SOUTH PORTLAND – U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe praised Coast Guard officials Tuesday for their oil-spill preparations in Maine, while criticizing the preparations for and response to the spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
The Maine Republican made her comments during a visit to the Coast Guard base here, which included a tour of Portland Harbor and a close-up look at a giant tanker off-loading crude oil.
Snowe said the ruptured BP well that's spilling oil into the Gulf of Mexico has revealed a lack of preparation and oversight by federal agencies, which took too long to declare the spill a national emergency. "It was just a lax response, frankly," she said.
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