Salazar Dispatches BLM Director to Gulf Coast Command Center to Support Ongoing Response Efforts

WASHINGTON, DC – Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced today that Director of the Bureau of Land Management Robert Abbey has been dispatched to the Joint Information Center in Robert, Louisiana to support ongoing response efforts to Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

Director Abbey, a native of Clarksdale, Mississippi, is joining other members of Interior's senior leadership team dispatched last week and this weekend to command centers along the Gulf coast. Abbey is among the more than 400 -- DOI personnel who have been deployed as part of the oil spill response. Additional DOI personnel already stationed in the region are among the more than 10,000 personnel currently responding to protect the shoreline and wildlife.

“We are continuing to put all hands on deck to support the coordinated response to this spill and to do everything we can to help BP stop its leaks and clean up its spill,” said Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar. “As a Mississippi native, and a graduate of the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg, Director Abbey is familiar with the resources along the gulf coast. His leadership on the ground will ensure that we continue to coordinate efforts and prepare effective responses.”

On Friday, Salazar dispatched Dr. Marcia McNutt, the director of the U.S. Geological Survey, to the BP Command Center in Houston to help coordinate the joint efforts of federal scientists who are working with BP engineers to address several technological challenges and approaches to securing the damaged well head, capturing the leak and controlling the spill.

On Sunday, Salazar dispatched Director of the National Park Service Jon Jarvis to Mobile, Alabama Incident Command Center and Acting Director of the Fish and Wildlife Service Rowan Gould to the Houma, Louisiana Incident Command Center to help lead efforts to protect coastal communities and natural resources from BP's Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

Secretary Salazar has also dispatched DOI Director of Intergovernmental Affairs Lori Faeth to support joint response efforts in the Unified Command Center in Robert, Louisiana and Deputy Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks Jane Lyder to the Houma Incident Command Center.

The Minerals Management Service (MMS) continues to work with BP to explore all options that could stop or mitigate oil leaks from the damaged well. Pursuant to MMS's regulatory authority, all plans are being reviewed and approved by MMS before implementation. MMS has completed its inspections of all 30 deepwater drilling rigs and is now inspecting all deepwater production platforms.

For information about the response effort, visit www.deepwaterhorizonresponse.com.