Oil cleanup may be impossible

NEW ORLEANS - The gooey oil washing into the maze of marshes along the Gulf Coast could prove impossible to remove, leaving a toxic stew lethal to fish and wildlife, government officials and independent scientists said.

Officials are considering some drastic and risky solutions: They could set the wetlands on fire or flood areas in hopes of floating out the oil.

But they warn an aggressive cleanup could ruin the marshes and do more harm than good. The only viable option for many impacted areas is to do nothing and let nature break down the spill.

President Barack Obama signed an executive order Friday establishing the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling, which will investigate events leading to the April 20 oil-rig explosion that killed 11 people, sank the rig and caused tens of thousands of barrels of oil to be lost in the Gulf.

A report from the commission is expected in about six months, and it should address the causes of the accident and offer options on what safety and environmental precautions are needed to prevent a similar disaster, he said.

BP has said already it will pay "all necessary" cleanup costs. The London-based energy company owned the drilling rights for the oil. The rig it used was leased from Transocean Ltd., while Halliburton Co. installed some of the equipment.

Obama said the "cozy relationship" between oil and gas companies and the government agencies that regulate them have long been a source of concern.

But Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) said it was too soon to create a commission because the broken crude pipe has yet to be sealed.

"We want 100 percent of the attention of all parties focused on our two immediate problems: stopping the gushing oil and protecting our coastlines and marshes from the oil," Vitter said Friday.

Coast Guard officials said Saturday the spill's impact now stretches across a 150-mile swath, from Dauphin Island, Ala. to Grand Isle, La.

Over time, experts say weather and natural microbes will break down most of the oil. However, the crude will surely poison plants and wildlife in the months - even years - it will take for the syrupy muck to dissipate.

BP said it will be at least Tuesday before engineers can shoot mud into the blown-out well at the bottom of the Gulf, yet another delay in the effort to stop the oil.

With MarketWatch