White House Says BP Will Pay Cost of Oil Cleanup

The Obama administration says the cost of cleaning up a giant oil spill off the Gulf of Mexico will fall on BP PLC, the company that operated the rig.

White House spokesman Nick Shapiro says President Barack Obama has directed his administration to aggressively confront the oil spill. The military is working to determine how its array of aircraft, ships and equipment might be able to assist the cleanup operation.

The spill off the coast of Louisiana threatens to turn into an environmental disaster for the coastline.

Shapiro says Obama was updated on the spill early Thursday. Although the Coast Guard and other federal agencies are supporting the cleanup, Shapiro says BP will be required to pay for it.