As the Gulf Coast oil spill response team scrambled on Monday to get special fire booms to corral and then burn the slick, key questions surfaced: Were any of those booms even in the area? And if not, should they have been, given a 1994 plan produced for federal agencies to deal with such a scenario? 
 
 The Coast Guard did not immediately respond to phone calls by msnbc.com about whether spill response plans required having fire booms nearby. The Press-Register of Mobile, Ala., reported Monday that no booms were available immediately after the Deepwater Horizon rig sank and started leaking oil on April 22. 
 
 A few days later, the Coast Guard said it would test burning oil, and did so on April 28. The test went well but rough weather that followed shelved plans for a large-scale burn. 
 
 Ron Gouguet, who helped devise the 1994 plan for responding to oil spills when he worked for the federal National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, told msnbc.com that there's nothing novel about the booms. 
 
 "The technology was tested in the (Exxon) Valdez spill in 1989 and used in Texas in the San Jacinto spill in 1994," he said. "Several versions of the booms were available in 1994" when his team's plan was approved. 
 
 Video: Latest from the coast Elastec/American Marine, a company that provided the fire boom for the test burn last week, said it received an order last Monday but only had one of its patented Fire-Hydro booms in stock. That's being rushed to the spill site and six more are being rounded up, some from Brazil. Each can cost $100,000 or more. 
 
 Jeff Bohleber, chief financial officer for Elastec/American Marine, told msnbc.com that he thinks a key lesson learned from the disaster will be that fire booms should not be seen as experimental or as secondary tools. 
 
 "I believe in the end analysis, after this is all done, that they will find that the Hydro-Fire boom will likely be a tool of first response," he said. "It provides the disposal of the largest amount of oil in the shortest amount of time." 
 
 What's there now "is probably not enough" given the size of spill, he added. "The more you have on hand the better off you'll be." 
 
 BP: 'Wasn't our accident' 
 
 Federal officials and oil giant BP, which was having the well drilled when it exploded, are now focusing on trying to contain the leaks with huge domes, then drill a relief well within three months. 
 
 Video: CEO interview Facing an unprecedented environmental disaster along the Gulf Coast, not to mention lawsuits, BP told NBC on Monday that while it was taking responsibility for the cleanup, the accident that triggered the disaster was not its fault. 
 
 "It wasn't our accident, but we are absolutely responsible for the oil, for cleaning it up, and that's what we intend to do," BP Group CEO Tony Hayward told NBC's "TODAY" show. 
 
 The rig that exploded on April 20 and then sank was run by another company, Transocean, he reminded viewers. That rig, he said, "was run by their people, their processes." 
 
 Hayward added that the failure of the rig's "blow-out preventer" — a device that should have shut off the well when the rig exploded and sank — was "unprecedented in our industry." 
 
 "What has failed here is the ultimate safety device on a drilling rig," he said. "There are many barriers of protection that you have to go to before you get to this. It isn't designed to not fail." 
 
 Video: Bird migrations at risk? Guy Cantwell, a Transocean spokesman, responded by reading a statement without elaborating. "We will await all the facts before drawing conclusions and we will not speculate," he said. 
 
 A federal board investigating what caused the accident plans to hold its first public hearing in about two weeks, officials said Monday. 
 
 BP was trying to cap the smallest of three leaks with underwater robotic vehicles in the hope it will make it easier to place a single oil-siphoning container over the wreck. 
 
 One of the robots cut the damaged end off a pipe at the smallest leak Sunday and officials were hoping to cap it with a sleeve and valve, Coast Guard spokesman Brandon Blackwell said Monday. He did not know how much oil was coming from that leak. 
 
 "We see this as an opportunity to simplify the seafloor mission a little bit, so we're working this aggressively," BP spokesman Steve Rinehart said. 
 
 The first container, or dome, is seven to eight days from being "in the field," Hayward said. Such a procedure has been used in some well blowouts but never at the mile-deep waters of this disaster. 
 
 That is just a temporary fix until a relief well can be drilled to plug the leaks, and that could take two to three months, Hayward said. 
 
 'Not a spill, it's a flow' 
 
 Crews continued to place oil booms in what increasingly feels like a futile effort to slow down the spill, though choppy seas have made that difficult and rendered much of the oil-corraling gear useless. 
 
 "I've been in Pensacola and I am very, very concerned about this filth in the Gulf of Mexico," Florida Gov. Charlie Crist said Sunday night. "It's not a spill, it's a flow. Envision sort of an underground volcano of oil and it keeps spewing over 200,000 gallons every single day, if not more." 
 
