Groan. We are really at a breaking point with this administration, where even the dopey left wingers are losing patience with the incompetence of this administration, who is either clueless or malevolent in his treatment of the oil spill. This HAS to be intentional, doesn't it, considering the administration's comment that no crisis should go to waste? When you can find lots of information just in the blogosphere about options to resolve this crisis? And now we find out Thad Allen didn't know about all the boom that is sitting in a Maine warehouse, which even lil ole Tea Party at Perrysburg knew about days ago? So the Executive Office of the President of the United States has time to check out Tea Party at Perrysburg's blog entry about health care, but not Google boom for Louisiana? Hot Air has the story.
Er, isn’t this the very information that the White House and Interior are supposed to know before we do? Yet three days ago, Allahpundit featured not one but two videos showing the frustation of Packgen’s management that their decision to produce high-quality boom to meet the expected demand has left them with a lot of unpurchased inventory, while the oil continues its way to Gulf coastlines. ABC also reported on Bobby Jindal’s demand for three million feet of absorbent boom material on May 24th. No one at the White House thought to Google for a manufacturer and start calling for sales? Maybe Obama should appoint Jake Tapper to head up the effort. He seems to know more about what’s happening than the White House team.
The boom manufactured by Packgen did not pass an initial quality control test. Boom is subjected to great wear and tear when placed in the water and must be frequently tended. In order to retain its effectiveness boom must be of high quality. Once Packgen's boom passes inspection, the company can be considered as a source for supplying boom to the largest oil spill response operation in U.S. history. In the meantime, suitable boom is being identified and obtained quickly and there is currently 459,000 feet of boom stored in the region in addition to the 2.24 million feet deployed.
ReplyDeleteHope this clarifies the story.
LT Erik Halvorson
Chief, Joint Information Center
Deepwater Horizon Response
Unified Area Command