At the direction of President Obama, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano, Department of Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco and EPA Deputy Administrator Bob Perciasepe will travel to the Gulf Coast this week to meet with federal, state and local officials, as well as local business leaders, as part of their continued oversight of BP’s efforts to plug the leak and contain the spill, and their ongoing emphasis on interagency coordination in response to the event.
On Thursday, Secretary Napolitano, Secretary Locke and Administrator Lubchenco will travel to Biloxi, Miss., to inspect response operations, meet with state, local and private sector leaders, and view firsthand staging areas for the deployment of boom to protect vital shoreline from the oil spill. Secretary Napolitano and Secretary Locke will then visit similar operations ongoing in Pensacola, Fla. Administrator Lubchenco and White House Council on Environmental Quality Chair Nancy Sutley will then visit Pascagoula, Miss., to visit NOAA’s seafood inspection lab.
EPA Deputy Administrator Perciasepe will also travel on Thursday to Louisiana, where he will review EPA’s ongoing air and water monitoring activities, meet with local and community leaders, and assess the environmental situation on the ground.
On Friday, Administrator Lubchenco and Chair Sutley will travel to Venice and St. Bernard Parish, La., to inspect shoreline cleanup assessment activities and meet with state, local and private sector leaders about the administration’s ongoing efforts to mitigate the spill’s impact on public health, the environment, and the economy.
Today, Department of the Interior Secretary Ken Salazar will tour Delta National Wildlife Refuge in Louisiana, Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge in Alabama, and the areas affected by the BP oil spill to assess the ongoing Federal response efforts.
More details of these trips will be released when they are finalized.
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