 Video: Shrimpers: ‘This is our living’ That estimate could climb to several million gallons a day in the event of a total wellhead failure — a much greater breach than exists now. 

 BP Will Pay For Gulf Oil Spill Disaster, CEO Says 
 
 Enlarge this image toggle caption John D. McHugh/AFP/Getty Images John D. McHugh/AFP/Getty Images 
 
 The CEO of petroleum giant BP told NPR on Monday that his company is fully responsible for the cleanup and any "legitimate" claims from an undersea pipeline rupture that threatens to deposit hundreds of thousands of gallons of crude on the U.S. Gulf Coast. 
 
 "It is indeed BP's responsibility to deal with this, and we are dealing with it," Tony Hayward told Morning Edition's Steve Inskeep. 
 
 "We will absolutely be paying for the cleanup operation. There is no doubt about that. It's our responsibility — we accept it fully," he added. 
 
 Hayward also said the British oil giant was "mounting a massive response" to what he described as a "tragic accident." 
 
 The Deepwater Horizon offshore drilling rig was hit by an explosion April 20 and sank two days later. More than 90 workers were rescued, but 11 are still missing and presumed dead. BP leased the rig, which lies about 50 miles off the Louisiana coast, from Houston-based Transocean. 
 
 Deepwater Horizon Disaster April 20: Deepwater Horizon drilling rig explodes off Louisiana coast. Eleven workers missing and presumed dead. April 22: Rig sinks. April 23: Coast Guard Rear Adm. Mary Landry says no oil appears to be leaking from the undersea wellhead or at the water's surface. April 24: Leak reported; oil is estimated to be leaking at the rate of 1,000 barrels a day. April 29: Coast Guard says leak may be five times greater than earlier estimate: 5,000 barrels a day. Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal declares state of emergency. May 1: Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen is named national incident commander. May 2: President Obama visits Coast Guard station in Venice, La. May 3: BP CEO Tony Hayward tells NPR his company will pay for the cleanup and any "legitimate" legal claims. 
 
 The cause of the blast has not yet been determined. 
 
 When pressed on whether BP was prepared to pay claims to individuals who lose their livelihoods owing to the spill, Hayward said the company has "made it clear that where legitimate claims are made, we will be good for them." 
 
 "We have a claims process set up. There are small claims today that are being paid instantly," he said. "[For] bigger claims, we clearly have a process to run through." 
 
 Over the weekend, Alabama Attorney General Troy King said he had told BP representatives to stop circulating settlement agreements among coastal residents that reportedly offered payments of up to $5,000 in exchange for not suing the company. 
 
 Hayward called it "an early misstep" involving "a standard contract with the team we're using that was eliminated very early in the process." 
 
 President Obama has made clear that BP must shoulder the cost of the disaster. "BP is responsible for this leak. BP will be paying the bill," Obama said Sunday as he toured a Coast Guard staging area in Venice, La. 
 
 Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar were expected to meet later Monday with top BP executives to discuss the crisis, including how the company planned to pay for the cleanup. On Sunday, federal officials shut down fishing from the Mississippi River to the Florida Panhandle. 
 
 The Coast Guard and BP have said it's nearly impossible to know how much oil has already gushed since the rig blast. The Guard had estimated the slick to be at least 1.6 million gallons — equivalent to about 2 1/2 Olympic-sized swimming pools. Other experts say they believe far more oil has been released in a spill many fear now may eclipse the 11 million gallons released by the Exxon Valdez. Sheen from the massive slick has already reached parts of the Louisiana coastline. 
 
 Officials say it's likely that oil will continue gushing into the Gulf of Mexico for at least another week as a result of the pipeline rupture 5,000 feet below sea level. A plan to install a device to capture the oil and siphon it to a barge waiting at the surface would take that long, Hayward said. 
 
