President Obama arrived on Grand Isle, Louisiana moments ago. His motorcade came zipping through the main road along the beach. Once sounds of helicopters and police sirens were audible, almost the whole restaurant along the road emptied to catch a glimpse of the 40mph+ motorcade. Ahead of Obama’s visit to this seven-mile-long island, BP brought in at least 100 additional cleanup workers from other areas. Eight school buses were parked at the foot of the bridge into town this morning, with dozens of cleanup workers milling about the bait shop and deli. They all wore distinct clothing from the workers who have been cleaning up the island this week.

I just came from a press conference held on the beach of Grand Isle, Louisiana. It was a joint briefing by representatives of BP and the Coast Guard. When questioned about which entity was in charge of the operation, there was clear confusion about how to answer the question. In fact, no one was in charge of how to answer that question.

Alaska professor Rick Steiner explained that there are two kinds of booms: one absorbent, one non-absorbent. The absorbent type are thrown away after use, but the non-absorbent ones should be cleaned and reused. “The booms being placed in the dumpster in this photo are containment booms, which should be cleaned and reused, not thrown away,” said Steiner.