Obama: Administration is ‘prepared for the worst’ in Gulf spill

President Barack Obama said his administration is “prepared for the
worst” in the Gulf Coast as he used his weekly address to outline the
government’s response to the massive oil spill.

Speaking from Grand Isle, La., the president said it appeared that
BP was “making progress” in trying to pump oil to the Gulf surface from
the cap it placed over the well this week. “But as has been the case
since the beginning of this crisis,” Obama said, “we are prepared for
the worst, even as we hope that BP’s efforts bring better news than
we’ve received before.

{mosads}”We also know that regardless of the outcome of
this attempt, there will still to be some spillage until the relief
wells are completed. And there will continue to be a massive cleanup
ahead of us.”

Obama said his administration’s actions marked “the largest
response to an environmental disaster of this kind in the history of
our country.” The government has deployed 17,500 National Guard troops
to the coast, laid down 4.3 million miles of boom and set up 17
separate staging areas in four states, he said.

As frustration has mounted over the failure to plug a well that has
been gushing oil for more than six weeks, Obama has come under
criticism for the government’s handling of the crisis. The White
House has responded by making the president increasingly visible, and
he made his second visit to the region in little more than a week on
Friday.

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In his address, Obama repeated pledges to make BP pay “every single
dime owed to the people along the Gulf Coast.” He also told the stories
of people he had met in the region whose lives have been upended by the
crisis.

Citing a commission he appointed to investigate the spill, Obama
also said the government would have a long-term response. “If laws are
inadequate, laws will be changed,” the president said. “If oversight
was lacking, it will be strengthened. And if laws were broken, those
responsible will be brought to justice.”