President Obama Visits BP Gulf Oil Spill

Crews on ships work on the attempted 'top kill' procedure at the source site of the Deepwater Horizon disaster on May 29, 2010 in the Gulf of Mexico near Venice, Louisiana. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

President Obama took his second trip to Louisiana to get a first hand look at what is turning into one of the worst oil spills in US history.

He also attended a variety of meetings regarding plans to clean up the oil and stop the oil spill.

The recent “Top Kill” procedure ended up failing, and thousands of gallons of oil are continuing to pour into the ocean on a daily basis.

President Obama attended a press meeting with National Incident Commander Admiral Thad Allen and LaFourche Parish President Charlotte Randol about the clean up efforts on the Louisiana shore. The group also went over strategies designed to stop the flow of oil from the broken pipes in the ocean.

The officials in Louisiana are using clean up booms to reduce the oil in the water but the president asserted that stopping the month long leak is the primary concern.

“Either the boom soaks stuff up or manually you can pick up these tar balls as they’re coming ashore,“ said President Obama in a statement. ”But obviously the concern is, is that until we actually stop the flow, we’ve got problems.”

A statement from the US Coast Guard claimed that tar balls washing up near the Florida Keys were not linked to the BP Gulf Oil Spill but the president has not made an official comment on the issue. The tar balls mentioned in the recent press meeting were regarding tar balls that washed up on the coast of Louisiana and not Florida.

[xtypo_dropcap]T[/xtypo_dropcap]he Transocean rig that caught fire before sinking into the ocean was connected to three major oil lines that broke when the rig sank. Eleven workers remain missing and are now assumed to be dead. Thousands of gallons of oil has been pouring into the Gulf of Mexico on a daily basis since April 21.

BP released a statement backing President Obama’s focus on stopping the leak.

The company attempted to implement their “Top Kill” procedure that could stop kill the actual well itself putting an end to the spill, but this failed, and BP continues to search for other options. BP and President Obama believe that once the spill is stopped then more focus can be put on cleaning up the water.

BP has been working with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to implement underwater devices that could help stop the oil spill.

BP also has a plan to move the sunken rig so that they can place a containment device on top of the area where the oil is spilling.

“In parallel with the ongoing top kill operation, preparations have been made for the possible deployment of the lower marine riser package (LMRP) cap containment system,” read a statement from BP.

The cap containment system is designed to cover the areas where the broken oil lines are suspected to be stopping the flow of the oil.

Covering one of the three broken lines would be a step in the right direction for BP, who is being held financially responsible for the clean up efforts. No word has been given as to whether the company may receive assistance from the federal government to help pay for the clean up efforts at this time.