Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen must deal with the new unchecked oil gusher in the Gulf.Photo courtesy of the White House

WASHINGTON — The containment system capturing oil from the Gulf of Mexico spill had to be removed Wednesday, leaving crude gushing unchecked after a collision involving a robotic submarine, U.S. officials said.

“We had an incident earlier today, they noticed that there was some kind of a gas rising,” said Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen, the official coordinating the response to the disaster.

“They indicated the problem was a remotely operated vehicle had bumped into one of the vents,” Allen said, adding that the “top hat” container was being checked and could be reinstalled later Wednesday.

Allen cautioned that reactivating the containment system could “take a considerable amount longer.”