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Gulf oil disaster cleanup to take years, Allen says
By: cnn.comPosted On: 06/07/2010 12:10 P
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It will take years to completely clean up the damage from the Gulf of Mexico oil spill disaster, Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, the federal government's response manager for the oil disaster, said Monday.
It will take years to completely clean up the damage from the Gulf of Mexico oil spill disaster, Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, the federal government's response manager for the oil disaster, said Monday.
"Dealing with the oil spill on the surface is going to go on for a couple of months. After that it'll be taken care of," Allen said in response to a reporter's question at a White House briefing. "I agree with you, long-term issues of restoring the environment and the habitats and stuff will be years."
Allen said 11,000 barrels of oil had been collected from the broken well over the previous 24 hours. He said roughly 120 linear miles of coastline in the Gulf of Mexico have been affected by the spill.
Allen was in Washington to brief President Obama and the Cabinet on the administration's ongoing response to the disaster.
Meanwhile, the House Committee on Energy and Commerce was set to open shop on the bayou, holding a hearing in Chalmette, Louisiana.
The Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations will hold a field hearing on "Local Impact of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill" near ground zero for the growing disaster.
Also Monday, Carol Browner, the president's assistant for energy and climate change, will host a video chat to answer questions from the public about the oil disaster. The chat can be viewed at WhiteHouse.gov or at the White House's Facebook page.
The expanding government response comes as the effects of the disaster are spreading along the Gulf Coast.
Federal officials said Sunday that dead birds with oil on them have been reported in Texas for the first time. Dead wildlife has been reported in Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, Florida and Texas.
The report came during a weekend in which oil company BP's senior vice president, Bob Fryar, said the company was "pleased" with its operation to funnel crude up from the ruptured undersea well to a drilling ship a mile above on the Gulf of Mexico.
Fryar said the company funneled about 250,000 gallons of oil on Friday from a containment cap installed on the well to a drilling ship on the ocean surface.
On Saturday, BP had increased the amount of oil it was funneling to the surface to about 441,000 gallons. Federal authorities estimate that 798,000 gallons of crude are gushing into the sea every day.
Allen said Sunday that BP has made progress in its cleanup efforts, but cautioned it was too early to call the effort a success.
"We're making the right progress. I don't think anyone should be pleased as long as there's oil in the water," Allen said on CNN's "State of the Union."
Allen confirmed that BP has been able to bring oil to the surface after placing the cap, but said no one should be pleased until a relief well is completed and the leaking stops.
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