Massive Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill an “Omnidirectional Threat”

Abstract

About a week before new U.S. government estimates indicated that the Gulf of Mexico oil spill is the largest in the nation's history, Coast Guard admiral Thad Allen told an 18 May U.S. Senate hearing that the federal government has addressed the situation with “an all‐hands‐on‐deck approach” since it began. However, the spill is “much more complicated” than any he has ever dealt with, said Allen, the national incident commander.“We are fighting an omnidirectional, almost indeterminate threat here,” Allen told the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. “We are trying to protect the entire Gulf Coast at the same time.”