Coast Guard Updates Gulf Oil Spill Information

U.S. Coast Guard Rear Adm. Mary Landry, Federal On-Scene Coordinator for Unified Area Command, Deepwater Horizon Response, briefed reporters and bloggers on May 17, 2010. Admiral Landry took a variety of questions and was able to provide context for many of the ongoing projects mitigating this oil leak.

BP, the responsible party conducting the drilling, has spent about $500 million to mitigate the leak and to control the well's output. The United States government has committed about $60 million from the Oil Spill Trust Fund to cover its response, but Rear Adm. Landry made it clear that BP would ultimately be responsible for those costs.

Admiral Landry confirmed that tar balls found on Dauphin Island, Alabama, were from the BP leak. She did stress that not all the oil coming ashore would be from this event.

The chief concern among everyone working on the BP leak, Landry said, was the possibility of a failure at the wellhead that would release far more crude oil than has been released to date. While mitigation efforts such as the riser insertion tube continue, stopping the release altogether is more important. The proposed "Top Kill" solution by BP is intended to ensure that control over the well is reestablished.

Landry told us that nearly 20,000 people are working on the leak and the resulting oil slick. The Canadians have provided an aircraft from its National Aerial Surveillance Program to assist. The State Department has been in contact with several regional nations, including Mexico, where the last large Gulf oil spill occurred.

Among the responders have been ocean going buoy tenders from the Coast Guard. These vessels have skimming capability and are actively assisting in work on the oil slick.

The issue of the use of dispersal agents at the leaks was discussed. Landry told us that the general topic had been pre-approved by the necessary agencies. The results from this use will be studied extensively.

The air and sea space in the region is extremely active. The Coast Guard has established a safety zone around the slick and a maritime transportation system recovery plan is in effect. The Admiral told us that this involves actively working with the various maritime businesses and local communities to minimize the effects of restrictions upon the economy and the lives of the local population.

An Air Force team has been called upon to manage the local air space. As they did with the Port-au-Prince airport in Haiti, the Air Force is working on air space deconfliction.

A tremendous amount of oil spill remediation supplies are being used for the BP / Deepwater Horizon leak. Rear Admiral Landry was able to assure us that supplies remained in other areas of the United States that could be used if there were to be an incident there. BP is drawing on its international resources, as well, to ensure sufficient supplies.