A thorough investigation will determine if criminal charges should be filed in the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, U.S. President Obama said Tuesday.
The president met with the two men he has appointed to lead the inquiry, former U.S. Sen. Bob Graham, D-Fla., and former Environmental Protection Administration head William K.
Reilly, The New York Times reported.
"If laws were broken, leading to death and destruction, my solemn pledge is, we will bring those responsible to justice," Obama said at the White House.
A BP well has been spewing oil into the gulf since an explosion April 20 on the Deepwater Horizon platform killed 11 people. BP announced during the weekend that a method of capping
the well known as "top kill" had failed and it would begin a new effort to contain the oil until a relief well can be drilled.
The oil giant said it would try to position a custom-built cap over a portion of a piece of equipment called the "lower marine riser package."
Remotely operated vehicles carried out the preliminary operations, including preparations for cutting and separating the damaged riser from the LMRP at the top of the Deepwater Horizon's failed blowout preventer, the company said on its Web site. BP said the operation's goal is
to capture most of the oil and gas flowing from the well and transport it to a ship.
Federal officials ordered another 1,200 square miles of the gulf closed to fishing Monday, extending the restricted zone toward the coasts of Alabama and Mississippi, CNN reported.
Hurricane season began Tuesday. A storm in the gulf could threaten efforts to deal with the spill, the worst in U.S. history.