By DPA,
Washington: The White House Thursday gave BP 24 hours to respond to questions on its plans to replace a containment cap with a tighter one on the gushing well in the Gulf of Mexico.
In a letter to BP, the White House demanded that the oil company provide a detailed plan outlining its efforts to skim and burn oil spewing from the well once the old cap is taken off, CNN reported.
The cap on the wellhead needs to be swapped to make the sunken Deepwater Horizon rig more resilient in the event of a hurricane. During the switch period, oil will flow unchecked into the Gulf.
Oil has been gushing from the well since end-April, when the rig exploded and sank, causing the worst spill in US history that is leading to massive ecological degradation in the ocean and along the coastline of five Gulf states.
The oil has been leaking at a rate of between 35,000 to 60,000 barrels per day, according to US scientists.