Coast Guard Member Returns from Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill in Gulf of Mexico

Lt. j.g. Laura Anderson returns home

SAN DIEGO - U. S. Coast Guard Lt.j.g. Laura Anderson of Coast Guard Sector San Diego recently returned from duty supporting Coast Guard oil recovery operations at the Deep Water Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Anderson served as an Offshore Task Leader and Deputy Branch Director and was responsible for the coordination and deployment of response assets with the local, state and federal governments which assisted in the protection of the area beaches along the Gulf Coast. Anderson oversaw tactical control of multiple Coast Guard and civilian assets which were directly involved in offshore clean up and oil skimming operations. Anderson’s assignment was instrumental to response and recovery efforts in the largest oil spill response in U.S. history.

Anderson joined the Coast Guard Reserve following graduation from the Merchant Maine Academy in Kings Point, N.Y., in 2007, and is currently a resident of Escondido, Calif.

In a matter of days, the government stood up a joint organization, integrating hundreds of Federal, state and local agencies, industry, and academia, to conduct an operation spanning 460,000 square miles of ocean--an area larger than the State of Texas and California combined--and 750 miles of shoreline making this response the largest of this kind.

The government is overseeing an unprecedented, cutting edge operation at the sea floor, at 5,000 feet of depth. This operation encompasses the efforts of 100 private companies, including experts from nine oil companies, as well as the Coast Guard, Navy, Departments of Energy and the Interior, the EPA and at least three Federal labs.

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