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Many foreign offers to help with oil spill still hanging, website indicates
Published: Saturday, June 19, 2010, 5:22 AM
Sean Reilly
Full Text: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2538092/posts
WASHINGTON -- Some 28 foreign countries and international organizations have offered help in responding to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, but the bulk of those overtures remain "under consideration," according to a tally posted on the U.S. State Department's website. [http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/143488.pdf]
On May 10, for example, the United Arab Emirates offered to send oil skimmers, dispersant and containment boom, along with human and technical support, the website says. As of Friday, no decision had been made on any of those propositions, the site indicates.
Also pending for more than a month are offers of containment boom and skimmers from the European Maritime Safety Agency; containment and fire boom from Germany; and bird rehabilitation equipment from France.
...
... response officials have accepted a few, including boom from Canada and skimming systems from Norway. A French offer of dispersant was rejected on the grounds that the chemicals were not approved for use in the United States.
Reached early Friday evening, a State Department spokeswoman referred questions to the Coast Guard, which passed them to the Unified Command Center for the spill response in New Orleans. There, spokesman John Curry did not specifically know why some offers had been left hanging.
"The bottom line is that we have a lot of boom and we have a lot of dispersant that we are already using," Curry said.
But with crucial equipment having run short at times, the Obama administration faces questions about whether it has done enough to mobilize all available supplies. ...
Sessions also joined other Republicans in seeking a speedy waiver of the Jones Act - which requires cargo transported by water between U.S. ports to be carried on U.S.-built, flagged and crewed ships - if that requirement is stopping the government from making use of "potentially useful foreign vessels." Several countries have offered ships, according to the State Department roundup.
On Thursday, however, an administration official confirmed only one actual request for a Jones Act waiver, but said it was for foreign-built barges when American-flagged equivalents were available.[
Earlier this week, Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen said that any waiver requests would get fast-track handling. On Friday, three GOP senators, including George LeMieux of Florida and Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas, introduced legislation to temporarily waive the act, according to a news release.
[State Department PDF showing status of international help offers: http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/143488.pdf[/url]]
Published: Saturday, June 19, 2010, 5:22 AM
Sean Reilly
Full Text: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2538092/posts
WASHINGTON -- Some 28 foreign countries and international organizations have offered help in responding to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, but the bulk of those overtures remain "under consideration," according to a tally posted on the U.S. State Department's website. [http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/143488.pdf]
On May 10, for example, the United Arab Emirates offered to send oil skimmers, dispersant and containment boom, along with human and technical support, the website says. As of Friday, no decision had been made on any of those propositions, the site indicates.
Also pending for more than a month are offers of containment boom and skimmers from the European Maritime Safety Agency; containment and fire boom from Germany; and bird rehabilitation equipment from France.
...
... response officials have accepted a few, including boom from Canada and skimming systems from Norway. A French offer of dispersant was rejected on the grounds that the chemicals were not approved for use in the United States.
Reached early Friday evening, a State Department spokeswoman referred questions to the Coast Guard, which passed them to the Unified Command Center for the spill response in New Orleans. There, spokesman John Curry did not specifically know why some offers had been left hanging.
"The bottom line is that we have a lot of boom and we have a lot of dispersant that we are already using," Curry said.
But with crucial equipment having run short at times, the Obama administration faces questions about whether it has done enough to mobilize all available supplies. ...
Sessions also joined other Republicans in seeking a speedy waiver of the Jones Act - which requires cargo transported by water between U.S. ports to be carried on U.S.-built, flagged and crewed ships - if that requirement is stopping the government from making use of "potentially useful foreign vessels." Several countries have offered ships, according to the State Department roundup.
On Thursday, however, an administration official confirmed only one actual request for a Jones Act waiver, but said it was for foreign-built barges when American-flagged equivalents were available.[
Earlier this week, Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen said that any waiver requests would get fast-track handling. On Friday, three GOP senators, including George LeMieux of Florida and Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas, introduced legislation to temporarily waive the act, according to a news release.
[State Department PDF showing status of international help offers: http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/143488.pdf[/url]]
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