BP Plc's Atlantis oil and gas production platform in the Gulf of Mexico should be shut until the company can prove it meets US safety and engineering standards, an environmental watchdog group said in a lawsuit. Food & Water Watch sued BP in federal court in Houston today. Thousands of Americans are calling on the Environmental Protection Agency to conduct a comprehensive study of the environmental and health threats of natural gas fracturing. Pollution from this drilling technique -- commonly known as fracking -- has been the focus of three heavily attended public meetings in Texas, Colorado and Pennsylvania this summer. A Texas maker of equipment for oil- and gas-field production and processing is building a new manufacturing and distribution plant in Pennsylvania to serve the booming natural gas industry. Houston-based Allied Technology said the facility in suburban Pittsburgh will help provide dehydration units, sand separation equipment, steel storage tanks and other equipment to several major clients working in the Marcellus Shale formation.