Earlier today, President Obama met with former Florida senator Bob Graham and former EPA administrator William Reilly, co-chairmen of his new oil spill commission. The meeting was part of a concerted effort by the administration to show it is on top of the situation, NPR's Scott Horsley reports.
"We've already mounted the largest cleanup effort in the nation's history, and continue to monitor -- minute-by-minute -- efforts to halt or capture the flow of oil from the wrecked BP well," Obama told reporters outside the White House.
The president also promised to step up federal efforts to ensure the safety of future offshore drilling. He said he wants to know what steps the government should take to prevent any similar disaster in the future.
"We owe all those who've been harmed, as well as future generations, a full and vigorous accounting of the events that led to what has now become the worst oil spill in US history," the president said. "Only then can we be assured that deep-water drilling can take place safely."
The White House sent Attorney General Eric Holder to the Gulf of Mexico, to meet with local prosecutors and discuss BP's legal liability.
According to BP, "the cost of the response to date amounts to about $990 million, including the cost of the spill response, containment, relief well drilling, grants to the Gulf states, claims paid and federal costs, adding "it is too early to quantify other potential costs and liabilities associated with the incident."
Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
