The leaders of the House Natural Resources Committee – which oversees offshore drilling and some related coastal issues – have dispatched committee staff to monitor the work of federal agencies responding to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

“We are sending Committee staff to observe the joint unified command as they problem-solve in real time to ensure protection of our economically critical coastlines and ocean resources,” Chairman Nick Rahall (D-W.Va.) and Ranking Member Doc Hastings (R-Wash.) told Interior Secretary Ken Salazar in a letter late last week.

“Together, Committee staff and the joint unified command staff will enable us to better inform both the Executive and Legislative branch of the current status and potential future needs of our agencies and the impacted communities,” they added.

The committee – which is holding a hearing later this month on offshore drilling – is one of several that has begun probing the April 20 rig explosion and the federal and industry response to the worsening spill that has resulted from the accident.

Cross-posted at The Hill E2 Wire