Bill No. 1: The White House says the federal government sent BP a $69 million bill Thursday for costs so far because of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. Spokesman Robert Gibbs said the bill was the first to be sent to the oil company, and he wasn’t sure how long the company has to pay the bill.
President “furious”: President Barack Obama said Thursday he was “furious” about the situation in the Gulf of Mexico and that BP hasn’t moved fast enough to respond to the oil spill. The president said in an interview for broadcast on CNN’s “Larry King Live” that BP has felt his anger — although he said “venting and yelling at people” won’t solve the problem. The White House said Obama will return to Louisiana today.
Freeze denial: The Interior Department denied Thursday that it had extended a drilling freeze to shallow waters of the Gulf of Mexico, contradicting an e-mail written earlier in the day by the Minerals Management Service’s supervisor of field operations for the gulf.
Washing ashore: Globs of oil are washing into Mobile Bay, Ala., and onto the white-sand beach at Fort Morgan, a Civil War fort in Alabama. Florida Gov. Charlie Crist said oil from the vast gulf spill was within 4 miles of the panhandle coast.
Denver Post wire services
