Incident commander says 'right progress' being made in Gulf spill

The commander of the federal government's response to the BP oil spill made the rounds on the Sunday morning news shows as reports indicated that the size of the Gulf slick had tripled in the last month and was now the size of Vermont.

Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen said that the "right progress" was being made with the current containment efforts, which were capturing some 10,000 barrels a day from a leak that could, by estimates, be gushing 12,000 to 25,000 barrels a day.

On "Fox News Sunday," Allen stressed that the "final fix" to the leak would be the relief well in August, and said a second one is being drilled in case that doesn't work.

Allen said on CBS' "Face the Nation" that the incident will stretch "well into the fall," and "even after that there will be oil out there for months to come."

"We need to be on task and get this thing done," he said on Fox. The commander said that the spill was directly impacting 140 miles of coastline, but was no longer a "monolithic" spill but broken-up, smaller spills headed for shore.

"When it comes ashore nothing good happens," Allen said, noting that BP was "taking every step possible" on its efforts at the bottom of the ocean but needed to work on the "retail side" -- cleanup efforts and dealing with the public. BP aired a commercial during Sunday morning programming with CEO Tony Hayward seeking to reassure Gulf residents that the oil company was tackling the problem and that "all legitimate claims" would be honored.

"We can’t wait for it to get to shore," Allen said on ABC's "This Week." "We’ve got to skim it further out." Allen added that when he's asked BP for something, he's gotten it.

Allen said on CNN's "State of the Union" that Congress has been asked to move money from the more than $1 billion oil liability trust fund, established after the Exxon Valdez spill, into an emergency response fund so that the Coast Guard and EPA can start spending it. BP would then have to pay back into the fund, he said.

"This is an insidious enemy that is attacking all of our shores," Allen said. "It's holding the Gulf hostage, basically."

Two Gulf governors appearing on Sunday shows had praise for Allen's role in getting a handle on the crisis.

"Whenever there is an ask, we have gotten what we need," Florida Gov. Charlie Crist said on CNN. Mississippi Gov. Harley Barbour said on Fox that "we think the world of" Allen.

After tar balls washed up on Pensacola beaches, Crist said efforts were going toward keeping the oil out of sensitive marshes and estuaries.

"One of the things we're trying to preclude with boom already established, we've got about 250,000 feet of boom throughout the panhandle that is deployed ... to be able to close some of the bays off, some of the estuaries that are very sensitive," Crist said.

"People don't like to hear this, but the beaches are some of the best boom that can be available, that coming from our secretary of environmental protection Mike Sole," he said. "It's easier to clean up off the beachers as we were able to do this weekend in Pensacola."

"We were disappointed that it even came on the beaches, but then we were able to clean it up fairly rapidly," Crist added.

Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) said on CBS that there was no need "at this point" to close Florida beaches, but if the spill continues through the summer "it is going to considerably alter our way of life along the Gulf and it could be on the Atlantic Coast as well."

When pressed on the White House response to the spill, Barbour the situation didn't warrant Republicans "piling up" on the administration.

Instead, Barbour referred to a Napoleon Bonaparte saying: "Never interfere with your enemy when he's in the process of destroying himself."

On "This Week," Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) said that the administration was making the right moves in the spill response. "I think theyre holding BP's feet to the fire," he said.

Texas Sen. John Cornyn (R) called BP's response "lousy," and said he was glad to see the administration step up, but "it sure has taken a long time."

"No one has really known who’s in charge," Cornyn said. "We need the president to step up and assert himself."

Russell Berman contributed to this report

This story was updated at 11 a.m.

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