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Allen: BP Will Swap Blowout Preventer, Give Failed One To DOJ

The Deepwater Horizon blowout preventer.

Adm. Thad Allen, the commander of the Gulf oil spill response, said today that BP will replace the failed blowout preventer on the Macondo well and, most likely, give it to the Department of Justice.

From the AP:

The government’s point man on the Gulf oil spill says engineers will probably remove the failed blowout preventer and replace it to secure the site permanently.

Retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen said Friday that it is likely the Justice Department will want the failed blowout preventer as evidence as it investigates.

Allen and BP say the well is under control and not leaking after a maneuver called “static kill,” in which cement was pumped into the well, was successful. BP is still working on relief wells.

A BP executive today left open the possibility that the oil company will drill again on the same site.

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