted to the federal government, but officials say it could take up to a week of tests before it's clear whether the new cap is working.
The cap now in use was installed June 4, but because it had to be fitted over a jagged cut in the well pipe, it allows some crude to escape. The new cap - dubbed "Top Hat Number 10" - follows 80 days of failures to contain or plug the leak.
BP PLC first tried a huge containment box also referred to as a top hat, but icelike crystals quickly clogged the contraption in the cold depths. Then it tried to shoot heavy drilling mud into the hole to hold down the flow so it could then insert a cement plug. After the so-called "top kill," engineers tried a "junk shot" - using the undersea robots to try and stuff carefully selected golf balls and other debris to plug the leak. That also met failure.
The company is also working to hook up another containment ship called the Helix Producer to a different part of the leaking well. The ship, which will be capable of sucking up more than 1 million gallons a day when it is fully operating, should be working by Sunday, Allen said.
The plan had originally been to change the cap and hook up the Helix Producer separately, but the favorable weather convinced officials the time was right for both operations. They have a window of seven to 10 days.
The government estimates 1.5 million to 2.5 million gallons of oil a day are spewing from the well, and the existing cap is collecting about 1 million gallons of that. With the new cap and the new containment vessel, the system will be capable of capturing 2.5 million to 3.4 million gallons - essentially all the leaking oil, officials said.
In a response late Friday to Allen's request for detailed plans, BP managing director Bob Dudley confirmed that the leak could be contained by Monday. But Dudley included plans for another scenario, which includes possible problems and missteps that could push the installment of the cap back to Thursday.
And the latest effort is far from a sure thing, warned Louisiana State University environmental sciences professor Ed Overton.
"Everything done at that site is very much harder than anyone expects," he said. Overton said putting on the new cap carries risks: "Is replacing the cap going to do more damage than leaving it in place, or are you going to cause problems that you can't take care of?"
Containing the leak will not end the crisis that began when the Deepwater Horizon drilling platform exploded April 20, killing 11 workers.
The relief wells are still being drilled so they can inject heavy mud and cement into the leaking well to stop the flow, which is expected to be done by mid-August. Then a monumental cleanup and restoration project lies ahead.
Some people on Louisiana's oil-soaked coast were skeptical that BP can contain the oil so soon.
"This is probably the sixth or seventh method they've tried, so, no, I'm not optimistic," said Deano Bonano, director of emergency preparedness for Jefferson Parish.
He inspected beaches at Grand Isle lined with protective boom and bustling with heavy equipment used to scoop up and clean sand.
"Even if they turn it off today, we'll still be here at least another six weeks, on watch for the oil," he said.
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| An amphibious craft is salvaged from the Delaware River in Philadelphia, Friday, July 9, 2010. An amphibious sightseeing boat that stalled in the Delaware River was knocked over by an oncoming barge Wednesday, spilling 37 people overboard and leaving two passengers unaccounted for after a frantic rescue effort. |
PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Police retrieved a second body Friday from the Delaware River after they recovered the duck boat that was struck by a barge and capsized, leaving two young Hungarians missing.
Authorities did not immediately confirm whether the body was that of 20-year-old Szabolcs Prem. He has been missing since Wednesday's accident, which also claimed the life of 16-year-old Dora Schwendtner. Her body was recovered early Friday nearly two miles downriver from the accident site.
The second body surfaced from beneath a salvage barge after crews raised the amphibious tour boat from the river bottom and the barge began hauling it away. A police boat pulled the body on board about a block downriver from where it surfaced.
Thirty-five other people were rescued after the 250-foot barge ran over the duck boat.
Schwendtner's body was identified judging from possessions shown to her fellow tourists, said Jeff Moran, a spokesman for the Philadelphia medical examiner. An autopsy showed she died of drowning, and her death has been ruled accidental.
The boat was lifted from the water Friday afternoon about 100 yards from shore by a crane using two heavy yellow straps. A third strap was looped around the white boat as it remained in the water, its canopy and seats above the waterline.
Police and Coast Guard vessels surrounded the boat as it emerged from the water and was placed on a barge. Authorities plan to inspect it for clues to why it stalled out.
