EPA to BP: Switch to Less Toxic Dispersant—Now

Company given 72 hours to make the switch
By Kate Seamons,  Newser Staff
Posted May 20, 2010 10:09 AM CDT
EPA to BP: Switch to Less Toxic Dispersant—Now
A dispersant plane passes over an oil skimmer as it cleans oil in the Gulf of Mexico near the coast of Louisiana.   (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

In a move that suggests the dispersants being dumped on the Gulf oil spill may not be so Earth-friendly, the EPA last night gave BP 24 hours to select a less toxic chemical and 72 hours to make the switch. The company, which has used 600,000 gallons on the surface and 55,000 underwater, is currently using two types of Corexit; Britain banned some of that dispersant's forms more than a decade ago, notes the Washington Post.
(Read more oil dispersant stories.)

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