Tell EPA: Take action against BP

We now know that it may be August before BP can stop the Deepwater Horizon well from spewing hundreds of thousands of gallons of oil a day into the Gulf of Mexico.

But BP continues to stonewall the American people about what is shaping up to become the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history, even while the company is reaping millions of dollars in profits a day from its other federal leases.

Until BP plugs the Deepwater Horizon well, cleans up the oil it has spilled into the Gulf of Mexico, and makes appropriate restitution to the people who have lost their livelihoods to the disaster, the company shouldn't be profiting from lucrative government contracts.

When President Barack Obama visited the Gulf, BP was more concerned with concocting a photo op than putting every resource within its power behind efforts to mitigate the environmental devastation caused by the spill. The company brought in 400 temporary workers from its other operations for a Presidential photo op and then sent them home after the cameras were turned off.

BP has blocked access of journalists to sites where the damage caused by the spill is most dramatic including oily beaches and staging areas for clean up efforts.

And unbelievably BP's CEO, Tony Hayward, is openly complaining about the effect of the oil spill on his personal life, saying "There's no one who wants this over more than I do. I would like my life back."

We can't leave it to BP to decide what resources it will put into the clean up effort and how much it will pay Americans affected by the spill. If the U.S. government is serious about holding BP accountable, there is a very simple and powerful tool at our disposal: the EPA can threaten to take away BP's billions in federal contracts.

The Environmental Protection Agency has the authority to bar BP from receiving U.S. government contracts. Suspension of BP contracts would mean the loss of billions of dollars and effectively stop the company from drilling in federally controlled oil fields both on and offshore.

Discretionary debarment is among the most serious actions EPA can take. EPA's own regulations allow the agency to ban BP from future contracts after considering "the frequency and pattern of the incidents, corporate attitude both before and after the incidents, changes in policies, procedures, and practices."

Prior to the current Gulf spill, EPA had linked BP to at least four instances of criminal misconduct, and BP has paid tens of millions in fines for environmental crimes. According to the public interest investigative journalists at Pro Publica, the EPA is considering re-evaluating BP and determining whether the company's actions leading up to and following the Deepwater Horizon spill are evidence of an institutional problem inside BP that would qualify for debarment action.

If BP is hit with discretionary debarment, the company would lose valuable contracts for selling fuel to the military and would be prohibited from obtaining or renewing drilling leases on federal land. EPA could also cancel BP's current federal leases. The impact on BP's bottom line could be in the billions of dollars.

Neither Congress, nor President Obama, nor Interior Secretary Salazar have taken steps to truly hold BP accountable. It's up to EPA to use the regulatory tools at its disposal to make BP pay.

The American people are outraged by the BP's inadequate response in the face of an exponentially growing economic and environmental disaster in the Gulf. It's time for EPA to take immediate and decisive action.