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Obama threatens court action over US oil spill
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Obama threatens court action over US oil spill
AFP - Wednesday, June 2
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NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (AFP) - – President Barack Obama Tuesday threatened legal action against those to blame for unleashing the nation's worst ever oil spill, as BP once again battled to stop the six-week leak.
"If our laws were broken leading to this death and destruction, my solemn pledge is that we will bring those responsible to justice on behalf of the victims of this catastrophe and the people of the Gulf region," Obama vowed.
Calling it the "greatest environmental disaster of its kind in our history," Obama said the government had an "obligation" to find out what caused an explosion on the BP-operated Deepwater Horizon rig on April 20.
He raised the prospect of court action after talks with a White House panel investigation the spill, as Attorney General Eric Holder visited the Gulf to assess legal options.
Chronology: BP's failed attempts to plug Gulf of Mexico oil spil
Under huge pressure to stop the spill, BP shares plummeted Tuesday 15.49 percent to 418.15 pence following the news it had failed on Saturday once again to cap the leak.
BP chief operating officer Doug Suttles said Tuesday the company now hoped to cap the rig's fractured pipe within the next 24 hours, thanks to a new maneuver -- earlier than the British energy giant had previously predicted.
"If everything goes well, within the next 24 hours, we could have this contained," Suttles told reporters in Louisiana.
The latest operation -- dubbed a lower marine riser pipe -- would cut off the jagged edges of the leaking pipe and then seal it with a tight cap. A tube would then siphon most of the oil to a ship on the surface.
In cutting the riser pipe, however, BP is running the risk of unleashing an even larger torrent of oil.
If it works, BP engineers plan to lower another dome to capture a second flow of oil through a valve known as the blowout preventer, BP's managing director Bob Dudley said on CNN.
"By the end of the month, we are engineering a completely separate system that will make it more storm proof with a free standing riser that would allow for quick disconnects if needed," he said.
Tuesday's official start of the hurricane season has worsened the outlook for residents in Louisiana and the neighboring states of Alabama and Mississippi, with a widespread fishing ban in place and tourists numbers down.
Two deep relief wells being drilled by BP into the seabed to plug the leak permanently, will not be ready until August.
An estimated 12,000 to 19,00 barrels of crude has been belching daily into Gulf waters since the explosion ripped through the Deepwater Horizon rig and sank it two days later.
Eleven workers were killed, and more than 20 million gallons of oil is estimated to have flooded into the Gulf.
BP has tried -- and failed -- several times in the past six weeks to cap the leak through various methods, triggering mounting anger as oil washes up on the Gulf shores, threatening rare animal and plant life.
US officials said so far 29 dead dolphins and 227 sea turtles had been collected in the southern states, which is above average for the time of year -- with at least one of each species having visible signs of oil.
"The deaths of dolphins and sea turtles are particularly tragic, because we know we are only seeing the tip of the iceberg with those that have been washed up onshore and tested," said Doug Inkley, senior scientist at the National Wildlife Federation.
"Dolphins are unique among wildlife because of their intelligence and the trust they put into people, often wanting to play in the wake of our boats. Obviously, we broke that trust," he added in a statement.
Obama delivered his threat of legal action after meeting former senator Bob Graham and former Environmental Protection Agency administrator William Reilly, who will co-chair a presidential commission into the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
"If the laws on our books are insufficient to prevent such a spill, the laws must change," Obama said, in a statement in the White House Rose Garden.
Related article: 'Top kill' failure deals blow to weary residents
"If oversight was inadequate to enforce these laws, oversight has to be reformed."
Top White House energy advisor Carole Browner warned again Tuesday that US officials are bracing for a worst-case scenario, amid warnings that the 2010 storm season will be more than active than normal with up to 14 hurricanes.
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