The duck boat will be taken first to the Coast Guard station in Philadelphia and then moved to another secure location, said Coast Guard Chief Rodger Krass.
The Norcross, Ga.-based company that owns the duck boat operation said Thursday it had followed safety recommendations after a 1999 sinking in Arkansas, but it still suspended its operations nationwide.
Schwendtner and Prem were among 13 Hungarian students, two Hungarian teachers, four U.S. students and three U.S. teachers on a tour hosted by Marshallton United Methodist Church in suburban Philadelphia.
Black flags were raised Friday at the victims' school and at the city hall in their hometown of Mosonmagyarovar, in northwestern Hungary. School principal Karoly Hansagi told MTI that a candlelight vigil would be held Saturday night.
One of the duck boat passengers, Tina Rosebrook of Davidson, N.C., told The Associated Press that she was briefly under the bow of the barge. She had time to get life jackets on her 10-year-old daughter and 12-year-old niece but not herself. She found a life jacket floating on the river when she surfaced.
Police rescue boats arrived and helped them out of the water almost as quickly as they'd been submerged.
On Thursday, National Transportation Safety Board Investigators dug into their efforts to reconstruct what went wrong. They expected to spend more than a week working in Philadelphia before heading back to Washington, D.C., to continue their investigation.
Board member Robert Sumwalt said the agency would look into the condition of the vessels and whether proper protocols were followed. The NTSB planned to interview those aboard the boats, listen to recordings of radio transmissions and study videos from cameras posted nearby by the city of Philadelphia and at least two television stations.
Chris Herschend, president of the boat company, Ride the Ducks, said Friday that the captain, Gary Fox, told him he had put out a distress call on Channel 13, which is monitored by boaters but not recorded.
The Coast Guard has said that it received a transmission over an emergency channel around the time of the collision, but that no voices or other recognizable sounds could be discerned.
Sumwalt said the experience and condition of the two-member crew of the duck boat and the five-member crew of the tug would be checked out. He said tests showed none had been drinking. Drug test results were expected in about a week.
Inspection records for the sunken duck boat have been turned over to the NTSB.
Ride the Ducks has been in Philadelphia since 2003. Passengers are driven on a tour of the Old City neighborhood near Independence Hall before riding into the Delaware River from a ramp south of the Ben Franklin Bridge.
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| The Schaffer family of Beaumont, Tex., stands on the shore and plays in the surf near absorbent oil retention booms in Orange Beach, Ala. on Wednesday, July 7, 2010. Oil washed ashore with the tide overnight, leaving an ugly stain that brought out hundreds of BP workers to clean. |
NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- The federal official leading the Gulf oil spill cleanup said Friday a new containment cap and an additional ship collecting oil could effectively contain the spill in the next three days.
The work to replace a leaky containment cap on the well head with a tighter one will begin Saturday, National Incident Commander Thad Allen said. At the same time, a ship connecting to a different part of the leak is expected to come online Sunday.
Oil will flow unimpeded into the Gulf during the cap switch for at least part of the weekend.
If all goes according to plan, the combination of the cap and the new vessel could collect all the leaking oil by Monday, stopping it from escaping into the Gulf of Mexico for the first time since April 20.
"I use the word 'contained,'" Allen said. "'Stop' is when we put the plug in down below."
Work continues on what officials hope will be the final plugging of the well - drilling on two relief wells through which mud and cement will be pumped to stop the leak once and for all. That's expected to happen sometime in mid-August.
The new containment cap is expected to form a better seal over the well head, to allow more of the oil to be collected and sent up to ships on the surface for collection or burning.
"Technically it's pretty achievable," Allen said. He said if the new cap can't be placed on the well, the old cap will be put back and there are multiple backup caps available in case any one cap fails.
The new, tighter cap should be in place early Monday. Allen said the ship Helix Producer, which is to be hooked to a different part of the leaking well - lower than the new cap - will start collecting oil Sunday and be fully operational Tuesday. He has previously said that the full system should be able to collect 60,000 to 80,000 barrels a day.
