July 23, 2010 12:28 PM EDT
As tropical storm Bonnie moves faster toward southern Florida on Friday, on its way to the BP well site in the Gulf of Mexico , the U.S. oil spill response chief said that many of the vessels and ships on the site are preparing to evacuate.
Among the vessels required to move will be the rig drilling the relief well that is meant to kill the temporarily capped well.
"While these actions may delay the effort to kill the well for several days, the safety of the individuals at the well site is our highest concern," Ret. Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen said.
A tropical storm watch was declared early Friday for the northern Gulf from Destin, FL, to Morgan City, LA.
On Wednesday Allen said the federal science team had determined that if an evacuation occurred, testing of a well cap would continue even without monitoring.
"I have also directed BP to take measures to ensure the vessels operating the underwater monitoring robots are the last to leave, and the first to return in order to maximize monitoring of the well," he said.
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Allen said the decision to leave the cap on was prompted by "growing confidence in the data we have" after monitoring which "allows us to rule out potential sources or indications there might be a leak."
Allen said there had been a "significant reduction" in the amount of oil on the surface.
"We have the prospect that some of this oil could be driven inland into marsh areas," he said, citing earlier bad weather caused by Hurricane Alex, which spared the well site from the brunt of its force.
He said skimming and boom equipment currently in low lying areas will be moved inland to protect it.
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