WASHINGTON — No more oil is likely to leak into the Gulf of Mexico now that efforts to plug the blown-out well are succeeding, the government declared yesterday, as a relieved President Obama said the fight to stop the leak is “finally close to coming to an end.”
At the White House, National Incident Commander Adm. Thad Allen said BP’s effort to plug the leak was progressing, giving officials “high confidence” that there will soon be no more oil leaking into the environment. The upbeat assessment came as a government report said only about a quarter of the spilled oil remains in the Gulf. The rest has been contained or cleaned up, or has otherwise disappeared.
Obama’s team, however, was careful to emphasize that much work remains, from cleanup to damage assessment to help for hurting families.