Transcript of: In Gulf, good news won't still troubled waters
BRIAN WILLIAMS, anchor:
We turn now to the oil disaster in the gulf. And with the cap still holding and the relief wells on track, concern has now moved 100 percent to the cleanup, and many are worried
BP
will bail out of the cleanup effort once the well is permanently plugged. Remember one thing, there's still 90 days worth of oil in that water. It took six weeks to get to shore
in the first place
, and now there's another incident causing concern. So we have two reports tonight, beginning with
Anne Thompson
in
Venice
,
Louisiana
.
Anne
, good evening.
ANNE THOMPSON reporting:
Good evening,
Brian
. The only thing people here fear more than oil coming is
BP
and the
Coast Guard
taking their equipment and going. And that was the topic of a meeting in
New Orleans
today described as frank and passionate. It is the backbone of the shoreline cleanup and an economic lifeline for out-of-work fishermen, but today national incident commander
Thad Allen
told
Louisiana
officials the
Vessels
of
Opportunity Program
will be downsized once the well is killed. How contentious was that issue today with the parish presidents?
Admiral THAD ALLEN:
I don't think it's contentious as -- so much as it's very complex.
And I
hate to use downsize. I think right size is more what we need to do. We need to adjust the
Vessels
of
Opportunity
, all of our resources, to what the requirement is.
THOMPSON:
There are thousands of boats in the program. But now that
BP
's well is capped, the mission will move from response to recovery. Parish presidents fear retreat.
Mr. BILLY NUNGESSER (Plaquemines Parish President):
We're going to hold their feet to the fire to make sure that they are -- until all of the oil is gone out of the
Gulf of Mexico
before we pull all the assets out of our parish.
THOMPSON:
In
Plaquemines Parish
today there was oil to clean up in the marshes. We found patches of crude Wednesday evening seven miles south of
Empire Rocks
. This is why the oil is harder to find and harder to recover, because it is coming in ever-smaller pieces, and now mixing in with the debris of the gulf, an invasion
Louisiana
does not want to fight by itself. Can you assure the people of
Louisiana
that
BP
and the
Coast Guard
won't cut and run?
Adm. ALLEN:
We're not running anywhere. There's a
Coast Guard
station in
Venice
here. I've talked with
Bob Dudley
. We're committed to be here and make sure this thing ends correctly.
THOMPSON:
A promise
Louisiana
officials say they're not buying into just yet.
Anne Thompson
, NBC News,
Venice
,
Louisiana
.
“ ”