Obama says new procedure needed to stop offshore oil leak

President Barack Obama said BP has been told to try a different procedure to stop the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico now that the “top kill” effort has failed.

Obama in a statement said Coast Guard Rear Admiral Mary Landry “directed BP to launch a new procedure whereby the riser pipe will be cut and a containment structure fitted over the leak.”

BP, the owner of the broken oil well, said Saturday the “top kill” effort started earlier this week to shoot mud to reverse the flow of oil hadn’t worked.

Obama said that every day the leak continues is “an assault on the people of the Gulf Coast region, their livelihoods and the natural bounty that belongs to all of us.”

“It is as enraging as it is heartbreaking, and we will not relent until this leak is contained, until the waters and shores are cleaned up, and until the people unjustly victimized by this manmade disaster are made whole,” he said.

Obama said the next effort “is not without risk” and hasn’t been tried at the depth of the well, which is why it has yet to be used.

“It will be difficult and will take several days,” Obama said. “It is also important to note that while we were hopeful that the top kill would succeed, we were also mindful that there was a significant chance it would not. And we will continue to pursue any and all responsible means of stopping this leak until the completion of the two relief wells currently being drilled.”

BP has said those relief wells would permanently stop the oil from flowing into the Gulf, but they won’t be ready until August.