Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen

Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen, national incident commander for the federal response to the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, will give an overview of the BP oil spill at a Newsmaker press conference at 11 a.m. Aug. 20 at the National Press Club.

Allen, the federal official charged with overseeing the cleanup, is the former commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard. He will answer questions about the impact of the spill, BP's response and what tasks still remain. BP recently capped the leaking well, which spewed more than 4.1 million barrels of oil into the Gulf, but the clean up continues. The spill closed more than one third of the Gulf to commercial fishing, which disrupted business along the Gulf Coast.

The Newsmaker press conference is open to working reporters and members of the National Press Club.

Contact: Tejinder Singh, chair, NPC Newsmakers Committee (202-503-8052,
[email protected])