Ken Salazar Calls Gulf Coast Disaster A 'Grave Scenario' And 'Very Catastrophic' (VIDEO)

(AP/Huffington Post) -- Interior Secretary Ken Salazar says the potential environmental outlook for the Gulf Coast oil spill is "a very grave scenario."

He tells NBC's "Meet the Press" that it could take three months before workers attain what he calls the "ultimate solution" to stopping the leak -- drilling a relief well more than 3 miles below the ocean floor.

Until that's accomplished, he says, "a lot of oil could spread."

Salazar says President Barack Obama has directed him to protect all of the assets in the region, including the communities that will be affected by the spill.

Salazar also appeared on CNN's "State of the Union," telling host Candy Crowley that the Gulf Coast disaster was "indeed, a massive oil spill."

"It potentially is very catastrophic. And I think we have to prepare for the worst, as we have from day one," he said. "If this thing continues to spew out, the ultimate relief here is going to be a relief well that may be 90 days out. And so we have to be prepared to make sure that we're protecting the American public, the American environment, our treasured coastlines on the Gulf Coast. So we are ready to do everything humanly possible to get that done."

The secretary also pointed out that BP, which operated the rig that caused the spill, would be held accountable.

"Our job is to keep the boot on the neck of" BP Salazar said of the company's responsibility to clean up the spill.

Watch video of Salazar's "Meet the Press" appearance:

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Comments

[essania]

10:55 AM on 05/24/2010

I am outraged that Salazar's department continues to grant oil companies environmental exemptions and is giving them permission to start offshore drilling EVEN while this horrendous oil spill disaster is continuing with no end in sight. This is pure stupidity and total disregard for the environment and our well-being. We need to get rid of Salazar and to change the way we run campaigns. This is all happening because politicians take so much money from the oil companies. Sign a petition to get Ken Salazar to resign.

[citizen1787]

04:11 AM on 05/10/2010

Estimated cost of clean-up = >Unknown

The yearly salary of the CEO of BP = >$5 million

The estimated cost of the back-up on-site containment device for the fail-safe which would have averted this disaster = $500,000

The long-term damage to biological diversity, marine habitats and local economies = priceless

[DARKLADYOFGA]

05:05 PM on 05/06/2010

Talk about the pot calling the kettle black, as my old gran used to say, as Secretary of the Interior, Ken Salazar must take responsibility for this tragedy and resign!

[Chicago Sue]

12:37 AM on 05/07/2010

huh?

[smile13]

11:00 AM on 05/05/2010

Ok humans..... it is time to march. We need a mass march country wide, grass roots movement. I say it is time that we ALL stand up and DEMAND Alt Energy from our gov't. LET'S GET STARTED!

[ReedYoung]

04:19 PM on 05/05/2010

Just say when and where.

[MJinCanada]

11:40 PM on 05/04/2010

Drilling rig disasters of the past should have been learning experiences for the industry.
http://home.versatel.nl/the_sims/rig/i-fatal.htm
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines01/0320-02.htm

[jspkim]

12:51 PM on 05/04/2010

Interior ( Dept of Interior) cancels BP honor
"The Department of Interior's Minerals Management Service just called off ( May 2, 2010) its annual SAFE AWARDS s lunch in Houston today, citing the resources it's expending on the Gulf Coast.
The awards "RECOGNIZE OUTSTANDING SAFETY and Pollution prevention performance by the offshore oil and gas industry.” BP is a FINALIST for the FEDERAL GOVERNMENT award THIS YEAR , as it was in 2009. According to Interior , “only the top candidates who show outstanding performance in each of their... "
http://politifi.com/news/Interior-cancels-BP-honor-577154.html

[swift goat pet for truth]

01:32 AM on 05/04/2010

Why is this Government business at all?
Where in the US Constitution does it say that the Government can interfer with the daily business of corporations?

This is just a Big Socialist Government TAKEOVER of the Oil Spill CleanUp business!!!

Keep your hands off our oil slick!!!

