Idle Jones Act fleet in oil cleanup draws ire

Idle Jones Act fleet in oil cleanup draws ire

Mica

   Rep. John Mica, ranking Republican member of the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, blasted the Department of Homeland Security in a letter Tuesday for not activating the full potential of the country's U.S.-flag Jones Act fleet in the Gulf of Mexico oil cleanup.
   'We are surprised and dismayed at your failure to fully deploy all of our domestic resources in the ongoing federal effort,' Mica said in his letter to Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano. 'We urge you to immediately contact domestic operators to review both their assets and capability to be part of this important response.'
   Mica aimed similar criticism at the National Incident Command and other federal agencies involved in the oil spill, which began more than 50 days ago when a BP oil platform exploded and pipes attached to the deepwater well ruptured.
   The lawmaker from Florida said he has heard from the Jones Act industry that 'scores of vessels' are sitting idle waiting to respond to the cleanup.
   'The administration has waited well beyond the appropriate time to either engage the Jones Act-compliant resources we have or accept assistance from other countries,' Mica said. 'While we are not opposed to waving the Jones Act if necessary, such as President Bush did after Hurricane Katrina, it is almost incomprehensible that every effort to deploy these assets has taken so long.'