BP faces criticism from Congress
Gas from the Deepwater Horizon rig is burned by a drillship. ; Dvidshub
The Chief Executive of BP, Tony Hayward, last week had to withstand heated questioning over the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico.
A panel of Congressman intensely queried the safety techniques of BP and their weak response to the worst environmental catastrophe in American history. This comes at a time when many were starting to criticise the part President Barack Obama has had to play in handling the situation.
The rig explosion on the 20 April has resulted in thousands of gallons of oil spilling daily into the Gulf. 11 people also died in the explosion. All attempts to stop the leak completely have been unsuccessful. The current use of a cap over the burst pipeline has helped stem some of the oil from escaping.
The international media and political outcry against BP came through in the day-long hearing. Congressmen and women from states affected, such as Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida voiced their concerns and asked Hayward difficult and direct questions.
They highlighted a number of flaws in BP’s drilling strategy, including accusations they ignored basic safety advice.
Steve Scalise, Republican representative of Louisiana, held up a shocking picture of an oil covered pelican to Hayward to show graphically the effect this disaster was having. This was poignant as the pelican is the state bird of Louisiana.
A female American protestor had to be dragged away from the public gallery after interrupting proceedings by venting her frustrations against Hayward.
The panel started to use strong expressive language towards Hayward as he failed to give them the answers they were looking for. He denied he knew anything about the drilling of that particular deep-sea hole, and stated it was “premature” to judge the outcome of any investigation. Hayward was quick to deny that costs had been put before safety and remained notely demure during the whole procedure.
The anger is understandable, as one estimate alleges 20 million gallons of oil have leaked into the Gulf so far. This has forced the closure of 78,000 square miles to fishing.
Steve Scalise held up a shocking picture of an oil covered pelican to Hayward
The speed of the clean-up has been criticised, with local coastguards prevented from helping the effort due to confusion as to who was in command. Both the Obama administration and BP had claimed to be in charge; the National Incident Commander has now been appointed in control of efforts on the ground.
In a recent statement to American citizens, President Obama promised to capture “90% of the spilt oil”. He also reassured those affected that BP would pay for the damage they have caused.
Since Obama’s statement, BP has agreed to fund a $20bn compensation fund for the victims. BP has also footed the bill for the clean-up and preventative measures so far, costing over £1bn.
The White House also sparked controvesy by referring to BP as “British Petroleum”, a name that it abolished years ago. In what was perceived to be an attempt to pass responsibility of the incident to Britain.
There is still the threat of criminal charges hanging over BP and some of its leading employees. This is not a new situation for BP, as they have a long history of convictions for a number of different offences. The Telegraph reported that BP have been charged with 760 US safety violations in the past five years.
In the past BP have been able to use their financial muscle to pay off fines and continue with their malpractice.
After this episode BP will not be able to continue the methods they have done in the past, and will be forced very publicly to clean up – not only the polluted Gulf of Mexico, but also it’s image.
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