As most news outlets are reporting, BP’s work in replacing the top hat is progressing. Over the weekend, the old top hat was removed and the previously cut riser pipe was removed by unbolting it. Here is some video I grabbed on Sunday afternoon of the oil gushing freely from the flange at the top of the blowout preventer:

Later Sunday, a new riser pipe was bolted onto the flange. I did not record video then, but I watched for quite a while as bolts were tightened on the connection. At that point, the riser was in vertical alignment with the blowout preventer below it. This morning, however, when I looked, the riser is decidedly bent to one side. No kink is visible, but the riser is no longer in vertical alignment with the blowout preventer. Here is video from this morning:

I know that it had been announced that the new oil collection system was designed to allow more rapid connection and disconnection in the event of hurricanes passing through the area and that the riser was going to be flexible. However, I was under the impression that the flex points would be much closer to the surface of the water rather than just atop the blowout preventer. Is the riser supposed to be this bent this low in the water, or was there a problem overnight that led to a bend in an unfortunate location?

I’d like to make one unrelated note in closing. The fact that BP is proceeding with installation of a system that is designed only to collect oil from the new hardware attached to the top of the blowout preventer confirms our long-held suspicions that the integrity of the well below the blowout preventer cannot be trusted. If the lower portions of the well could be trusted, then a new blowout preventer could have been bolted atop the old one and then closed. Because this was not done, we now know for certain that the well cannot withstand the internal pressures that would be generated by stopping the flow at a point above the existing blowout preventer. This point was presumed when the top kill failed but is now proved.