BP vessels that evacuated ahead of Tropical Storm Bonnie returned to the Deepwater Horizon well site Saturday to resume permanently capping the damaged well after a three-day stoppage.

“It’s very good news,” said retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, who is leading the government’s spill response.

Although Bonnie had weakened into a depression, the storm still forced the evacuation of about 10 to 15 ships and disassembly of a portion of the relief tunnel. That means a 7- to 9-day delay in finishing the ultimate fix.

On the bright side, Jane Lubchenco, administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said the depression’s wave action of up to 8 feet in the Northern Gulf will churn the oil, spreading what’s left of the surface oil slicks and breaking up tar balls into smaller parts for quicker biodegradation.

The storm was too weak to churn up any oil deep under the sea, Lubchenco said.

But the depression, with sustained winds of about 30 mph, could drive some weathered oil into marshes and bayous and onto beaches. It’s counter-clockwise rotation also could move some oil away from the coastlines.

“The bottom line: it’s better than it might have been,” Lubchenco said of Bonnie, which packed far less punch than originally forecast.

No oil leaked from the Deepwater Horizon well during the storm, Allen said.

The mechanical cap that has been keeping oil from leaking into the Gulf for the past eight days remained in place. With Bonnie bearing down Friday, BP decided to leave two vessels with skeleton staffs at the site. They monitored the cap using video imaging and at least one underwater robot at all times. Seismic readings were stopped during the storm, Allen said.

Now the goal is to permanently seal the damaged well before another storm forms during this hurricane season, which meteorologists predict to be busier than normal.

“We’re going to play a cat-and-mouse game for the remainder of the hurricane season,” Allen said.

Another weather disturbance is already in the Caribbean. But Lubchenco said it has little chance of developing into a tropical storm in the next 48 hours and only a 10 percent chance of intensifying much in the next five days.

On Monday, BP should be able to resume drilling on the relief well. That is the second part of the two-phase process to permanently seal the well.

Workers are simultaneously building a relief tunnel to reach two miles under the sea and pump in more cement and mud from the top of well, which could kill it right away. It could take up to a week before crews begin blasting in the mud and cement, Allen said.

Workers on the Development Drill 3 rig spent Thursday and Friday disassembling parts of the relief tunnel by pulling up nearly a mile of steel pipe in 40- to 50-foot sections and onto the deck, a safety measure ahead of the storm.

Now they return to the site and reverse the process, which is a big reason for delay.

Some support vessels took safe harbor up the Mississippi river and may take longer to return to the site of the blowout.

(Source: Miami Herald)