Obama: “BP Oil Spill Under Control – Very Good News”

U.S. President Barack Obama welcomed the success of the first phase which sealed the oil waste in the Gulf of Mexico, which he described as “very good news” while he assured that the cleaning efforts will continue. “It was very good news when we heard during the night that the efforts to seal the oil waste in the Gulf of Mexico through what is called a “static set” seemed to have succeeded” said Barack Obama during his speech to the National Association Workers AFL-CIO in Washington.

“The big battle to stop the leak and contain the oil is close to an end”, he added. The U.S. president referred also to a survey of scientists which shows that the majority of the oil that leaked out has been severed or removed from the water. The U.S. president also noted that the government will not forgive those responsible for the worst oil spill in history.

Although the U.S. government announced that half the 4.9 million barrels of oil leaked from the oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico in April has disappeared, there remain more than one million barrels which is four times more than the oil slick caused the Exxon Valdez in Alaska back in 1989.

Concerns about long-term effects

The U.S. government is “very optimistic about the fact that now there will be no more oil spills in nature”, said retired Coast Guard Admiral Thant Allen, who oversees the cleaning efforts. From the same step, the director of the White House on energy Carroll Braouner give a warning however that there are still more that must be done to remedy the effects of leakage. The U.S. authorities say they remain concerned regarding the long term effects of oil in the environment, despite the successful sealing of the leakage from BP . She concluded by saying that “The effects of oil pollution on the environment will be visible for many years, perhaps decades”.