BILOXI, Miss. (AP) — BP's incoming CEO said Friday that it's time for a "scaleback" of the massive effort to clean up the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, but he added that the commitment to make things right is the same as ever.
Tens of thousands of people — many of them idled fishermen — have been involved in the cleanup, but more than two weeks after the leak was stopped there is relatively little oil on the surface, leaving less work for oil skimmers to do.
Bob Dudley, who heads BP's oil spill recovery and will take over as CEO in October, said it's "not too soon for a scaleback" in the cleanup, and in areas where there is no oil, "you probably don't need to see people in hazmat suits on the beach."
He added, however, that there is "no pullback" in BP's commitment to clean up the spill. Dudley was in Biloxi to announce that former Federal Emergency Management Agency chief James Lee Witt will be supporting BP's Gulf restoration work.
With the northern Gulf of Mexico largely off-limits to fishing, BP's cleanup program has been the only thing keeping many fishermen working. Losing those jobs would make the region all the more dependent on the checks BP has been writing to compensate fishermen and others who have lost income because of BP's offshore oil spill, the worst in U.S. history.
Many people have complained about long waits and other problems in processing claims, and Dudley conceded that BP lacks expertise in handling claims. He said the company hopes to turn that work over to an independent administrator soon.
"It's because of that lack of competence on our part ... that we want to bring in a professional," Dudley said.
Suggestions that the environmental effects of the spill have been overblown have increased as oil has disappeared from the water's surface, though how much of the oil remains underwater is a mystery. Dudley rejected efforts to downplay the spill's impact, saying, "Anyone who thinks this wasn't a catastrophe must be far away from it."
BP is hiring Witt, FEMA director under President Bill Clinton, and his public safety and crisis management consulting firm. BP did not say how much Witt would be paid.
Witt said he wants to set up teams along the Gulf to work with BP to address long-term restoration and people's needs.
