BP Oil Disaster - Obama vows justice in address from the Gulf

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Their stories are familiar to many in Grand Isle and throughout the Gulf region. Often families have been here for generations, earning a living, and making a life, that’s tied to the water - that’s tied to the magnificent coasts and natural bounty of this place. Here, this spill has not just damaged livelihoods. It’s upended whole communities. And the fury people feel is not just about the money they’ve lost. They’ve been through tough times before. It’s about the wrenching recognition that this time their lives may never be the same.

These folks work hard. They meet their responsibilities. But now because of a manmade catastrophe - one that’s not their fault and that’s beyond their control - their lives have been thrown into turmoil. It’s brutally unfair. It’s wrong. And what I told these men and women - and what I have said since the beginning of this disaster - is that I’m going to stand with the people of the Gulf Coast until they are made whole.

Recitation of numbers is also part of the address: 17 fed staging areas; authorization of 17,500 National Guard members; 20,000 people working the scene; hundreds of scientists and engineers; 1,900 vessels; 1,300 miles of boom material.

"In short," the President said, "this is the largest response to an environmental disaster of this kind in the history of our country."

And oh, yeah, to BP: A "preliminary" bill for $69 million to the federal government for response services already rendered, and orders to pay economic injury claims to residents. For the industry as a whole, "aggressive new operating standards for offshore drilling."

As to the future:

If laws are inadequate -laws will be changed. If oversight was lacking - it will be strengthened. And if laws were broken - those responsible will be brought to justice.

The full transcript can be found at the White House website.