Obama calls on BP not to ‘nickel and dime’ Gulf Coast businesses

President Barack Obama on Monday again warned BP not to be “nickel and diming” businesses hurt by the oil leak.

Obama’s comments followed a meeting with Cabinet officials and national incident commander Adm. Thad Allen, who said earlier in the day that he would like to see BP “get better at claims.”

{mosads}”The economic impact of this disaster is going to be substantial and it is going to be ongoing,” Obama said.

Obama joined Allen in warning that no matter how successful efforts are to contain the leak before the relief wells are operational in early August, there will still be considerable and long-lasting damage.

“No matter how successful we are over the next few weeks on some of the containment efforts, the damages are still going to be there,” Obama said. “This will be contained. It may take some time. It’s going to take a whole lot of effort.”

The president expressed optimism that Gulf Coast communities will survive the economic strain of the leak.

“The one thing I’m absolutely confident about is, as we have before, we will get through this crisis,” Obama said. “Not only are we going to control the damage to the Gulf Coast, but we want to actually use this as an opportunity to reexamine and work with the states and local communities to restore the coast in ways that actually enhance the livelihood and quality of life for people in that area.

“They bounce back, and they’re going to bounce back this time.”

The presidents comments come just as a Washington Post/ABC News poll shows that more Americans rate the federal
government’s response as similar to the aftermath of
Hurricane Katrina.

69 percent of those surveyed said the federal
government’s response has been “poor” or “not good.”

At a briefing with White House reporters earlier Monday, Allen said federal officials are still unsure about how much oil is leaking on a daily basis, calling the flow rate “the great unknown.”

Allen, who is leading the administration’s effort in the Gulf, said the leak could be putting more than 25,000 barrels of oil into the water every day, despite some success at limiting the leak. He also said the administration had to be “transparent” in telling the public that there would be long-term issues from the spill, one of the worst environmental disasters in the country’s history.

“We’ll be dealing with oil and the effects of oil well after the well is capped,” Allen said Monday.

BP has been trying to capture oil by lowering a cap into the sea and fitting it above the broken valves spewing oil into the Gulf. The company has reported some success, though video shows oil continues to spill out of the well.

The containment dome that began funneling oil to the surface for collection last week captured an estimated 10,500 barrels on Saturday, the company said.

The funneling system is an interim step while the company digs relief wells to end the flow, which are slated to be completed in August.

Allen said the vessel currently capturing oil on the surface has upped the amount it is capturing in the last 24 hours from 6,000 barrels a day to 11,000 barrels a day. Another vessel is en route to relieve the one currently on scene, and that new vessel could capture as much as 20,000 barrels a day.

Allen said that after the relief wells are operational in early August — which the administration has described as a permanent solution — responders will still be dealing with oil on the surface for at least four to six weeks.

Allen acknowledged that the environmental effects will have to be dealt with for years to come.

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said the administration is trying to determine its own flow rate and is not in any way depending on the oil company for estimates. He also said BP will be on the hook for “billions of dollars” for cleaning up the spill.

Allen said the administration is putting together an “oil budget” to estimate how much BP and other companies should pay for damages from the spill, which has affected four states and is seriously damaging the economy of Louisiana.

Allen warned that on-the-ground responders are dealing with a “massive collection of smaller spills” instead of one large spill, as winds and water conditions have changed the area from one spill to “hundreds of thousands of patches of oil that are going in lots of different directions.”

“I think we’re adapting to an enemy that changes,” Allen said.

Congress is set to begin a new round of hearings on the spill this week.

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