DLA to Purchase Gasoline, Diesel Fuel for Superstorm Relief

DLA to Purchase Gasoline, Diesel Fuel for Superstorm Relief

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Nov. 2, 2012 - President Barack Obama has directed the Defense Logistics Agency to purchase up to 12 million gallons of unleaded fuel and up to 10 million gallons of diesel fuel for distribution in areas impacted by Hurricane Sandy to supplement ongoing private-sector efforts, according to a Federal Emergency Management Agency news release issued today.

This purchase will be transported by tanker trucks and distributed throughout New York, New Jersey and other communities impacted by the storm, according to the FEMA release.

"FEMA is just one part of the emergency management team, a team that includes the full federal government, state, tribal, and local officials, faith-based and non-profit organizations, the private sector, and especially the public," FEMA Administrator William Craig Fugate said in the release. "The entire team will continue to lean forward as we work together to respond to and recover from this disaster."

The DLA fuel purchase is in addition to the emergency diesel fuel loan from the Energy Department's Northeast Home Heating Oil Reserve.

In related news, U.S. Department of Homeland Security Director Janet Napolitano issued a temporary, blanket waiver of the Jones Act to immediately allow additional oil tankers coming from the Gulf of Mexico to enter Northeastern ports to provide additional fuel resources to the region, according to a DHS news release issued today.

The waiver "will remove a potential obstacle to bringing additional fuel to the storm-damaged region," Napolitano stated in the release.

The waiver is operative through Nov. 13, the release said.