In 2010, Browner became a key part of the administration team handling, and one of the more visible administration figures in issuing public comments about, the BP "Deepwater Horizon" oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. In late May 2010 she assessed the spill as "probably the biggest environmental disaster we have ever faced in this country" and said that the administration was "prepared for the worst". She added that "I think what the American people need to know that it is possible we will have oil leaking from this well until August, when the relief wells will be finished." Mike Allen of "Politico" later wrote that "[Browner's] calm, authoritative television presence during the BP oil disaster made her one of the few officials whose stature was enhanced in the aftermath of the Gulf catastrophe."