Coast Guard: BP Will Still Do Clean Up

Coast Guard Commandant Thad Allen has stated that the U.S. government will continue to work with BP on the oil spill clean up:

Coast Guard Commandant Thad Allen dismissed suggestions that the U.S. government should take over the BP oil spill cleanup Monday — just one day after Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said the government might push BP aside if it couldn’t get the job done.

"To push BP out of the way would raise the question, replace them with what?" Allen told reporters at the White House, saying the government didn’t have the expertise or the equipment to plug the gushing oil pipe a mile below the ocean’s surface.

Later, Allen acknowledged there might be some legal authority that would allow the U.S. government to take over the operation, but said his recommendation would be to keep BP in charge.

“I’m the national incident commander, and right now the relationship with BP is the way I think we should move forward,” Allen said.