The White House Oil Spill Commission heard testimony Monday about the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. Commissioners expressed skepticism that the response to the spill was not impacted by BP and the federal government’s initial underestimation of the size of the spill. Meanwhile, Retired Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen said that the government needs to clarify the roles that federal and local governments and companies play in response to future oil spills.

Thad Allen: “Because of the uniqueness of oil and chemical spills, multi-jurisdictions, the fact that they go beyond state waters, there was a presumption in the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 that the federal government will coordinate this. That is not what the cities and counties and locales in the Gulf had been used to; for a large spill, they’re used to the Stafford Act structure where the resources are provided to them, and they execute them. There was a reconciliation that had to be carried out between the assumption of the role of the state and local governments, as far as executing spill response, and the responsibilities we have under the law to execute the national contingency plan and our fiduciary responsibility, the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund.”