US accepts Gulf oil spill aid from 12 countries

[tabatha]

(AFP) – 1 hour ago

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana — The United States will accept offers from 12 foreign countries to help clean up and contain the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, officials said on Tuesday.

"The United States will accept 22 offers of assistance from 12 countries and international bodies, including two high speed skimmers and fire containment boom from Japan," a US State Department statement said.

"We are currently working out the particular modalities of delivering the offered assistance," it said, adding that details would be "forthcoming once these arrangements are complete."

Offers of boom to contain oil and collect it off the surface of the water have been accepted from Canada, Mexico, Norway and Japan, said a spokeswoman from the Unified Area Command, an entity headed by the US Coast Guard that is coordinating with BP on the oil spill response.

Skimmers have been accepted from Mexico, Norway, France and Japan and a sweeping arm system has been accepted from the Netherlands, spokeswoman Gina Ruoti told AFP.

Non-material offers of assistance are coming from the European Union and International Maritime Organization, she added, but was unable to say how much the assistance would be.

A total of 27 countries have offered assistance to the US government following the explosion in April of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, which left 11 workers dead and sparked the most severe oil spill disaster in US history.

An estimated 1.6 million to 3.6 million barrels of oil -- or 67 million to 153 million gallons -- have already poured into the Gulf from the ruptured wellhead some 5,000 feet (1,500 meters) below the surface.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5i4pvGtIX_OYrP4WWHiaQRHiobEqg


The US agreed Tuesday to accept help from the dozens of nations and international groups that have for weeks offered their assistance to collect oil in the Gulf of Mexico, the State Department said.

The US said it will accept offers from 22 countries and 12 international bodies for containment booms to halt the spread of oil and skimmers to collect it from the water.

The details of which offers will be accepted and how the help will be delivered were still being worked out, but would include two high speed skimmers and fire containment booms from Japan, the State Department said.

Offers from 27 countries in Latin America, Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East as well as the European Union, the International Maritime Organization and the United Nations were under consideration.

So far, the US had accepted help from just a handful of countries, including Mexico and Norway.

http://sify.com/news/us-accepts-international-help-for-oil-cleanup-news-international-kg4fkcjjbhc.html

[Posteritatis]

1. Took long enough. (nt)

[tosh]

4. +1. nt

[polichick]

2. The clean-up will go on for months, so this is very good news!

[RKP5637]

3. Some good news! Thanks for posting! n/t

[Rosa Luxemburg]

5. has any country got any spare caps?

[SalmonFritters]

6. Let's all clap and pretend that Obama is right on top of this

What they frig have they been waiting for? I know this forum is basically a "happy place" for Democrats but holy crap, this should have happened about 65 days ago.

Better late than never I suppose, maybe hurricane season finally put some urgency behind it.

[tabatha]

7. Really?

DO you have access to all of the facts - or are you just spewing judgmentalism?

There are skimmers in the gulf - there have been for weeks.

When the gusher first blew, BP told everyone it won't be big, it is only 5,000 gallons a day.

[SalmonFritters]

10. That 5000 g/day become apparently false pretty fast

There have been stories for weeks about how help was offered early and turned away for whatever reason most notably the Jones act but also likely for the desire to have BP get it all sorted out themselves. BP's guilty (among other things) of snowing the admin on how much was coming out but the admin is guilty of not realizing that guilty or not, it's in our nations interest to take all available measures to keep the spill off our shores.

As I recall the question of skimmers came up early in that the oil was too thin of a sheen for them to be effective, maybe that's when they turned them away. But as far as planning for worst case scenarios, how do you wait 2.5 months when oil's washing up all over the place before you let some extra help in? The Jones act excuse doesn't hold water because every president, including during Katrina I believe, routinely waive on the rare occassion that we actually need someone elses help.

I really haven't heard any kind of rational argument that outside help should be denied (other than the logistics of a free-for-all flotilla which I agree with), unless they really wouldn't have been any help. Maybe now that the oil slick is much worse they're equipment will be more effective, I don't know.

[tabatha]

13. There have been all sorts of rumors.

Go here for data

http://www.factcheck.org/2010/06/oil-spill-foreign-help-and-the-jones-act/

[FBaggins]

12. That's 5,000 barrels per day

not gallons.

Plenty big enough for an "all hands on deck" effort.

[Judi Lynn]

8. AP: US accepts international assistance for Gulf spill

Posted on Tuesday, 06.29.10
US accepts international assistance for Gulf spill
By TOM BREEN
Associated Press Writer

NEW ORLEANS -- The United States is accepting help from 12 countries and international organizations in dealing with the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the State Department said Tuesday.

The State Department said in a news release that the U.S. is working out the particulars of the help that's been accepted.

More than 30 countries and international organizations have offered to help with the spill. The U.S. hasn't made a final decision on most of the offers.

The United States rarely faces a disaster of such magnitude that it requires international aid, but the government did accept assistance after Hurricane Katrina.

Most of the countries and groups have offered skimmers, boom or dispersant chemicals, according to a chart on the State Department's website.

"To be clear, the acceptance of international assistance we announced today did not mean to imply that international help was arriving only now," said State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley. "In fact, before today, there were 24 foreign vessels operating in the region and nine countries had provided boom, skimmers and other assistance."

He said as early as May 11, boom arrived from Mexico, Norway and Brazil.

The chart indicated offers have been accepted from six countries - Canada, Mexico, Croatia, Holland, Norway and Japan. Offers also were accepted from two groups - the International Maritime Organization and the Monitoring and Information Center, which is operated by the European Commission.

More:
http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/06/29/1707414/us-accepts-international-assistance.html#ixzz0sK35n0cq

[Kringle]

9. why is Obama refusing offers of help? .nt

[tabatha]

14. He has and is not.

http://www.factcheck.org/2010/06/oil-spill-foreign-help-and-the-jones-act/

See also #8

[bdamomma]

11. thank goodness

finally.

[tabatha]

15. see here

http://www.factcheck.org/2010/06/oil-spill-foreign-help-and-the-jones-act/

See #8