The AP (6/24, Kunzelman) reports, “Oil had spewed uncontrolled into the Gulf of Mexico for much of the day Wednesday before engineers reattached a cap being used to contain the gusher and direct some of the crude to a surface ship.” The logistics coordinator on board the Discoverer Enterpriser said “that after more than 10 hours, the system was again collecting the crude.” BP “later confirmed the cap was back in place, but said it had been hooked up about an hour and half earlier. The coordinator said it would take a little time for the system to ‘get ramped back up.’”

The Washington Post (6/24, Achenbach) reports, “The Deepwater Horizon well became an uncapped geyser once again Wednesday.” The “morning mishap with the makeshift cap on the well ended a 24-hour period of relative success. On Tuesday, the cap had managed to capture 16,668 barrels (700,056 gallons) of oil; 10,429 more barrels (438,018 gallons) were flared through a separate containment operation that continues uninterrupted. The amount was the highest yet contained since the April 20 explosion.”

The New York Times (6/24, Robbins) reports incident commander Adm. Thad Allen of the Coast Guard, “at a briefing in Washington, said a remote-controlled submersible operating a mile beneath the surface had most likely bumped a vent and compromised the system. Live video from the sea floor showed oil and gas storming out of the well unrestricted. By evening, the cap was back on, nestled in place on the eighth try after about 90 minutes of effort.”