A federal panel just recommended the continued use of chemical dispersants to break up the oil spill.

The EPA had previously request BP avoid using dispersants that were known to damage ocean life and rumored to create large undersea oil plumes. BP declined the request saying it had no other option.

Now the oil company has a legal green light:

(AP) A federal panel of about 50 experts is recommending the continued use of chemical dispersants to break up the Gulf oil spill, despite its harm to plankton, larvae and fish. Panel member Ron Tjeerdema said Friday the panelists decided that the animals harmed by the chemicals underwater had a better chance of rebounding quickly than birds and mammals on the shoreline.

Effectively, the government is getting on board with the method many said BP was using to hide the damage. The dispersant method means fewer heartbreaking oil-covered birds and a faster clean-up of crude. But it could cause long-term economic and environmental damage, poisoning fish stock and killing algae that make life possible in the ocean.

So far BP has used 1,021,000 gallons of dispersant.