The federal government’s point man on the Gulf oil spill response, Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, will meet with New Orleans parish presidents Thursday morning to outline plans after the well is permanently sealed.

As Allen meets with parish leaders, preparations are moving forward for two efforts to kill the well–first, sealing it from above by pouring mud and cement into the well in an operation called “static kill” and then closing it off permanently from below with an intersecting relief well. The static kill could begin as early as Sunday while the relief well may be ready for the “bottom kill” effort five to seven days afterward.

A panel of federal judges will meet in Boise, Idaho on Thursday to consider arguments on where litigation over the Deepwater Horizon rig explosion and oil spill will be consolidated.