BP: Cement hardening, time for final phase of drilling relief well

BURAS, La. — BP announced Sunday that cement sealing the busted oil well in the Gulf of Mexico had hardened, clearing the path for the final phase of drilling a relief well.

Meanwhile, Obama administration officials promised Sunday to remain focused on the Gulf Coast — punishing BP for the worst oil spill in U.S. history, and cleaning up what remains of the mess.

But along that coast, such pledges have not stopped the rumors and suspicions that have multiplied as the oil's sheen has faded.

Work was drying up, people heard. Claims seemed harder to win. The massive cleanup effort, which helped replace lost livings with BP paychecks, seemed certain to be dismantled soon.

People here also fretted about losing the country's attention, long before anybody makes good on President Barack Obama's promise "to restore the unique beauty and bounty" of the long-troubled gulf. The new fear for many people here is that the only thing worse than the oil spill will be the end of it.

On NBC's Meet the Press Sunday, White House climate and energy czar Carol Browner defended the administration's finding that three-quarters of the 4.9-million barrels of oil has either disappeared or is in the process of disappearing.

Asked if BP had concurred with that calculation of the total oil that escaped — a key number, since the oil company's punishment might depend on the size of the spill — Browner said: "I think BP has been silent. But that doesn't matter. We will hold them accountable."

Browner also said Obama would be serving gulf seafood to guests attending his birthday party Sunday at the White House.

There is still confusion about where much of the oil has gone. Last week, the federal government said that roughly three-quarters of the oil was accounted for. But outside scientists said that was based largely on guesswork. Wherever it is, the oil is largely gone from the surface, where the cleanup effort can reach it.

Retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, who has led the administration's response to the spill, gave BP a mixed review for its handling of the accident and its aftermath. While giving the company "fairly good marks" for employing the technology that has capped and controlled the well in recent days, Allen suggested Sunday that BP had fallen short in dealing with people affected by the spill.

"It's something (for which) they don't naturally have a capacity or a competency in their company," Allen said, "and it's been very, very hard for them to understand. And that's the lens by which the American people view them, and that's the area where they need to improve the most."