 Hide caption A boat uses a boom and absorbent material to soak up oil in Cat Bay, near Grand Isle, La., on June 28. A tropical storm is expected to hit the Gulf and impede cleanup efforts. Previous Next Joe Raedle/Getty Images 
 
 Hide caption Florida Gov. Charlie Crist and wife Carole Rome Crist (right) stand with others during a Hands Across the Sand event June 26 in Pensacola, Fla. The event was staged across the nation to protest offshore oil drilling. Previous Next Joe Raedle/Getty Images 
 
 Hide caption Oil clouds the surface of Barataria Bay near Port Sulpher, La., on June 19. Previous Next Sean Gardner/Getty Images 
 
 Hide caption Workers adjust piping while drilling a relief well at the site of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Previous Next Charlie Neibergall/Getty Images 
 
 Hide caption A dolphin rises up out of the water near Grand Terre Island off the coast of Louisiana on June 14. Previous Next Derick E. Hingle/AP 
 
 Hide caption President Obama stands with Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour (right) and Gulfport, Miss., Mayor George Schloegel after meeting with residents affected by the oil spill. Previous Next Charles Dharapak/AP 
 
 Hide caption Crude oil washes ashore in Orange Beach, Ala., on June 12. Oil slicks, 4 to 6 inches thick in some parts, have washed up along the Alabama coast. Previous Next Dave Martin/AP 
 
 Hide caption A volunteer uses a toothbrush to clean an oil-covered white pelican at the Fort Jackson Oiled Wildlife Rehabilitation Center in Buras, La., June 9. Previous Next Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images 
 
 Hide caption A shrimp boat skims oil from the surface of the water just off Orange Beach, Ala., as a family enjoys the surf. Oily tar balls have started washing up on Orange Beach and beaches in the western Florida panhandle. Previous Next Dave Martin/AP 
 
 Hide caption Sand from a dredge is pumped onto East Grand Terre Island, La., to provide a barrier against the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, June 8. Previous Next Charlie Riedel/AP 
 
 Hide caption A dead turtle floats on a pool of oil from the Deepwater Horizon spill in Barataria Bay off the coast of Louisiana on June 7. Previous Next Charlie Riedel/AP 
 
 Hide caption Workers use absorbent pads to remove oil that has washed ashore from the spill in Grand Isle, La., June 6. Previous Next Eric Gay/AP 
 
 Hide caption Plaquemines Parish coastal zone director P.J. Hahn lifts an oil-covered pelican out of the water on Queen Bess Island in Plaquemines Parish, La., June 5. Previous Next Gerald Herbert/AP 
 
 Hide caption Heavy oil pools along the side of a boom just outside Cat Island in Grand Isle, La., June 6. Previous Next Win McNamee/Getty Images 
 
 Hide caption President Obama walks alongside Grand Isle Mayor David Camardelle (from right), U.S. Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, who is in charge of the federal response to the spill, and Chris Camardelle after meeting with local business owners in Grand Isle, La., June 4. Previous Next Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images 
 
 Hide caption A brown pelican sits on the beach at East Grand Terre Island along the Louisiana coast after being drenched in oil from the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill, June 3. Previous Next Charlie Riedel/AP 
 
 Hide caption U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder announces that the Justice Department has launched a criminal investigation into the BP oil spill. With him, from left: Stephanie Finley and Jim Letten, U.S. attorneys for the Western District of Louisiana; Ignacia Moreno, assistant attorney general for the Environment and Natural Resources Division; Tony West, assistant attorney general, Civil Division; and Don Burkhalter, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Mississippi. Previous Next Cheryl Gerber/AP 
 
 Hide caption The oil slick off the coast of Louisiana, seen from above. Previous Next NASA via Getty Images 
 
 Hide caption A worker leaves the beach in Grand Isle, La., on May 30. BP is turning to yet another mix of undersea robot maneuvers to help keep more crude oil from flowing into the Gulf. Previous Next Jae C. Hong/AP 
 
 Hide caption Protesters cover themselves with a water and paint mixture during a demonstration at a BP gas station in New York City on May 28. Previous Next Mary Altaffer/AP 
 
 Hide caption Workers clean up oil in Pass a Loutre, La. The latest attempt to plug the leak was unsuccessful. Previous Next Jae C. Hong, File/AP 
 
 Hide caption Residents listen to a discussion with parish officials and a BP representative on May 25 in Chalmette, La. Officials now say that it may be impossible to clean the hundreds of miles of coastal wetlands affected by the massive oil spill. Previous Next Sean Gardner/Getty Images 
 
 Hide caption An oil-soaked pelican takes flight after Louisiana Fish and Wildlife employees tried to corral it on an island in Barataria Bay on the coast of Louisiana. The island, which is home to hundreds of brown pelican nests as well at terns, gulls and roseate spoonbills, is impacted by oil from the Deepwater Horizon spill. Previous Next Gerald Herbert/AP 
 
 Hide caption A sign warns the public to stay away from the beach on Grand Isle, La. Officials closed the oil-covered beaches to the public indefinitely on Saturday. Previous Next John Moore/Getty Images 
 
