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Gulf Oil Spill

(U.S. Dept. of the Interior Photo)

June 15 - Several blog readers have written me this month to express concern about the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Some have even offered helpful suggestions as to how we might shut off the flow of oil far beneath the ocean surface. I was very heartened to read these notes because they demonstrated readers' concern about our problem and great compassion about the impact on the environment and the residents living along the coast.

An oil containment boom deployed by U.S. Navy Supervisor of Salvage and Diving personnel surrounds New Harbor Island, La. to mitigate environmental damage from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. (U.S. Navy Photo)

Shortly after the accident, the Japanese government offered to provide oil booms to assist with containing the Gulf oil spill. At that time, we thanked Japan for its generous offer but declined because we thought we had enough available in the region already. However, the spill has continued for longer than we expected, and one particular type of boom is now in short supply. We are checking to see if this product might be available in Japan. We very much appreciate Japan's generosity in offering to help us deal with this environmental disaster.

More information on the Deepwater BP Oil Spill Response can be found here.

Update: President Obama thanks Prime Minister Kan for Japan's oil spill clean-up assistance.

Until next time,

Jim

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