New Orleans, Louisiana:
The United States has launched a criminal investigation into the massive oil spill gushing out of a BP-leased rig in the Gulf of Mexico, US Attorney General Eric Holder has said.
"We will prosecute to the fullest extent of the law anyone who has violated the law," Holder told reporters in New Orleans. "We will not rest until justice is done."
Holder said the criminal probe began "some weeks ago" but his department has not yet determined "who is ultimately liable" or what specific charges might be laid.
"The investigation is a comprehensive one," he told reporters. "We will be looking at a wide range of things from false statements to the way certain entities have conducted themselves."
At congressional hearings last month BP swapped blame for the disaster with rig owner Transocean and oil services group Halliburton, which was responsible for the well's cement casing.
BP has, however, accepted responsibility for the disaster and Holder said he did not think the threat of a criminal prosecution would hamper its response efforts.
"BP, I would think, would want to mitigate whatever damages they have caused and that can obviously have an impact on how they are viewed in a criminal and civil context," Holder said.
"So it is in BP's interest to keep doing what they are doing and perhaps even redoubling their efforts to ensure the cleanup is done as quickly and as completely as possible."
Holder's remarks came shortly after President Barack Obama on 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.
"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, lashing what he said was lax regulation of the offshore oil industry.
"If oversight was inadequate to enforce these laws, oversight has to be reformed."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."
"We will prosecute to the fullest extent of the law anyone who has violated the law," Holder told reporters in New Orleans. "We will not rest until justice is done."
Holder said the criminal probe began "some weeks ago" but his department has not yet determined "who is ultimately liable" or what specific charges might be laid.
"The investigation is a comprehensive one," he told reporters. "We will be looking at a wide range of things from false statements to the way certain entities have conducted themselves."
At congressional hearings last month BP swapped blame for the disaster with rig owner Transocean and oil services group Halliburton, which was responsible for the well's cement casing.
BP has, however, accepted responsibility for the disaster and Holder said he did not think the threat of a criminal prosecution would hamper its response efforts.
"BP, I would think, would want to mitigate whatever damages they have caused and that can obviously have an impact on how they are viewed in a criminal and civil context," Holder said.
"So it is in BP's interest to keep doing what they are doing and perhaps even redoubling their efforts to ensure the cleanup is done as quickly and as completely as possible."
Holder's remarks came shortly after President Barack Obama on 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.
"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, lashing what he said was lax regulation of the offshore oil industry.
"If oversight was inadequate to enforce these laws, oversight has to be reformed."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."
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