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Miller: BP Was not Prepared For A Worst-case Scenario
May 23, 2010
A month after the explosion on the Deepwater Horizon rig and BP still has not stopped the oil from continuing to spill into the Gulf of Mexico. People all along the Gulf Coast are rightfully worried. No one knows when this disaster will end, or what our shorelines and economy will look like when it does.
What has become clear is that BP was not prepared for a worst-case scenario, and after weeks of oil flowing into the Gulf, they still do not have a proven way of stopping it. Despite over 20,000 personnel responding to the emergency, and thousands more volunteers helping the effort, the key to ending this problem lies in stopping the leak. Early on, BP acknowledged that it was the responsible party. However, when the company came to testify before Congress, much of their time was spent pointing fingers at other companies. Not only did it fail to solve anything, it led many to wonder whether BP fully grasped the gravity of the situation.
Livelihoods in Northwest Florida and along the Gulf Coast are being threatened. If BP does not act quicker to stop the leak and contain the spill, fishermen could lose entire seasons and an annual $65 billion tourism industry will be hit hard. While a tube recently inserted into the well riser is capturing some of the leaking oil and natural gas, its long-term viability is still unknown. It is the first time that any attempt to contain the leak has been marginally successful. BP’s lack of preparedness is unacceptable, and I strongly urge them to redouble their efforts in helping end this economic and ecological disaster.
For several weeks I have been pushing BP to establish an escrow account in the amount of $1 billion for all the Gulf Coast states. Individuals, businesses, and municipalities could draw off this account as they are impacted economically and incur capital costs to prevent and respond to the oil spill. BP stated its commitment to paying for the cost of the oil spill, and this escrow account would be an affirmation of that commitment. Although they did create a $25 million block grant to help with tourism efforts, I am disappointed that BP has not yet established the escrow account. I continue to question whether they understand the widespread economic damage that has already happened in our area and how much worse it can get if the leak is not stopped.
As of today, our famous white sand beaches are clean and our water clear, but you wouldn’t know that given some of the media reports. Hotels in the area are seeing cancellations, and other businesses that welcome tourists year after year are seeing subsequent drops in business. This in turn is hurting their ability to hire people in an already struggling economy. BP must step up to their responsibilities on the front end as we go into the Summer season. Because of Northwest Florida’s proximity to the oil spill, the economic impact is being felt here first before other areas of the state.
I continue to pushed for an expansion of some of the recreational fishing seasons in the Gulf. Seasons that were already being cut short, may not even happen next year if BP does not fix their problem quickly. As NOAA expands the moratorium on fishing in federal waters impacted by the spill, the possibility of no season for certain fish is looming. With the path of the oil still very uncertain, charter boat captains are trying to hang on.
BP must assure those on the Gulf Coast and the rest of the country that it will pay for the widespread damages caused by this tragic event. It must also assure everyone that it is doing every single thing within its power to stop the leak at its source as quickly as possible. There is too much at stake, and the price Gulf Coast residents will pay grows higher each day the oil continues to flow into the water.
In the past, I have said there will be a time to point fingers, but right now we need to work together to fix the problem. Although the causes of the explosion are still under investigation, there is no question in my mind that BP was not prepared for a disaster of this magnitude and is responsible for both the cleanup and resolution to the leakage. Enough is enough!
Please visit my website at www.house.gov/jeffmiller/deepwater for updates and contact information on the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, including how to volunteer or make a claim. Real-time updates and video of the cleanup, recovery, and containment efforts are also available to those following me on YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter.
Comments
9 Responses to “Miller: BP Was not Prepared For A Worst-case Scenario”
since then I have also read the law only kicks in when there is no wrong-doing on the part of the company. How likely is that? You can always find something wrong, especially in hindsight withe eleven dead, a seven hundred million dollar rig burnt and sunk, wetlands getting oily as a result of operations.
Supposedly BP has already spennt over eight hundred million dollars and counting.
For that matter, there is an eight cent per barrel tax on oil to handle spills. It brings in something like four billion dollars per decade to pay for cases such as this. Looking at it that way, BP already paid for the spill before they did it, not that I imagine they prefered losing the petroleum and natural gas over selling it.
