I think the seep is the same as the “bubble” Suttles reported this morning. They were trying to capture some of it to check for hydrocarbons. I get the feeling from the Allen letter that he’s trying to clear the decks so that there’s no delay on test results getting to him and no stalling if those results are positive. Later in the letter he told them to be prepared to reopen the choke line without delay.
I’m not sure I see the “conflicts” on this issue that the media’s speculating about. Suttles was very careful not to get into the position of being the advocate for a different position from the government’s. He even ducked being characterized as hopeful. I think there’s a lot of communal nail-biting going on.