President Obama vowed to pursue criminal inquiries into the Deepwater Horizon oil disaster, a few hours before Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. announced that federal authorities have opened criminal and civil investigations.

Shares of BP PLC plunged 13 percent after it was revealed that the latest attempt to fix the leaking well failed. The selloff knocked $18 billion off BP's market value.

BP announced that it has spent almost one billion dollars in response to the disaster. Experts estimate the final cost, stretching over a number of years, could top $30 billion.

Coastal residents are bracing for the worst as hurricane season approaches in the oil-soaked Gulf, while Louisiana state officials are pressuring BP and the federal government to build sand barriers on the coast.

Photo: U.S. Navy/Getty Images

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