Containment and cleanup of future oil spills needs to be overseen by an independent third party rather than the government, said retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, the government's point man on the BP PLC oil spill.

The public would trust the response of an independent expert more than the government since there would be fewer conflicts of interest, Allen said yesterday during testimony to the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill.

"The reason, I believe, we may want to consider an independent, qualified individual is largely due to the perception of the American people and our political leaders that this is not working," Allen said. "And if the perception is that strong, we just [should] try to do something about it."

Allen called for an entity that would oversee the response, have access to funds that would be placed in trust and be executed by an industry expert.

He stressed, however, that he still has confidence in the government's ability to respond to this and to future oil spills and said that BP had completely shouldered its responsibilities (Neela Banerjee, Los Angeles Times, Sept. 28). -- GV