[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 109 (Thursday, July 22, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1413-E1414]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  INTRODUCTION OF LEGISLATION TO ENSURE RISK ASSESSMENT AND EMERGENCY 
              RESPONSE PREPAREDNESS FOR OFFSHORE DRILLING

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. JOHN P. SARBANES

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 22, 2010

  Mr. SARBANES. Madam Speaker, the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster is a 
terrible reminder of the inherent safety, environmental, and economic 
risks associated with offshore drilling. This tragedy claimed the lives 
of 11 people and released millions of gallons of crude oil into the 
Gulf of Mexico, forcing people out of work, devastating beaches and 
fisheries for years to come, and impacting our food supply.
  BP's so-called response plan to deal with such a disaster was a 
farce: it listed a wildlife expert that had been deceased since 2005 
and said that sensitive biological resources in the Gulf included 
walruses, sea otters, sea lions and seals, none of which actually live 
there. BP also stated that it could handle a worst case oil discharge 
scenario 10 times the size of the Deepwater Horizon disaster.
  These glaring flaws in its response plan make it abundantly clear 
that BP did not take the permitting process seriously. There was 
virtually no thought or time put into developing these plans and 
certainly no accountability.
  Today I am introducing legislation to ensure that risk assessment and 
emergency response preparedness for offshore drilling are more than an 
exercise in pushing paper. My legislation would require the chief 
executive officer of each offshore drilling and production operation 
under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to annually certify (1) the 
demonstrated capability of the operation's exploration and production 
plans to respond immediately and effectively to the worst-case oil 
spill in real-world conditions; and (2) that each plan, to their 
knowledge, is an accurate and effective response to a worst-case oil 
spill in real-world conditions, under risk of personal civil penalties.
  Ever since the BP Deepwater Horizon well began spewing oil into the 
Gulf of Mexico, executives from BP have repeatedly excused their 
inability to seal the well by describing the difficult circumstances in 
which they are operating. I am willing to acknowledge that, because the 
well is 5,000 feet below the surface, effectively stopping the flow of 
oil is a technological challenge. But I believe these are all things 
that should have been considered before BP began drilling the well. And 
I believe that if company executives are accountable for the content of 
their proposals to address these safety concerns, one of two things 
will happen. Either they will ensure that they do have an effective and 
realistic response capability to an oil spill. Or they will not drill 
the well.
  This tragedy is a game-changing event. We must reevaluate our policy 
on offshore drilling emergency response preparedness and bring 
accountability to risk assessment and the planning process. This 
legislation would go a long way toward ensuring our offshore drilling 
operations have thoughtful, accurate, and useful response plans.
  Offshore drilling operations, no matter how technologically advanced, 
can never completely eliminate the risk of a major disaster

[[Page E1414]]

but it is incumbent upon us to make sure these companies have a plan to 
respond when disaster does strike.
  I hope my colleagues will support this simple but overdue 
legislation.

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