Feingold to Contact Administration, BP Following Tour of Wisconsin Company
Rice Lake, Wisconsin – Prior to holding listening sessions in northern Wisconsin, U.S. Senator Russ Feingold visited a Wisconsin business working to help address the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. During a tour of American Excelsior in Rice Lake, Wisconsin, representatives of the company demonstrated how a wood-based fiber product the company manufactures can help absorb oil from water. Feingold toured the facility with State Representative Mary Hubler, who represents Wisconsin’s 75th Assembly District. Feingold has heard from several Wisconsin companies that have offered their services and technological expertise to respond to the crisis and his staff has worked to connect them to the response effort. Following his visit today, Feingold announced that he would contact both the Obama administration and BP to ensure ideas are being tracked and vetted for possible inclusion in the response effort.
“I am always impressed by the efforts of businesses and individuals to help their fellow Americans during a national crisis like the one we are currently facing in the Gulf. These Wisconsin companies that have reached out to me in hopes of helping clean up the Gulf are a testament to the generosity and ingenuity of the people of this state. As the federal government and BP continue to work to stop the spill and clean up the oil, I will do all I can to make sure these companies are heard by those overseeing the response to the crisis. This is an all-hands-on-deck situation and we need to be sure there is an organized effort to receive and vet proposed ideas from the private sector. I am contacting both the administration and BP to make sure that is the case and will continue to help Wisconsin businesses and individuals as they offer ways to address this crisis,” Feingold said.
