Feds Open Criminal Probe of Oil Spill; Obama, Holder Vow Legal Justice, Regulatory Reform

Byline: Kara Rowland and Jerry Seper, THE WASHINGTON TIMES

Opening a new front in the battle to contain the worst oil spill in the nation's history, the Obama administration on Tuesday began a criminal investigation into the causes and consequences of the environmental disaster plaguing the Gulf Coast.

Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. revealed the criminal and civil probes into the BP oil-rig disaster just hours after President Obama vowed that government investigators would conduct a full and vigorous accounting of the still-uncapped spill. The president also ordered the oil giant to compensate those whose livelihoods have been harmed.

We have an obligation to investigate what went wrong and to determine what reforms are needed so that we never have to experience a crisis like this again, Mr. Obama told reporters in the Rose Garden after a meeting with the two co-chairmen of a new government panel that will oversee the probe.

While on a tour of the area in New Orleans, Mr. Holder promised a meticulous, comprehensive and …

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Publication information: Article title: Feds Open Criminal Probe of Oil Spill; Obama, Holder Vow Legal Justice, Regulatory Reform. Contributors: Not available. Newspaper title: The Washington Times (Washington, DC). Publication date: June 2, 2010. Page number: A01. © 2009 The Washington Times LLC. COPYRIGHT 2010 Gale Group.

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