EPA chief: too early to assess oil spills' damages

The head of the federal Environmental Protection Agency says it's too early to assess the damages from two oil spills -- one in the Gulf of Mexico and the other in Michigan's Kalamazoo River.

EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson is in the Twin Cities for a listening session on how to get more people out and enjoying the great outdoors.

At a news conference along the Mississippi River, Jackson said Enbridge Energy has responded adequately to federal requirements after about a million gallons leaked from its pipeline into the Kalamazoo River. The oil traveled about 25 miles downriver, but Jackson said it will not reach Lake Michigan.

"I feel very confident we're not going to see it getting any further than that," she said. "As the warm days come up, we're seeing a lot of sheen."

On the spill in the Gulf, she said more data is needed before the long-term effects will be known. She said there's a lot more work to be done on the spill in the Gulf.

"It is not the time to write the history of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, but rather to get the data we need to determine exactly what the effects were on that ecosystem," Jackson said.