Obama announced Saturday that Reilly and foObama announced Saturday that Reilly and foFILE - In this Oct. 3, 2003 file photo, William Re
illy, a former EPA administrator, gestures wh
ile... FILE - In this Oct. 3, 2003 file photo
, William Reilly, a former EPA administrator,
gestures while discussin g the importance of
universities being involved in research relat
ed to the environment, at Washington Universi
ty in St. Louis. Obama announced Saturday tha
t Reilly and former Florida Sen. Bob Graham w
ill lead a presidential commission investigat
ing the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. (AP Photo/J
ames A. Fiinley, File) (AP)The Environmental
Protection Agency chief on the job during th
e Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska in 1989 an
d a former Florida senator will lead the pres
idential commission investigating the Gulf of
Mexico disaster.President Barack Obama on Sa
turday announced the appointments of William
K. Reill y, EPA administrator under Republican
President George H.W. Bush, and Bob Graham,
a Democrat who also was Florida governor, as
the panel's heads.Obama intends to name five
others to th e commission, which will examine
issues such as what caused the spill, the saf
ety of offshore drilling and operations at th
e Minerals Management Service, the federal ag
ency that grants dril ling rights. A report is
due in six months."I can't think of two peop
le who will bring greater experience or bette
r judgment to the task at hand," Obama said i
n his weekly radio and Internet addr ess.The G
ulf oil spill began April 20 when BP's Deepwa
ter Horizon drilling rig exploded off the Lou
isiana coast, killing 11 workers and rupturin
g an underwater pipe. Since then, at least 21< /br>0,000 gallons of oil a day have been spewing
into the Gulf, threatening beaches, marshes,
fisheries and wildlife along the coast.A mont
h after the explosion, residents, elected off
icials and en vironmental groups are becoming
frustrated with BP PLC's failure to cap the w
ell. They have called for the government to t
ake charge. BP was leasing the rig and is res
ponsible for the cleanup. The governme nt is s
igning off on the company's efforts to cap th
e pipe, but one Republican senator said more
needs to be done.Sen. David Vitter, R-La., sa
id many Louisianians are frustrated that Demo
crats who run Cong ress have been holding hear
ings while the uncapped well continues to sul
ly Gulf Coast waters."The time for committee
hearings is for after the well has been cappe
d, not before," Vitter said in the weekly Rep >ublican message.Vitter said the focus should
be on stopping the oil flow and protecting th
e coastline. He said coastal communities also
are in desperate need of more containment bo
oms, the barriers designed to stop oil from r
eaching the coast.
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