The Marathon City Council criticized BP’s response plan for only addressing cleaning up after oil polluted the Florida Keys. The council’s decision represents the latest rise in temperature as pressure from residents — and possibly election candidates — heats up the rhetoric among BP, local officials and the Coast Guard.

Councilman Dick Ramsay chastised BP and the Coast Guard for being “evasive,” and demanded answers to a list of questions he provided at a forum the council hosted Monday night in the Marathon High School auditorium.

In attendance were U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Miami, state Rep. Ron Saunders, D-Key West, Monroe County Commissioner Mario Di Gennaro and a group of sometimes rowdy citizens. They peppered BP Vice President of Policy and U.S. Regulatory Affairs Mark Stultz, who is temporarily stationed in the Keys, and Coast Guard Sector Key West commander Capt. Pat DeQuattro with questions about available resources should oil from the Gulf of Mexico geyser reach the Middle Keys.

Stultz assured the audience his focus was “on mitigating the impacts,” with the most significant part of that being the claims process.