The Navy is helping with the BP oil spill cleanup in the Gulf, says Minot native Rear Adm. Mike Miller.
Miller, chief of Legislative Affairs for the Navy, said the Navy has sent 23 deep-water skimmers to the Gulf Coast to help with the BP oil spill and are are working there every day.
"A lot of the oil will flow to the surface so they'll skim it up and they'll get it all together," he said. He said another process has to occur to actually suck the oil out of the water.
Miller said the Navy recently began taking some smaller skimmers there from local harbors, for example, like Norfolk, Va., or Mayport, Fla. He said the smaller skimmers are designed to operate in protected waters inlets, bays and harbors. "If, for example, a Navy ship were to have a small spill we'd take that very seriously so we have these small skimmers," he said.
"We don't have a lot of skimming or responsive equipment for a disaster of this magnitude but everything we've got, including hundreds of people they're down there on the Gulf Coast providing support," he said.
Miller is very familiar with the Pensacola, Fla., area. It's where he learned to fly, he said.
Miller is in Minot to visit family and attend his class reunion.