Don't let the summer's disastrous BP oil spill get too far from your thoughts. There is still much to do. Gov. Bob Riley is complaining about how the feds are spending some of the money. And the government itself is saying the work to clean and restore the Gulf of Mexico will take years — perhaps decades.
Jane Lubchenco, the U.S. undersecretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere and the administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, writes in Sunday's Viewpoints section that even now, scientists are trying to "determine the true extent of the environmental damage." Lubchenco writes: "The goal is to hold BP and other responsible parties accountable for the restoration and compensation for the damage done by the spill to the Gulf's natural environment."
This is separate from holding BP and others responsible for the economic damage, too. Also Sunday, Bloomberg News columnist Ann Woolner discusses possible criminal charges surrounding Halliburton's use of flawed cement at the BP Deepwater Horizon well. Halliburtan "may be wishing it had more carefully observed certain boundaries as new evidence emerges of its role in the biggest oil spill in U.S. history," Woolner writes.
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