David considering governments of morons,
pointy haired industry bosses,
confusion over details
REGARDING:
“I don’t know which ship you are talking about, the the $75M cap on liability that the GOP continues to support by not voting to increase the cap is in regards to the liability limits on oil producers.”
I was talking about Deepwater Horizon semisubmersible drilling rig. It was a ship. I had read that under an 1851 law there were limits on the owner’s liability. I looked it up since then and saw “Transocean, Doomed Rig’s Owner, Seeks to Limit Its Liability” Thursday 13 May 2010 by: Scott Hiaasen | Miami Herald
(Hmmmm, wonder if he is kin to Carl Hiaasen of the same paper. Highly unlikely he isn’t) “Transocean, Ltd., the Switzerland-based offshore contractor that owned the Deepwater Horizon floating drilling rig, has asked a federal court in Houston to limit its liability from the oil spill to less than $27 million. . . . . . Invoking a little-known maritime law passed in 1851, ,,, Before the accident, the Deepwater Horizon was valued at more than $500 million.”
Twenty seven million, seventy five million, when I run out of fingers and toes, they look similar to me.
I thought discussion was on that limitation. I looked further and saw what you are talking about in “Under the Oil Pollution Act or Opa, B-P has to pay for any environmental damage from the oil spill. But the law caps the company’s liability for damage to the tourism and fishing industries at seventy five million dollars. While in Washington B-P’s C-E-O Tony Hayward acknowledged the Opa‘s seventy five million dollar cap won’t cover all the economic damage. ”
So they aren’t limited to seventy five million dollars total liability, which never made sense considering how they spent way more than that already, they are saying we will never get more than that for damage to our tourism and fishing industries.
Under the Constitution, even if the limits were changed, the new law would only apply to new spills. I know our President has been known to try to ignore the ex post facto clause in the Constitution, but surely eventually SOMEBODY would mention it to him.
Be happy, it will be expensive to them just as it is to us.
David for shared misery
This is BP mess now, but it won’t be any different with any other Oil Company. I’m sure ALL companies are trying to help to solve the problems but technology is not there yet.
Keep drilling on land, where problems can be fixed!!!
I don’t know which ship you are talking about, the the $75M cap on liability that the GOP continues to support by not voting to increase the cap is in regards to the liability limits on oil producers.
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2010_05/023858.php
GOP AGAIN BLOCKS HIGHER CAP ON OIL COMPANY LIABILITY…. The political circumstances would seem to benefit the “Big Oil Bailout Prevention Liability Act.” Under existing law, there’s a $75 million liability cap for oil spills. Sens. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.), and Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) want to increase it to $10 billion.
The impetus for approving the measure should be obvious — the BP oil spill disaster in the Gulf keeps getting worse, and may soon no longer be limited to the Gulf. It’s hardly a good time for a politician to take a shameless stand to limit industry liability costs.
And yet, it keeps happening. Last week, it was Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska). Today, it was Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.).
Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) stopped Democrats’ efforts on Tuesday of passing a measure to increase oil companies’ liability for accidents resulting from offshore drilling.
Inhofe objected to a unanimous consent request by Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), who took a second stab Tuesday at passing the bill in an expedited way.
Menendez and his partners on this intend to keep trying — and the DSCC intends to use Republican opposition as a campaign issue.
anyway, worst case scenario: just as you get to total depth proposed for the well, your rig is struck by an asteroid ridden by Bruce Willis.
Are you prepared?
wasn’t that cap on the ship owner?
I’ve been catching up on some news this afternoon, and I’m wondering if Miller does the same thing. Ever.
Why is the GOP still blocking an effort to raise the liability of damages on BP, which has a paultry $75 million cap??
Tomorrow I’m gonna call Miller’s office and ask how he would choose to use that $75M because I’m curious what his priorities are.
There you have it, somebody wrote something acknowledging some of the problems with the oil for Representative Hindsight Miller.
WHY DON’T BP USE DAWN DISHWASHING LIQUID ON THE HUGE OIL SPILL, AS SPRAYING IT ON THE “GULF OF MEXICO” THIS WOULD GET RID OF THIS OIL SPILL (QUICK)?