Spill Response Ramps Up
The State swings into action to make sure the tar ball impact on Texas is minimal. Attorney General Greg Abbott's priorities are getting BP to pay for tar ball cleanup and for a claims office for businesses to be opened in Galveston. "We want to get that office up and running and quickly as possible so people can have their claims responded to as quickly as possible." Abbott was surprised by the tar ball report. So was Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson who thinks a ship may have brought the oil here by accident. He says right now this isn't something for people to worry about. "If you're going to have a spill to clean up the best thing you can be cleaning up is tar balls." He says the first tar balls were found on Texas beaches in 1543 from natural seeping oil so this is nothing new. Patterson's folks have stepped up patrols of the upper Texas coast and has launched a website, www.glo.state.tx.us/deepwater that will have all the latest information on the Texas coast.
