WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Tom Udall, D-NM, today told offshore oil company executives that they must be open to increased regulation if the United States is to avoid another catastrophic offshore oil spill like last month's disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.
Udall gave his reaction to the hearing during his weekly Tuesday's with Tom press conference call. For audio, click here .
Udall questioned high-ranking executives from BP America and its major contractors, Transocean and Halliburton, during a hearing of the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee, of which he is a member. The EPW hearing was one of two held by Senate committees today to examine the economic and environmental impact of the Gulf spill.
"The industry must change its de-regulatory and self-regulatory attitude," Udall said during the hearing. "Regulations impose modest costs, but these highly profitable companies can easily afford them. Compared to an oil spill, regulation is a bargain."
Udall also pointed to the failure of the so-called blowout preventer on the Deepwater Horizon well, which should have prevented the accident from occurring. He noted that there is a well-documented history of more than 100 blowout preventer failures in other major and minor incidents over the last two decades. But he said nothing was done to address the problem, either by the oil companies or federal regulators, and urged regulators to focus more on the standards for cementing and sealing a well.
"The disturbing thing is learning that these blowout preventers failed numerous times in the 1990s, and we didn't have an aggressive regulator to call them on it," Udall said.
Also during the hearing, Udall expressed his support for Interior Secretary Ken Salazar's plan to reform the federal Minerals Management Service, which manages the nation's natural gas, oil and other mineral resources. Salazar's plan, announced today, would split the agency into two divisions - one focusing on gathering royalties from oil and gas companies and another focused on safety inspections.
"I welcome this suggestion," Udall said. "Most of the countries around the world that have this kind of activity going on in their governments have a separation between leasing and safety. We should be doing the same. We must hold energy companies accountable for following the law and ensuring the safety of their workers and the environment."
A long time proponent of a "Do It All, Do It Right" energy approach, Udall noted that "we will need oil for several more decades at least. This accident reinforces the urgency of a ‘do it all, do it right' comprehensive clean energy policy, not just a knee-jerk reaction to shift oil production elsewhere."
