Gulf Oil Spill: Federal Cleanup Costs Top Exxon Valdez, Now Most Expensive

Federal officials say cleanup costs for the catastrophic Gulf oil spill have topped $123 million.

That's more than the $121 million spent on the Exxon Valdez spill, though that amount hasn't been adjusted for inflation.

The National Pollution Funds Center says the money has been doled out to state and federal agencies directly involved in the cleanup. Those agencies include state National Guards, whose soldiers have built walls to protect shorelines from pollution, as well as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which projects the oil slick's trajectory.

Another agency is the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which rescues oil-soaked birds.

The center administers a federal trust fund that collects a tax from the oil companies for use in cleanups.

Comments

[Overtone]

12:01 PM on 06/03/2010

COST OF THE CATACLYSM

This is only Phase One. See Worst Case Scenario and other articles at http://www.aesopinstitute.org

This could prove as life threatening to humanity as nuclear war.

Since it is not sudden, it is hard to believe it could be that serious. But, see the Aesop website.

A few months after the attack on Pearl Harbor, a bomber was completed every 59 minutes.

Kevin Costner has supported development of a remarkable centrifuge that can remove 200,000 gallons of oil from the water every day. These should be manufactured on a 24/7 basis in the largest quantities possible and deployed as they are completed.

For a way to attack the damage to wildlife and marshes resulting from oil spills see: What To Do, on the Aesop website.

Accelerate the birth of breakthrough alternatives. See Moving Beyond Oil and Running on Water on the same website.

A distinguished UPI commentator suggests that $300 per barrel oil may be on the horizon, the response to date is dangerously short sighted!

All of humanity and most life on earth may be at surprisingly great hazard.

As in wartime, damn the cost! Survival is what matters!