Capping the leak a first step

The largest oil spill in United States history has been capped since Thursday afternoon, sending a collective sigh of relief from the Gulf of Mexico across the entire country.

For the first time in nearly three months, the site of BP's ruptured well no longer is spewing millions of barrels of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico. The dropping of the 75-ton cap onto the open pipe did the trick.

But plenty of work remains, beginning with the confirmation that the capping doesn't cause oil to seep out elsewhere in the line, which would merely continue the catastrophe. Remotely operated underwater vehicles (ROVs) patrol the area, with seismic and sonar surveys being conducted around the disaster site.

On April 20, BP's Deepwater Horizon rig — operating some 50 miles offshore in the Gulf of Mexico — exploded, killing 11 workers and burning before finally sinking out of sight.

In the spill's wake came some key numbers — for 87 days, some 180 million gallons of crude lost at a value of $335 million. That's enough crude to supply the oil demands for each American for more than five hours.

To put it in a geographic perspective, there's now an oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico spread out over an area of more than 2,700 square miles.

While it may not result in the extreme damage and impact as the smaller Exxon Valdez spill in Alaskan waters in 1989, the BP spill is still cause for ongoing concerns and extended efforts.

For example:

While the spill source has been capped, officials are debating how to kill the damaged well completely, as well as looking to resume drilling a nearby relief well.

The coastlines and wetlands of the Gulf states will need ongoing cleanup and ecological restoration.

The economies of those states, based on gulf-related industries and tourism, will need to be shored up considerably.

Major hurricanes in the gulf later this fall could create rough seas and storm surges wreaking havoc with containment and cleanup efforts.

Industry officials and government leaders need to work together now to have plans in place in order to more quickly and effectively respond to similar crises in the future. Better yet, they need to work together to avoid them altogether.

So, while there is relief in capping the gushing source of the BP spill, this episode is not over.

Because in this case, stopping the leak only signals a much-needed start.