Lead U.S. Spill Agency (the Coast Guard) Running Short of Cash

[Robbien]

Source: NYT

The Coast Guard could run out of money for its emergency response to the massive Gulf of Mexico oil spill as soon as next week, the House chairman with jurisdiction over the agency said today.

Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman James Oberstar (D-Minn.) said Coast Guard officials have warned they have nearly exhausted the $100 million provided by an oil spill trust fund to deal with the early response to a major disaster like the one caused by BP PLC's ruptured Macondo well.

The trust fund, created by the Oil Pollution Act of 1990, is funded by an 8-cent tax on each barrel of crude that is refined and is designed to pay for cleanup and economic damages not covered by the responsible parties. Currently, the trust fund has a balance of roughly $1.6 billion.

Under law, the Coast Guard can only draw up to $100 million from the fund to finance emergency response efforts in the immediate aftermath of an accident, Oberstar said. The law also limits the fund payout for a single spill to $1 billion.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2010/06/09/09greenwire-lead-us-spill-agency-running-short-of-cash-rep-29135.html

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Another area in where BP is fast to say it will pay but actually making payments is not a top priority.

[Hawkeye-X]

1. The US Government should order BP plc and BP UK assets frozen

and monies are diverted (all of it) - including the dividends to pay for the cleanup costs and rehabilitation.

[Poll_Blind]

2. At this point, I think it's safe to say BP won't survive the long haul so FREEZE BP'S ASSETS NOW.

The more time this goes on the more assets are being sucked out of BP. That goes on long enough and they're going to have $27.50 in the bank when it comes time to pay up.

Freeze their assets NOW.

PB

[Iowa]

3. $100 million?

"...have nearly exhausted the $100 million"

They've spent $100 million? What the hell have they done? Does it cost that much to keep the media away?