WASHINGTON — The man heading the Obama administration’s response to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico said Tuesday that a newly-installed containment cap on the stricken BP rig is helping to limit the leak.
Speaking at a Washington briefing, Adm. Thad Allen of the Coast Guard said that more than 14,800 barrels of oil have been kept out of Gulf waters in the last 24 hours. Allen told reporters the amount of oil kept from spilling into the Gulf “has climbed steadily” from the first day the containment cap was installed.
He also said officials will be meeting with BP to assess how well it is handling claims for relief from people hurt by the spill. Allen said the aim is “to see if we need to provide any oversight.” He had said Monday BP was struggling to handle claims.
Elsehwere, President Barack Obama, citing possible safety shortcomings before the nation’s worst environmental disaster, said he is looking for “whose ass to kick” in response to the Gulf oil spill.
In an interview Tuesday on NBC’s “Today” show, Obama said there may have been “some corner cutting” on safety on the doomed oil rig and promised a full investigation.
The president said the three trips he has taken to the Gulf Coast to speak with people affected by the spill have helped him understand who needs to be held responsible, “so I know whose ass to kick,” he told “Today” host Matt Lauer, according to excerpts released by NBC.
About BP Chief Executive Officer Tony Hayward, who made comments minimizing potential environmental damage from the leak in the Gulf of Mexico and discussing its impact on his life, Obama said he “wouldn’t be working for me.”
Obama said he hadn’t spoken directly to Hayward about the spill.
“My experience is when you talk to a guy like a BP CEO, he is going to say all the right things to me,” the president said. “I’m not interested in words. I’m interested in actions.”
Hayward will make his first appearance on Capitol Hill since the oil spill when he testifies before a congressional committee next week.
Hayward is scheduled to appear at a House Energy and Commerce oversight and investigations subcommittee hearing June 17. The subject of the hearing is the role of BP in the Deepwater Horizon explosion and oil spill.
BP spokesman Robert Wine defended the company’s efforts.
“We are doing everything possible we can to stop the leaking,” Wine said in a telephone interview. “This is a massive response on an unprecedented scale led by Tony Hayward.”
Attorney General Eric Holder has opened a criminal investigation into the accident and promised prosecutions “to the fullest extent of the law.”
Having made three trips to Louisiana since the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded and sank in April, Obama said he traveled to the Gulf region to talk to fishermen about ways to deal with the crisis.
“I don’t sit around just talking to experts because this is a college seminar,” Obama said. “We talk to these folks because they potentially have the best answers, so I know whose ass to kick.”
The government says water tests have confirmed underwater oil plumes from the BP oil spill, but that concentrations are “very low.”
NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco said that the tests conducted at three sites by a University of South Florida research vessel confirmed oil as far as 3,300 feet below the surface 42 miles northeast of the well site. Oil also was found in a sub-surface sample 142 miles southeast of the spill, but further tests showed that oil is “not consistent” with oil from the spill.
Lubchenco said the water analysis “indicate there is definitely oil sub surface. It’s in very low concentrations” of less than 0.5 parts per million. Additional samples from another research vessel are being tested, she said.
“We remain concerned about the location of oil on the surface and under the sea,” said Lubchenco.
BP had questioned whether oil actually was forming below water.
Information for this article was contributed by The Associated Press and Bloomberg News.