BP CEO: Effort to plug spill going as planned, will be at least a day before success is known

BP CEO: Effort to plug oil spill going as planned

COVINGTON, La. — BP CEO Tony Hayward says the process of pumping heavy mud into the leaking Gulf of Mexico well is going according to plan and it will be at least a day before the company knows if it has been successful.

This is company’s boldest attempt yet to plug the gusher that has spewed millions of gallons of oil over the last five weeks.

Hayward says the plume of gushing oil that is being shown live online and on TV isn’t an indictor of whether the process is working. He says if it increases or decreases, it doesn’t indicate what’s going on.

BP hoped the mud being pumped in Wednesday could overpower the steady stream of oil. The company wants to eventually inject cement into the well to permanently seal it.

(This version CORRECTS APNewsNow. corrects second reference to Hayward in 3rd graf. Will be led. Multimedia: An interactive with an animated look at possible causes, data on drilling and the Minerals and Management Service, and a timeline of past oil rig accidents, —national/oil_rig_accidents. Moving on general news and financial services. AP Video.)