Feds: Oil Relief Well Could Hit Mark by Weekend

clipped from www.cbsnews.com White House Disaster Chief says with Pressure Relieved, Mud and Cement Could Permanently Seal Well in 2 Weeks Three months into the disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, the federal government's spill chief says a relief tunnel should finally reach BP's broken well by the weekend, meaning the gusher could be snuffed for good within two weeks. After several days of concern about the well's stability and the leaky cap keeping the oil mostly bottled up, retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen said Tuesday that engineers concluded the risk of a bigger blowout was minimal and were getting closer to pumping mud into the column to permanently seal it. Just like the top kill BP tried in May, the "static kill" would force thick mud down a hose and into the bad blowout preventer to stop the flow, reports CBS News correspondent Kelly Cobiella. It may work better this time because the cap is containing the oil.