EPA Demands BP Use Less Toxic Chemicals

Maybe this is in reaction to the flak the government has been catching from scientists? The Environmental Protection Agency told BP it has 24 hours to come up with a less toxic method to break up the oil slick coating the Gulf of Mexico Wednesday night. Once the company has picked a different chemical to disperse the oil, it must use it within 72 hours of submitting the solution to the agency. The move shows that federal officials are worried the chemicals being pumped into the Gulf threaten its marine life; the chemicals have never been used on this scale before. So far, BP has used 655,000 gallons of two dispersants, Corexit 9500A and Corexit 9527A, 55,000 gallons of it below the surface. Though federal officials approved using the chemicals underwater, environmentalists and some lawmakers say using them below the surface is dangerous. The U.K. banned the use of some forms of Corexit more than 10 years ago.