GAO urges oil dispersant research

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - The Government Accountability Office says more research is needed on possible environmental problems that could result from using dispersants to break up an oil spill, as BP PLC did after the disastrous 2010 spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

The Advocate reports that the GAO issued its report Friday and found not much testing had been done on dispersants before they were used in the Gulf.

The GAO was asked to investigate the use of dispersants following BP PLC's catastrophic April 2010 oil well blowout that killed 11 workers and caused the nation's largest offshore spill.

To combat the spill, BP was allowed to spay dispersants on the Gulf to break up the oil. The use of dispersants has been controversial.