The schedule for both efforts has been accelerated to take advantage of what could be a rare window of good weather. The hookup of the Helix Producer was delayed this week by poor weather. But an unexpected break in weather patterns creating choppy seas provides a window of a week or so with waves of only 1 or 2 feet.
"Everybody agrees we got the weather to do what we need," he said.
Containing the leak is not the same as stopping the environmental catastrophe that began April 20 when the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded, killing 11 workers.
The relief wells remain the best option for a final plug to the leak, at which point cleanup and restoration become the main focus.
Though officials said the first relief well could be finished by the end of July, weeks ahead of schedule, they are quick to point out that such an optimistic timetable would require ideal conditions every step of the way.
That is something that has rarely happened since the leak began.
KYW Newsradio Team Coverage
Authorities have suspended dive operations in the search for two people who went missing after Wednesday’s tourist boat accident on the Delaware River.
KYW’s Mike Dunn reports from City Hall that fifteen of those on board, including the two missing passengers were Hungarian tourists. Mayor Nutter says the Hungarian government is sending a representative from its consulate in New York City to Philadelphia. The diplomat was to be briefed by officials on the accident and then meet with the Hungarian passengers who were rescued.
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| New York Knicks' Amare Stoudemire responds to questions during a news conference Thursday, July 8, 2010, in New York. The All-Star forward agreed to leave Phoenix for a Knicks team mired in a franchise-worst stretch of nine straight losing seasons. |
NEW YORK (AP) -- The New York Knicks have lost long enough. Amare Stoudemire is ready for what he calls the "start of a new era."
Stoudemire joined the Knicks on Thursday, coming to a team that has never had a winning season since he entered the league out of high school in 2002.
"It's about challenges and this is definitely the ultimate challenge for myself to eventually bring the Knicks back to where they rightfully belong," Stoudemire said at a news conference at Madison Square Garden.
The All-Star power forward agreed to a deal Monday with a team looking to win again after a franchise-worst nine straight losing seasons.
The last two of those were largely the result of a plan to slash salary to allow the Knicks to afford to sign two maximum salary players this summer. Team officials were still holding out hope the other would be LeBron James, who was to announce his decision about nine hours after the Knicks were introducing Stoudemire.
Either way, landing Stoudemire was a crucial first step, ensuring they wouldn't be shut out by the big names in free agency.
"This is a very big addition to our team and the future of our team," Knicks president Donnie Walsh said. "Up until now our plan has been to save money in the cap and now it's about winning, trying to put together a team that can win."
Stoudemire's agent, Happy Walters, said the Knicks and Suns will complete a sign-and-trade arrangement. The five-time All-Star will still get a five-year contract, but will take a little less than the maximum allowed in the first year to provide the Knicks with additional salary cap space. By signing with the Suns first, he is entitled to larger raises, but the total value of the deal will still be about $100 million.
In doing so, he became the first top player in this deep free agent class to change teams, choosing one that is desperate to win again.
"It takes courage to play where the lights shine the brightest," Madison Square Garden chairman James Dolan said.
The move reunites Stoudemire with Mike D'Antoni, his former coach in Phoenix. Stoudemire is a fearless finisher on the pick-and-roll and helped the Suns average 58 victories in D'Antoni's four full seasons there.
"We won a lot of games together and hopefully we'll be successful here," D'Antoni said.
That likely depends on what else the Knicks can accomplish, either this year or next. They would have nearly $19 million left this summer if they don't get James, and D'Antoni said the plan is to get another max player at some point over the next couple of years. Walsh said New York would be able to afford another one next summer.
In the meantime, Stoudemire gives them a player who has averaged 21.4 points and 8.9 rebounds since he was the ninth pick in the 2002 draft - two spots after the Knicks passed on the player who had lived for a time in upstate New York.
The Suns worried about his injury history in refusing to offer the six-year contract they were allowed, given Stoudemire's multiple knee operations, including one major microfracture procedure in 2005-06. But he played all 82 games last season in helping Phoenix reach the conference finals, and the Knicks believe he has many dominant years left.
"When he decides to do something, the things he can do, you can't stop," Walsh said.
