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Box To Contain Oil Spill Settling Over Leak

On the Gulf of Mexico – A spokesman for BP PLC says a 100-ton concrete-and-steel box has been placed over a massive oil leak at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico and is settling down into the mud.

BP spokesman Bill Salvin said Friday it may take as many as 12 hours for the containment box to settle in place but everything appears to be going as planned.

If the box settles properly, crews will then turn their attention to hooking up a pipe to pump the oil out. Salvin cautions though that there are still many challenges ahead as BP makes this first-of-its-kind attempt.

Officials have said it may take two days for crews to hook the device up to a tanker on the surface and begin to siphon off the spewing oil.

(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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