A final cap sealing BP's catastrophic Macondo well is emblazoned with an 11-point star to honor the workers who lost their lives when the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded, officials said Wednesday.
The cap was installed on Monday 1,500 meters (5,000 feet) down on the floor of the Gulf of Mexico — a last ceremonial seal over the well that spewed a record 4.9 million barrels or 185 million gallons of toxic crude into the sea.
"It's an 11-point star, if you wish, each one of those points representing one of the eleven lives that were lost on that explosion," Coast Guard Rear Admiral Paul Zukunft, the government coordinator, told a press conference.
The tragic April 20 explosion crippled local fishing and tourism industries in Louisiana and other Gulf coast states and caused untold damage to the Gulf of Mexico's fragile eco-system.
Almost four months after the Macondo well was finally plugged, Zukunft said the clean-up work continues, as do efforts to wind down the massive operation at the site.
"We still have approximately 12 vessels at the well site recovering some of the equipment that still is on the sea floor," he told reporters.
Crews hope to mop up any remaining oil before Spring Break, the annual holiday rite for US college students who swarm Gulf Coast beaches each year in March and April.
A US presidential panel probing the Gulf of disaster Tuesday slammed the firms involved in the deadly rig accident, calling them safety laggards in need of a complete overhaul.
BP and its partners on the well ignored key test results, ran tests badly, and dismissed pressure readings that should have sounded alarm bells, saying they were likely caused by a faulty gauge, the panel said.
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