[steve-annie]

07:57 PM on 05/03/2010

TrueMajority.org petition to end offshore oil drilling:

http://act.truemajorityaction.org/p/7002/nodrilling?petition_KEY=163

[businesshugs]

03:48 PM on 05/03/2010

no no no...its like chocolate milk..REALLY it is. Just like it. Only darker, and thicker and more toxic..

[YMBM]

03:02 PM on 05/03/2010

This is the last thing I am going to say about this situation. I am going to make it my number one priority to expose those traders among a nation that is trying to recover from one of the worst Financial Disaster since the Great Depression. I am not an Advocate of any cause, but I find this matter very disturbing and if legal action for negligent is required, then we must see to it as a nation that those responsible are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. It’s too late to cover up all wrongful actions and repent your sins because your wrongful deeds are exposed and this time it will not be left in the dark!!

[pandisal]

02:47 PM on 05/03/2010

Are they really that sober? Done drinking Oil Man's boos?

[apoyo]

12:14 PM on 05/03/2010

That's putting it mildly.

Regulations, placed and heeded, is what keep us and the environment safe.

This smaller government argument is laughable.
Adults know that you need supervision in order to survive.
It's the little children who always complain, "you never let me do anything, mean mommy and daddy."

[Aerows]

12:31 PM on 05/03/2010

Couldn't have said it better myself. Fanned and favorited.

[Sergeant]

12:00 PM on 05/03/2010

One would think after the debacle that was hurricane Katrina, that there would be a federal response team that would be on the scene immediately, assess the damage, call out the troops to do whatever is necessary and take charge of the problem.

Even now, still, the federal government is inept.

[nwowl]

12:07 PM on 05/03/2010

totally agree. Response has been late and lame

[apoyo]

12:20 PM on 05/03/2010

You mean like an oil swat team?

I think it would be a good idea to have one in place since none of us are serious about cutting back on our use of oil. Unless you work a farm or haul stuff for a living you don't need a souped up truck. Unless you have a huge family you don't need a van or suv. If we as a people don't get serious about demanding that our govt, national and local, get to work on mass transit, then it will never happen and we can just sit back and shake our heads over the tragic oil spills that are sure to come in the future. While the oil companies sit back and get richer off our stupidity.

[Sergeant]

12:26 PM on 05/03/2010

I'm not being facetious. There is not excuse for a lack of response to an environmental disaster by a President no matter the party. Bush was inept. The longer this goes on Obama will also be perceived as sitting back and letting a corporation run things.

Call it an environmental federal swat team. We have it to catch people smoking dope. Why not to protect the envrionment?

[dvncmdy]

11:37 AM on 05/03/2010

This is one Gulf War worth fighting!

[Sergeant]

02:38 PM on 05/04/2010

True.

[Philclock]

11:14 AM on 05/03/2010

Guess which "progressive" secretary of the interior is going to shut down or delay ANY oil drilling, coal mining, natural gas drilling, as long as Demo-rats control the government? Nuclear power doesn't even show on the radar.

$5.00 per gallon gas, heating bills through the roof, here we come.

"Progressive" nirvana, government monopoly, not free choice, controls energy resources; so like any monopoly, energy prices will go up, and availability down. Under Democrats.

[MJinCanada]

02:50 PM on 05/03/2010

Go take a swim in the Gulf and then tell us how that deregulation thing is going for you.

When BP drills offshore near any of those nasty socialist countries in Europe, they have to install underwater shutoff valves. But they didn't in the Gulf because the US doesn't have strong regulations. They gambled a few thousand bucks of cost against this kind of disaster.

The oil spill is going to cripple or ruin hundreds, maybe thousands of independent businesses that depend on fishing and tourism. Wouldn't a little more control in the right place have been a good idea?

[Philclock]

03:40 PM on 05/03/2010

If what you say is true, I have no problem with that. Install those in the existing rigs, if it's feasible. But not to Obama's "progressive" extent of shutting down new drilling, or jeopardizing the flow of oil for our domestic energy use.

Any drilling has some risk, and that risk is worth it for the affordable energy and increased independence domestic oil brings to all of us.