The U.S. government on Thursday sent a bill for $ 69 million the oil giant BP, for expenditure incurred so far by the government to fight against the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, while U.S. President Barack Obama prepares for a third trip to the disaster area.
“The Obama today sent the first bill of $ 69.09 million to BP and other parties responsible for operations related to the oil spill caused by the accident at the Deepwater Horizon platform,” the government said said in a statement.
“The Government wants a quick payment and take additional measures necessary to ensure that BP and other responsible parties, not the American taxpayers support all costs associated with the oil spill,” the statement said.
The U.S. president will travel on Friday for the third time in the Gulf of Mexico to “evaluate the latest efforts” to stop the leakage of oil, said Thursday the White House.
“President Barack Obama will return to the coast of Louisiana to evaluate the progress of the fight against the leakage of oil from the Deepwater Horizon BP platform,” said a statement from the White House.
The Deepwater Horizon platform, company owned and leased by BP Transocean, suffered a fire 36 hours before sinking on April 22 to 52 km from Venice (Louisiana State), causing the oil spill. The White House has described the occurrence of the greatest ecological disaster in the United States.
Polls show that many Americans are dissatisfied with the handling of the crisis for six weeks by the Obama, while residents of the Gulf coast of Mexico have complained about the slow federal response to deal crisis and denounced the government’s dependence vis-à-vis the PB to find solutions.
The U.S. government estimates that at least 21 million gallons (about 80 million liters) of oil spilled into the Gulf of Mexico. Computer models also show that thousands of miles of Atlantic coast could be affected by this environmental disaster.