Cross-posted from the White House Blog

Ed. Note: For more information on federal response resources, volunteer opportunities, and assistance for those in affected areas visit WhiteHouse.gov/Deepwater-BP-Oil-Spill.

On Friday morning, President Obama will travel to the Louisiana Gulf Coast to assess the latest efforts to counter the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The President will join more than 22,000 people in the region, including many of the brightest scientific minds from both the public and private sector, who are working around the clock to mitigate the oil's impact. Below is the latest in the ongoing Administration-wide response provided by the Joint Information Center.
Heidi Avery is White House Deputy Homeland Security Advisor

President Obama announced that he will travel to the Louisiana Gulf Coast to assess the latest efforts to counter the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The President will join more than 20,000 people in the region, including many of the brightest scientific minds from both the public and private sector, who are working around the clock to mitigate the oil’s impact.

SBA Approves $571,000 in New Economic Injury Loans for Impacted Small Businesses
The U.S. Small Business Administration has approved 15 economic injury assistance loans totaling $571,000 for small businesses in the Gulf Coast region. Additionally, the agency has granted deferments on 64 existing SBA disaster loans in the region.

SBA is offering economic injury loans and deferrals on existing loans to fishing and fishing-dependent small businesses as a result of the Deepwater BP oil spill that shut down commercial and recreational fishing waters. Additionally, homeowners in the region who have existing SBA disaster home loans can request a deferment if their business or employment has been impacted by the oil spill.

NOAA Ship is Dispatched to Deploy Special U.S. Navy Monitoring Instruments in Gulf
The NOAA Ship Thomas Jefferson is underway on a mission to deploy a variety of U.S. Navy ocean monitoring instruments in the vicinity of the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The floats, drifters and autonomous underwater vehicles will aid researchers in monitoring the surface and deep currents that are distributing the oil. Of particular interest is the Loop Current and its potential to spread the oil to a much wider area.

Fishing Restrictions Are Expanded; More than 77 Percent Remains Open
NOAA has extended the closed fishing area in the Gulf of Mexico to match the Louisiana state waters closure west of the current boundaries, and to incorporate an area reportedly with oil in the southwest. Closing fishing in these areas is a precautionary measure to ensure that seafood from the Gulf will remain safe for consumers.
The closed area now represents 54,096 square miles, which is slightly more than 22 percent of Gulf of Mexico federal waters. This leaves more than 77 percent of Gulf federal waters still available for fishing. The closure will be effective at 6:00 p.m. EDT. Details can be found at http://sero.nmfs.noaa.gov/.

Property Damage Claims Processed
The administration will continue to hold the responsible parties accountable for repairing the damage and repaying Americans who’ve suffered a financial loss. BP continues to process claims via its claims website (www.bp.com/claims) and its helpline (1-800-440-0858). BP reports that 25,227 claims have been opened, from which $29.4 million has been disbursed. No claims have been denied at this time. There are more than 432 claims adjusters on the ground. To file a claim, visit www.bp.com/claims or call BP’s helpline at 1-800-440-0858. Those who have already pursued the BP claims process and are not satisfied with BP’s resolution, can call the Coast Guard at (800) 280-7118.

National Park Disaster Recovery Fund is Launched
The National Park Foundation and the National Park Service has established the National Parks Disaster Recovery Fund to help national parks recover from future natural and manmade disasters. The fund was immediately activated to begin raising funds that will be available to Gulf parks for immediate needs throughout the oil spill disaster as well as long-term monitoring of the health of damaged ecosystems.
No funds raised will be used to mitigate the liability of any responsible parties for the injuries caused by the oil spill.
Individuals wishing to support this effort may visit www.nationalparks.org, or text “PARKS” to 90999 on their mobile device to make a $10 donation. Funds raised between now and July 1, 2010, will go directly to the impacted parks in the Gulf and support critical and immediate needs as well as sustained scientific study of maintenance of impacted ecosystems. 

National Guard Activation
Secretary Gates has authorized use of Title 32 status for up to 17,500 National Guard members in four states: Alabama (3,000), Florida (2,500), Louisiana (6,000) and Mississippi (6,000). A total of 1,414 troops have been activated across the four states and are responding.

By the Numbers to Date:

• Personnel were quickly deployed and more than 20,000 are currently responding to protect the shoreline and wildlife.
• More than 1,200 vessels are responding on site, including skimmers, tugs, barges, and recovery vessels to assist in containment and cleanup efforts—in addition to dozens of aircraft, remotely operated vehicles, and multiple mobile offshore drilling units.
• More than 1.8 million feet of containment boom and 990,000 feet of sorbent boom have been deployed to contain the spill—and approximately 325,000 feet of containment boom and 1 million feet of sorbent boom are available.
• Approximately 11 million gallons of an oil-water mix have been recovered.
• Approximately 830,000 gallons of total dispersant have been deployed—700,000 on the surface and 130,000 subsea. More than 360,000 gallons are available.
• 17 staging areas are in place and ready to protect sensitive shorelines, including: Dauphin Island, Ala., Orange Beach, Ala., Theodore, Ala., Panama City, Fla., Pensacola, Fla.,  Port St. Joe, Fla., St. Marks, Fla.,  Amelia, La., Cocodrie, La., Grand Isle, La., Shell Beach, La., Slidell, La., St. Mary, La.; Venice, La., Biloxi, Miss., Pascagoula, Miss., and Pass Christian, Miss.

We just posted a Leadership Journal update from the Secretary on the federal response to the deepwater BP oil spill.

