Probably not. CNN:
Washington (CNN) – Legally, President Barack Obama can effectively fire BP and have the federal government take over efforts to stop the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. The question is whether that would help the situation.
No one argues that the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 gives Obama the authority to take over all efforts to plug the gushing well 5,000 feet beneath the surface.
However, officials of oil giant BP, while acknowledging their failure so far to stop the leak, say no one – even the U.S. government – can match their company’s know-how and technology in such a crisis.
“I don’t think anyone else could do better than we are,” Doug Suttles, the BP chief operating officer, told CNN on Monday. “I know that that’s frustrating to hear and our performance, to this point, I wish was better. I wish this was done. But we’re doing everything we can. And I don’t actually believe anyone could do any better, unfortunately.”
Administration officials also have said they lack the technology – such as unmanned underwater submarines that can work at such ocean depths – that has been deployed by BP. While the military has some deep-sea capability, such as deep-sea submersibles, a senior Pentagon official told CNN that the military has no unique technology to offer regarding offshore oil drilling. The military has undersea imagery technology, but military officials told CNN it would not add any capability to what the private industry is already using.





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