 Hide caption Pelican eggs stained with oil sit in a nest on an island in Barataria Bay on May 22. Previous Next Gerald Herbert/AP 
 
 Hide caption A bird flies over oil that has collected on wetlands on Elmer's Island in Grand Isle, La., May 20. The oil came inland despite oil booms that were placed at the wetlands' mouth on the Gulf of Mexico. Previous Next Patrick Semansky/AP 
 
 Hide caption Members of the Louisiana National Guard build a land bridge at the mouth of wetlands on Elmer's Island. Previous Next Patrick Semansky/AP 
 
 Hide caption The hands of boat captain Preston Morris are covered in oil after collecting surface samples from the marsh of Pass a Loutre, La., on May 19. Previous Next Gerald Herbert/AP 
 
 Hide caption Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (center) and Plaquemines Parish President Billy Nungesser (right) tour the oil-impacted marsh of Pass a Loutre, La. "This is the heavy oil that everyone's been fearing that is here now," said Jindal. Previous Next Gerald Herbert/AP 
 
 Hide caption BP Chairman and President Lamar McKay (left), with Transocean President and CEO Steven Newman (center) and Applied Science Associates Principal Deborah French McCay, testifies during a Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation hearing May 18 on response efforts to the Gulf Coast oil spill. Previous Next Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP 
 
 Hide caption This undated frame grab image received from BP and provided by the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee shows details of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. BP has agreed to display a live video feed of the oil gusher on the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming Committee's website beginning Thursday evening. Previous Next Senate Environment and Public Works Committee/AP 
 
 Hide caption President Obama speaks with local fishermen about how they are affected by the oil spill in Venice, La., on May 2. Previous Next Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images 
 
 Hide caption Danene Birtell with Tri-State Bird Rescue and Research tends to a Northern Gannet in Fort Jackson, La., on April 30. The bird, normally white when full grown, is covered in oil from the oil spill. Previous Next Alex Brandon/AP 
 
 Hide caption Since the explosion, a third oil leak has been discovered in the blown-out well. Previous Next Gerald Herbert/AP 
 
 Hide caption In this aerial photo taken April 21 more than 50 miles southeast of Venice, La., the Deepwater Horizon oil rig burns. Previous Next Gerald Herbert/AP 
 
 Hide caption Tendrils of oil mar the waters of the Gulf of Mexico in this satellite image taken Monday. An estimated 5,000 barrels of oil a day are seeping into the Gulf, after an explosion last week on a drilling rig about 50 miles off the Louisiana coast. Previous Next Courtesy of Digital Globe 1 of 36 i View slideshow 
 
 "We have fabricated and will have on location by next weekend a subsea containment system, with the intention of containing the leak," he said. Hayward described the device as "a dome ... that sits over the top of the wellhead and channels the oil to the surface, where it can be contained." 
 
 Such an operation, he said, had "never been done at 5,000 feet." 
 
 Eight robotic submarines were working around the clock to fix the well's blowout preventer — a "fail safe" that nonetheless was unable to prevent the spill, Hayward said, adding that the mechanism's failure was unprecedented. 
 
 "No one understands why it failed," he said. 
 
 The company is also in the process of drilling a relief well to isolate the well. 
 
 Hayward said 700 fishing vessels had been deployed to support its effort to contain the spill. "In the last 48 hours, we have trained over 3,000 people [who have] signed up on the volunteer program, so there is an enormous effort to work with the local communities," he said. "I talked with a fisherman who was on the program. He was loading his vessel with oil booms to go and deploy them." 
 
 He declined to say whether he supported a proposal by Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) to temporarily halt all offshore oil drilling until the exact cause of the accident is determined. 
 
 "We clearly need to understand what has happened here and that will come out with the investigation," Hayward said.
– BP CEO Tony Hayward says his company will “absolutely be paying for the cleanup operation” in the wake of the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. “There's no doubt about that. It's our responsibility—we accept it fully,” he told NPR, promising to pay all "legitimate" claims, and implying that the company wouldn't draw things out in court the way Exxon did after the Valdez spill. "We have a claims process set up. There are small claims today that are being paid instantly," he said. Hayword said the same thing on NBC's Today Show, though he sounded a bit more disgruntled about it. “It wasn't our accident,” he said. Another company, Transocean, operated the rig that exploded, he explained. It “was run by their people, their process.” Nevertheless, BP has deployed a huge fleet of fishermen to try to contain the spill, and is building a device to capture the oil at 5,000 feet below sea-level—an unprecedented feat.