Head over to the Leadership Journal to check it out.

Cross-posted from the White House Blog

The Joint Information Center provides the latest updates from the Gulf Coast including a snapshot of the last 24 hours below.  Federal authorities, both military and civilian, continue to work onsite and around the clock to respond to and mitigate the impact of the BP Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

A chronology of the ongoing administration-wide response to the Deepwater BP Oil Spill, beginning on April 20, is available here.

Heidi Avery is White House Deputy Homeland Security Advisor


 The Ongoing Administration-Wide Response to the Deepwater BP Oil Spill

Prepared by the Joint Information Center

UPDATED May 5, 2010 7 PM
 In the Past 24 Hours:

Secretary Salazar Gulf Coast Visit

Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar surveyed ongoing response efforts to combat the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, inspecting the four-story cofferdam that will attempt to capture the largest leak from the damaged wellhead; making an aerial survey of containment and cleanup efforts underway on Gulf waters; and visiting national wildlife refuges on the Louisiana and Alabama coast to assess on-the-ground efforts to protect sensitive areas.

Successful Controlled Burn

Favorable weather conditions allowed responders to conduct a successful controlled burn operation. As part of a coordinated response that combines tactics deployed above water, below water, offshore, and close to coastal areas, controlled burns efficiently remove oil from the open water in an effort to protect shoreline and wildlife.

NASA Satellite Assets

At NOAA’s request, NASA has agreed to use their ER-2 aircraft, equipped with a highly specialized scanner (the Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS) system) to provide NOAA high resolution images of the threatened Gulf shoreline. This will assist valuable NOAA’s damage assessment activities by forecasting spill trajectories and conducting mass balance calculations. Additionally, NASA has employed satellite instruments both to detect the extent of the entire oil spill, and to see the details of the extent of selected areas of the spill.

Additional Staging Location

A 10th staging location was established in Panama City, Fla., joining nine others in Biloxi, Miss., Pensacola, Fla., Pascagoula, Miss., Dauphin Island, Ala., Port Sulphur, La., Shell Beach, La., Slidell, La., Port Fourchon, La., and Venice, La.

Aerial Dispersant Spray Missions
Modular Aerial Spray System (MASS) aircraft flew four missions—dispensing the same dispersant chemical being used by BP and the federal responders. These systems are capable of covering up to 250 acres per flight.

Seafood Inspection
NOAA Fisheries continues to collect seafood samples and transfer those to the National Seafood Inspection Lab.

NOAA Ocean and Marsh Imaging Flights
Two NOAA turbo-prop aircraft are positioned in Mobile, Ala. One will fly marine mammal survey missions—the second aircraft will conduct ocean imaging missions, providing valuable information about the oil thickness and density on the sea surface. A third NOAA aircraft is positioned in New Orleans and staged to conduct aerial photographic flights of marsh areas.

Ocean Exploration Mission

A NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research-sponsored mission is en route to collect seafloor and water column data from areas near the oil spill source.

National Park Service Response Website
The National Park Service created an oil spill response website, available at http://www.nps.gov/aboutus/oil-spill-response.htm, to update the public about potential park closures, resources at risk, and NPS actions to protect vital park space and wildlife.

By the Numbers to Date:

•  Personnel were quickly deployed and approximately 7,900 are currently responding to protect the shoreline and wildlife.
• Nearly 200 vessels are responding on site, including skimmers, tugs, barges, and recovery vessels to assist in containment and cleanup efforts—in addition to dozens of aircraft, remotely operated vehicles, and multiple mobile offshore drilling units.
• Approximately 564,000 of feet of boom (regular and sorbent) have been deployed to contain the spill—and 1.6 million feet are available.
• More than 1.2 million gallons of an oil-water mix have been recovered. 
• More than 190,000 gallons of dispersant have been deployed. More than 55,000 gallons are available.
• Nine staging areas have been set up to protect vital shoreline in all potentially affected Gulf Coast states (Biloxi, Miss., Pensacola, Fla., Pascagoula, Miss., Dauphin Island, Ala., Port Sulphur, La., Shell Beach, La., Slidell, La., Port Fourchon, La., Venice, La.).

Resources:

• For information about the response effort, visit http://www.deepwaterhorizonresponse.com/.
• To contact the Deepwater Horizon Joint Information Center, call (985) 902-5231.
• To volunteer, or to report oiled shoreline, call (866) 448-5816. Volunteer opportunities can also be found here.
• To submit your vessel as a vessel of opportunity skimming system, or to submit alternative response technology, services, or products, call 281-366-5511.
• To report oiled wildlife, call (866) 557-1401. Messages will be checked hourly.
• For information about validated environmental air and water sampling results, visit www.epa.gov/bpspill.
• For National Park Service updates about potential park closures, resources at risk, and NPS actions to protect vital park space and wildlife, visit http://www.nps.gov/aboutus/oil-spill-response.htm.
• To file a claim, or report spill-related damage, call BP’s helpline at (800) 440-0858. A BP fact sheet with additional information is available here. For those who have already pursued the BP claims process and are not satisfied with BP’s resolution, can call the Coast Guard at (800) 280-7118.  More information about what types of damages are eligible for compensation under the Oil Pollution Act as well as guidance on procedures to seek that compensation can be found here.

Since the Deepwater Horizon explosion the night of April 20, federal authorities, both military and civilian, have been working onsite and around the clock to respond to and mitigate the impact of the resulting BP Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico.