US gives BP 48 hours to improve oil spill plan

WASHINGTON: The US Coast Guard announced on Sunday that it has ordered BP to improve its plan to contain the oil spill in Gulf of Mexico in the next 48 hours.

In a letter to BP dated June 11, the Coast Guard's Rear Admiral James Watson said the company's current plans are inadequate to contain the devastating spill. The letter further stated that BP must identify additional leak containment capacity in the next 48 hours.

According to the White House, the oil spill is already the biggest environmental disaster that the country has ever faced.

Scientists have raised the estimate of the amount of crude oil flowing from BP's damaged well in the Gulf of Mexico to between 20,000 barrels to 40,000 daily.