BP to remove equipment at Gulf well by Sunday

HOUSTON (Reuters) - BP Plc expects to remove a failed blowout preventer atop its ruptured Gulf of Mexico oil well by Saturday or Sunday and later plug the leak for good, the top U.S. official overseeing the spill response said on Wednesday.

"We believe in the next 24 to 36 hours, we will enter a weather window that will allow us to proceed," retired Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen said at a briefing in Houston.

Rough seas near the Macondo well site on Monday suspended work to remove the giant stack of pipes and valves and replace it with another, a needed step before BP resumes drilling a relief well to plug the leak.

The relief well remains on target to intersect the Macondo well sometime after the U.S. Labor Day holiday on Monday. The relief well is about 50 feet from its target near the bottom of the Macondo well, about 13,000 feet beneath the seabed.

Allen said six- to eight-foot waves forced BP to hold off, but three-foot waves are expected Thursday through Sunday.

Later on Wednesday, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal told reporters the state was pushing BP to pay for a five-year program to test Gulf seafood and sell its safety to consumers.

As more fishing areas are reopened, BP should commit to pay for 400 seafood samplings per month so fishermen can resume work, Jindal said.

"This is a straightforward request," Jindal said at BP's training facility in Houma, Louisiana. "We originally asked for 20 years, and we modified our request."

He said state officials would meet with BP about the proposal on Friday. BP declined comment.

The failed BOP is critical evidence in criminal and civil investigations into the April 20 blowout that led to an explosion aboard the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig. The blast killed 11 men.

A working BOP can handle increased pressure when the relief well bores into the Macondo well, Allen said.

The combined weight of the pipe that will lift it from the seabed, a latching mechanism and the BOP itself will be about 1 million pounds, Allen said. Waves higher than three feet could overly stress the pipe and make the BOP swing like a pendulum.

BP aims to start by removing a cap atop the BOP equipment that has cut off all oil flow since July 15, Allen said.

BP initially plugged the well on August 5 with cement pumped in from the top. Company and government scientists believe oil won't leak during the switch.

"We do believe the risks are small for a hydrocarbon release," Allen said. "That said, there will be containment vessels on standby just in case they're needed."

(Editing by Jerry Norton and Todd Eastham)