Gulf oil spill: Obama administration continues to press BP on cleanup

A "heartsick" Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said on Monday that the federal government is continuing to work on the growing Gulf of Mexico oil leak and will do everything it can to clean up the mess and to hold BP accountable for the damage.

Napolitano, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and a congressional delegation toured the area to assess the damage from a leaking well that is 5,000 feet below the gulf’s surface.

The government is organizing a group of scientists to estimate the amount of oil that is coming out of the well, she said. Estimates of the spillage vary from 5,000 barrels a day to many times that. Even the most conservative estimates place the spill at millions of gallons since a deep-water rig exploded and sank at the end of last month.

BP owns the well, but the rig was operated by another company. BP has said it will pay all legitimate claims arising from what the federal government calls a disaster.

“This is largest incident response to an oil spill ever in the history of the United States,” Napolitano said. “We continue to hold BP responsible as the responsible party. But we are on them, watching them. We know the value of these lands, of these parishes.”

“We are heartsick that Grand Isle is now at risk,” she said of one of the barrier islands now in the way of the growing oil slick. “We are going to do everything we can to protect these lands, to protect these parishes and to make sure that claims are paid, the oil well is sealed and this area comes back.”

Gov. Jindal said the leak “threatens our way of life in Louisiana.”

Jindal estimated that 70 miles of Louisiana coast has been hit by oil. He called for more resources and for the federal government to have a greater on-site role in pushing cleanup efforts.

“Our top goal is to keep this oil out of wetlands, these marshes,” he said.

Salazar, who like Napolitano is making his fourth visit to the region, insisted the federal government was not standing by, but is actively working to stop the damage and to oversee BP’s efforts.

“The fact of the matter is that this is a BP mess. It is a horrible mess,” Salazar said. “We will not rest until their job is done.”

-- Michael Muskal

Twitter.com/LATimesmuskal

Photos: Oil spill spreads in the Gulf of Mexico

Related: Obama administration talks tough, but has limited options in oil leak crisis

Photo: Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, center, with Mary Landrieu, D-La., left, Sen. David Vitter, R-La. and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, speaks at a press conference in Galliano, La. Credit: Patrick Semansky / Associated Press

Comments

[dp]

Reading these comments, you'd think George Bush was president!

[Brian Pia, imagecpr.com]

BP can’t live up to it’s own words. So, why should the company be allowed to continue to drill in the Gulf?

“We help the world meet its growing need for heat, light and mobility. And we strive to do that by producing energy that is affordable, secure and doesn’t damage the environment.”

—The very first paragraph from The BP brand, bp.com.

The month–long oil spill in the Gulf is growing every second. Gushers deep underwater are killing wildlife and livelihoods everyday. It’s happening in slow motion, but the devastation is very real. It may soon be the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history.

BP is the largest oil and gas producer in the Gulf of Mexico, extracting 400,000 barrels of oil daily from that delicate ecosystem. And if you think dealing with an oil leak nearly a mile underwater is complicated, the company says it’s been drilling wells in 10,000 feet of water in the Gulf and more than 20,000 feet beneath the sea floor. As we’ve seen from the Deepwater Horizon leaks, BP is walking a tightrope without a safety net.

Read more at www.imagecpr.com

[Gemma]

Drill Baby Drill??? Let the wrath of Palinism bare down on the South! Thou "Red States" shall be coated black! How ironic!

[TheIdahoKid]

Ha-ha-ha, ha-ha-ha, the Obama administration doing anything to big oil is ha-ha-ha

[American Independent]

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano is really a joke - what does an oil spill have to do with her job? Is she afraid that the oil might wash up in Mexico and kill future illegals? What was big ears aka Obama thinking? Or was he having a Blumenthal moment when his teleprompter was warming up?

[James]

Isn't she the idiot who sent in SWAT teams to the gulf for an oil spill? LOL

[Geena Rodriguez]

Napolitano is in way over her head. She needs to be replaced. She is a pawn. And a stupid pawn at that. What the heck is wrong with this Administration?

[john1776]

At this point the heads should be rolling!

[Big Jim Slade]

Does anyone else think all these clowns know what to do other than talk?

I'm pretty sure the North Koreans think that's all Obama's good for... talk.

[Southoc]

Napolitano - can you work on protecting the borders from illegal aliens too? Isn't that your job?

[Jay]

BLOW UP AND SEAL THE HOLE!!!!!

[David Dennstedt]

I wonder if the Oil Companies realize that that is the last off-shore oil well that will ever be drilled in this world.

[PaulRevere]

Why is Napolitano putting pressure on BP have they now become marked terrorists?

How about taking care of the illegal alien problem? I am sure you are as worthless in the BP incident as you are in Homeland Security!

[Shawn M. Estes]

So Salazar makes the comment, "If top kill fails we (The Feds) will likely move in and take care of it ourselves". The jack tails in Washington don't know a sub surface stack from a surface stack. Fact is, here's how the whole thing plays out -

Obama accepts campaign money from BP

BP get special provisions in The Gulf

Obama appoints Salazar to lead The Dept. of Interior that dept. overseas MMS

BP engineers write a drilling / casing plan and submit it to MMS

Salazar's people approve a good drilling plan but very questionable casing plan

BP hits the pay zone, gas comes into the annulus because BP fails to use sealed (Cheap) casing hangers.

11 of my offshore brothers die - Fathers, Husbands, Sons, Uncles, just everyday hard working young men.

Janet Napolatano lies to America and says the Navy was there since day 1 - LIE!

Environmental Catastrophe - Now half a million people that work in the oilfield or for oil companies and live here in the South are America's enemy?

BP's attorneys can't handle the load of class action law suits being filed, BP hires international law firm Kirkland & Ellis who is based in Chicago, IL - Hmmmm, I know someone famous who is from there.

Obama & Salazar put a hold on drilling permits in The Gulf & On the shelf where we've never had a serious spill- At least a million American jobs hang in the balance here and to see him on TV giving the country the basic Washington BJ pretty much makes me sick.

[Bill Carson]

There are other areas of the country where these oil spills continue to happen with no new laws ! The residents around Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts are still mad as hell at the people who spilled oil in the Bay !

How angry are the residents about the oil spill that live with the Buzzards Bay oil spill years ago! There have been no new laws enacted to protect us from more spills. Every proposed bill by the state has been side tracked by one means or another!

On April 27, 2003, eight years ago the Bouchard Barge B-120 hit an obstacle in Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts creating a 12-foot rupture in its hull and discharging an estimated 100,000 gallons of No. 6 oil. The oil is known to have affected an estimated 90 miles of shoreline, killing 450 numerous bird species the day it happen.

Not one new law has been passed to protect us from the oil companies to this day!

[Steve Morgan]

Why are they bashing BP ??? They've already admitted their responsable---for the whole mess! What's this BS about "we have our boot on BPs neck" what kind of crappola is that ? Is that the way this administration wants to "work together" to fix the mess ? I thought cooperation was the way to get things done, how does confrontation fit in here ?

Jezzz what a bunch of Jerks !!

[Ian]

Despite good intentions and progressive pronouncements from the Obama Administration, there's little difference between them and the Bush Administration, when it comes to actual defense and oil policies.

[GEAH]

Heckuva job, Janet.

[Priorities!]

As Homeland Secretary, you should be worrying about the borders......let the Interior Dept do this. But I guess that is of no concern to you.. Just continue with the inaction there as well as in the Gulf.....