UPDATE: Obama Administration Blasts BP For Not Keeping Public Informed

The Obama administration on Thursday said BP PLC (BP) isn't doing enough to keep the government and the public informed about the Gulf oil spill that continues to gush out of a broken underwater pipe. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said in a letter to the company's chief executive that while BP has said it is making every effort to keep the government and public informed, "Those efforts, to date, have fallen short in both their scope and effectiveness." The letter comes as the EPA ordered the company to use a less-toxic chemical dispersant to break up crude oil. The government and BP have faced intense questioning in recent days about the size of the oil spill amid evidence that the crude oil has been caught in currents that may bring it up the east coast of the U.S.

"We are asking for them to provide the data, put it on the website, update that website daily," said White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs at a daily White House briefing with reporters. He added, "We think that is what the company owes, again, both us and the American people as we work through our response and as the public has questions about their operations."

The government has said it has been asking for a video that shows more details about oil spewing out of the sea floor and water-quality data. Gibbs said he thinks "that they're not going to want to hide that data."

Gibbs said the EPA has continued to do air and water testing, though the government doesn't have the technological resources that BP and other oil companies possess, particularly as it relates to a well that is 5,000 feet below sea level.

BP has been using a dispersant called Corexit, made by Nalco Holding Co. (NLC). The EPA authorized BP to use Corexit last week, but Jackson had said that she was pushing the company to consider other dispersants that might be less harmful.

Under the directive, BP has 24 hours to identify a "less toxic" alternative--to be used both at the surface and underwater. The company must begin using the alternative within 72 hours of submitting the new chemical for review. If BP can't identify an alternative, it must provide a detailed description of which chemicals were considered and why they didn't meet the required standards.

Dispersants are traditionally used to break up oil slicks on the sea surface. The risks of their underwater usage over long periods of time are unknown. Initial testing of Corexit on small fish, conducted earlier this week, produced survival rates of 80% to 90%, the EPA chief told reporters Wednesday, but those tests don't measure long-term effects.

-By Jared A. Favole, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-9256; jared.favole@dowjones.com

-By Siobhan Hughes, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-6654; siobhan.hughes@dowjones.com

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