Oil spill is 'brutally unfair', says Obama
Updated on 05 June 2010
US President Barack Obama branded the BP oil spill as "brutally unfair" today - but the intensity of his rhetoric can do nothing to stop the spill and help the people, and animals, of Louisiana, as Channel 4 News reporter Carl Dinnen discovered.
As the spill shows no sign of stopping, there are now two battles being fought over the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
One, being fought by BP with thousands of boats and personnel, is to stop the oil which is having such a damaging effect on local wildlife and on the beaches as far afield as Florida.
The other, according to Channel 4 News reporter Carl Dinnen, is being fought by US President Barack Obama, to ensure his presidency can rise above the catastrophe.
Simon Boxall of the National Oceanography Centre says bashing BP is not the answer
We can only plan so far for such a disaster, the reality often throws up unexpected curved balls.
BP is as much the victim as the guilty party. They have said from the outset that they will pay all costs for stopping the leak, for clean up, and compensation for those affected – and are one of the few companies worldwide who could afford to.
The jury is still out as to where actual blame lies.
With Transocean the rig owner and operator, with the company who designed and built the BOP that failed - both US companies incidentally?
The list is extensive.
It is also worth remembering that the oil in the Gulf was for the US domestic market and that substantial taxes from oil licences go into the US purse.
Let us not bash BP too much just yet, and let them get on with the difficult and challenging task in hand.
For more from Simon Boxall
"It's not clear how well either battle is going," said Dinnen. "A mile underwater, the robotic submersibles have now clamped a cap over the leak. BP hope it will eventually capture at 90% of the oil - but in its first 24 hours, it captured about a third."
Meanwhile, the president arrived on his third visit to Louisiana since the spill began on 20 April.
BP oil disaster in numbers:
As BP fights to contain the spill, Channel 4 News looks at the numbers behind the spill.
41 days since spill began
Between 429,000 barrels (68 million litres) and 952,000 barrels (151 million litres) estimate of how much oil spilled so far
Between 12,000 barrels (1.9 million litres) and 19,000 barrels (3 million litres) oil spilling every day
$930m cost to BP so far
104,000 calls to helpline, of which 28,000 were suggestions to stop the flow
8,000 ideas submitted by the public on paper to stop the flow
26,000 claims submitted so far, of which BP has already paid 11,650
1,300 vessels involved in BP’s response effort
22,000 personnel deployed
274,000 barrels (44m litres) oily liquid recovered from surface
Two months time before spill could be stopped if latest attempt fails
5,000 feet amount of water hindering efforts
238,000 barrels (38 million litres) size of Exxon Valdez, previously the worst oil spill in US history off the coast of Alaska
14.8 million barrels size of biggest ever oil spill in Kuwait, when Iraqi forces opened valves of several tankers to slow US forces
A BP spokesman told Channel 4 News that all of the flow figures were estimates, and added: “The number is irrelevant. Our response will be the same. We have made a commitment to clean up the spill, and we are fighting aggressively on a number of fronts.
“Our response is not determined by the size of the leak. We are working to stop the flow and contain the oil.”
His rhetoric has grown increasingly agressive since the crisis began, and today he said: "These folks work hard, they meet their responsibilities. But now, because of a man made catastrophe, one that is not their fault and is beyond their control, their lives have been thrown into turmoil. It's brutally unfair, and it's wrong."
And for those whose lives have been hit by the catastrophe, there is a minor consolation prize.
It's all hands on deck for the clean up of the area's beaches and wildlife, and around 4,000 unemployed people are set to be drafted in.
But the pain continues in the area, as a weeping woman on the beaches told Channel 4 News: "It's been my dream my entire life to live out here and now this has happened. It's just saddened everybody."
