Spill Tops Valdez Disaster
As authorities waited Thursday to see whether BP PLC's 'top kill' operation would stop the oil gushing from the company's broken well in the Gulf of Mexico, a federal panel of scientists made estimates of the spill that would rank it the worst in U.S. history, surpassing the Exxon Valdez disaster of 1989.
周四，当局正在等待英国石油公司(BP PLC) “灭顶”行动的结果，看此次行动能否停止该公司墨西哥湾破损油井的石油泄漏。同时，由多名科学家组成的联邦小组估计此次漏油事件的影响将超过1989年埃克森•瓦尔迪兹号(Exxon Valdez)油轮漏油灾难，成为美国历史上最严重的漏油事故。
BP said late Thursday it had temporarily halted the pumping of heavy drilling fluid, or 'mud,' into the well. The company said much of the fluid had been leaking out of the well, but that it planned to resume pumping mud around midnight.
英国石油公司周四晚说已暂时停止向油井泵入高密度的钻井液体（或泥浆）。公司说大部分液体已漏出井外，但计划于午夜前后重新开始向油井泵入泥浆。
Fallout from last month's explosion on the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig reverberated in the U.S. capital Thursday, as members of Congress accused BP of deliberately downplaying the size of the leak and President Barack Obama slammed the brakes on off-shore deepwater oil drilling, in a policy pivot from just two months ago.
周四，上个月深水地平线(Deepwater Horizon)钻井平台爆炸事件的后果仍在美国国会引起波澜，国会议员指责英国石油公司故意低估泄漏的规模，美国总统奥巴马(Barack Obama)紧急终止了近海深海石油钻井，与两个月前的政策完全相反。
Mr. Obama also accepted the resignation of his top oil regulator, and accepted blame for failures before and after the sinking of the Deepwater Horizon.
奥巴马还接受了其最高石油监管官员的辞呈，并接受了深水地平线钻井平台沉没前后外界对其失职的指责。
'I take responsibility,' Mr. Obama said at an hour-long news conference. 'It is my job to make sure everything is done to shut this down.'
奥巴马在长达一小时的新闻发布会上说，我负责，我应当确保尽一切努力把它关闭，这是我的职责。
Oil has been spewing from the damaged well since the rig sank on April 22. Eleven workers died in the initial explosions that doomed the rig. Crude has washed up on 100 miles of Louisiana shoreline, threatening the livelihood of tens of thousands of fishermen and shrimpers.
4月22日钻井平台沉没之后，石油一直源源不断地从破损的油井中喷出。最初的爆炸摧毁了平台，致使11名工人死亡。原油在路易斯安那州沿海漂浮，延绵100英里，威胁着数万名渔民和捕虾者的生计。
The White House said it had canceled the sale of oil-exploration leases in the western Gulf and off the Atlantic Coast of Virginia, and had delayed a major Arctic drilling project until at least 2011. The administration said it would place a moratorium on issuing any new permits to drill wells in deep water for six months, until an independent commission delivers its report on the disaster.
白宫说已取消出售墨西哥湾西部地区及弗吉尼亚州大西洋沿岸石油勘探租赁权，并把一个大型的北极地区钻井项目至少推迟到2011年。美国政府说在六个月内将暂停批准新的深海钻井许可，直到独立委员会发布对此次灾难的调查报告之后才会重新开始。
Efforts at halting the spewing oil by pumping heavy drilling fluid into the well -- known as the 'top kill' procedure -- had showed early signs of success. Lt. Commander Tony Russell of the U.S. Coast Guard said the mud was stopping some oil and gas. But Bob Dudley, BP's managing director, said it could take 24 to 48 hours before to know whether the operation was going to work.
通过向油井中泵入较重的钻井泥浆中止石油泄漏称作灭顶法。英国石油公司的这一努力已显示出初步成功的迹象。美国海岸警卫队少校拉塞尔(Tony Russell)说泥浆止住了部分石油和天然气的泄漏。但英国石油公司常务董事达德利(Bob Dudley)说，需24至48小时才能知道这次行动是否有效。