Obama Orders Oil Spill Commission, BP Struggles to
|
|
Date: 5/22/2010 7:18:58 AM
Sender: Voice of America
|
Obama Orders Oil Spill Commission, BP Struggles to Stop Leak
Tug boats pull a tank, center, containing oil and water skimmed from the surface of the Gulf of Mexico near the coast of Louisiana, 21 May 2010
U.S. President Barack Obama has established a bipartisan commission to investigate the massive oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico and make recommendations for future responses.
In his weekly address Saturday, President Obama criticized the "cozy relationship" between energy companies and the government agencies that regulate them, and said that regulators need to do more to prevent future spills.
Meanwhile, energy giant BP is continuing efforts to stop the Gulf of Mexico leak, predicting engineers could stop the flow as early as next week - or as late as August.
BP＇s chief operating officer says the company will try to plug the underwater well with heavy mud early next week.
But Doug Suttles told CBS News Friday that if the procedure fails, BP might not be able to stop the leak until a relief well is ready in early August.
After several failed attempts at stopping the well from gushing thousands of barrels of oil per day, BP had its first success at slowing down the leak down on May 16. Since then, the company has used a tube to funnel some of the oil to a boat.
Experts have disputed how much oil has leaked since a drilling rig exploded on April 20. BP and government officials had estimated the well was leaking about 5,000 barrels per day while independent experts say it is leaking more than ten times that rate.
Public anger about the spill has grown as oil crept into delicate marshlands of the delta at the bottom of America＇s longest river, the Mississippi.
In the Republican weekly address Saturday, Senator David Vitter of Louisiana called for the U.S. Army to protect his state＇s coast by extending nearby barrier islands.
Several U.S. government agencies are working to protect the southern U.S. coast from the oil slick. Workers have set up floating barriers and sprayed chemicals to break up the approaching slick.
Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.
|
|
| |
