BP deploys sensors to gauge spill

NEW ORLEANS – BP deployed undersea sensors Sunday to better measure the ferocious flow of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico.

BP was also trying to meet a Sunday deadline to respond to a letter from the Coast Guard demanding that it intensify the efforts to stop the spill. One of the actions BP took Sunday was to use robotic submarines to position sensors inside the well to gauge how much oil is spilling.

The robots were expected to insert the pressure sensors through a line used to inject methanol – an antifreeze meant to prevent the buildup of icelike slush – into a containment cap seated over the ruptured pipe, BP spokesman David Nicholas said.

Scientists haven’t been able to pin down just how much oil is leaking into the Gulf, although the high-end estimates indicated the spill could exceed 100 million gallons. The government has stressed that the larger estimates were still preliminary and considered a worse-case scenario.