Gulf Oil Spill Worse Than Katrina: Poll

Majority of Americans want BP to face criminal charges

By Marie Morris, Newser Staff

Posted Jun 7, 2010 4:55 PM CDT

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Gulf Oil Spill Worse Than Katrina: Poll — Plaquemines Parish coastal zone director P.J. Hahn lifts his boot out of thick oil on the beach at Queen Bess Island in Barataria Bay, off the Gulf of Mexico, June 5, 2010. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)

The federal government's handing of the Gulf oil spill is even worse than its reaction to Hurricane Katrina, and BP should face criminal charges related to the disaster, a majority of Americans say in a new Washington Post/ABC News poll. The feds' reaction was "poor" or "not so good," according to 69% of respondents—and that looks pretty good compared with the 81% who deemed BP's response inadequate.

Nearly two-thirds of Americans want to see BP in court, and nearly three-quarters place at least some blame on "unnecessary risks taken by BP and its drilling partners."
(More ABC News stories.)

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