Ranking Members Waxman and DeGette Call for Hearing on New Chemical Safety Board Review of BP Deepwater Horizon Disaster
WASHINGTON, DC— Today Ranking Member Henry A. Waxman and Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Ranking Member Diana DeGette sent a letter to Chairmen Fred Upton and Tim Murphy requesting a hearing on recent findings from the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB). The release of these new findings explain why the blowout preventer (BOP) in use on the BP Deepwater Horizon oil rig failed to prevent the catastrophic explosion and oil spill in 2010. The explosion killed 11 and caused the release of 4.9 million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico.
In the letter, the members wrote, "Four years ago, the Committee and its subcommittees held 10 hearings into the causes and impact of the Deepwater Horizon explosion and oil spill and passed bipartisan legislation addressing our findings. Given the new information uncovered by CSB's investigation, we request that you schedule a hearing to examine these findings and explore what regulators and the oil and gas industry have done and will do to ensure the safety of offshore production."
The full text of the letter is available below and online here.
June 10, 2014
The Honorable Fred Upton
Chairman
Committee on Energy and Commerce
2125 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
The Honorable Tim Murphy
Chairman
Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations
2125 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Last week, the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) released new findings explaining why the blowout preventer (BOP) on the BP Deepwater Horizon oil rig failed to prevent the catastrophic explosion and oil spill on April 20, 2010.[1] We request that you schedule a hearing to review the new findings and examine the implications for BOPs still in use today.
The CSB investigation offers a new theory on why the Deepwater Horizon BOP failed to shear the drill pipe and prevent the unmitigated flow of oil into the ocean from the out-of-control well. CSB concluded that the drill pipe passing through the BOP buckled within minutes of the initial well blowout due to "effective compression," a phenomenon caused by large differences in pressure between the inside and outside of the pipe. This warped the pipe enough to prevent the BOP's blind shear ram from cutting and sealing the well; instead, the blades squeezed and punctured the pipe, allowing oil to flow into the ocean.
CSB also identified other problems with the BOP's redundant automatic safety systems, including faulty wiring and drained batteries, and pointed to inadequate maintenance, inspection, and testing protocols as to why these problems went undetected. CSB concluded that the BOP exhibited "multiple deficiencies that demonstrate Transocean and BP did not treat or manage it as a safety-critical device."[2]
Four years ago, the Committee and its subcommittees held 10 hearings into the causes and impact of the Deepwater Horizon explosion and oil spill and passed bipartisan legislation addressing our findings.[3] Given the new information uncovered by CSB's investigation, we request that you schedule a hearing to examine these findings and explore what regulators and the oil and gas industry have done and will do to ensure the safety of offshore production.
Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Sincerely,
Henry A. Waxman
Ranking Member
Diana DeGette
Ranking Member Subcommittee on Oversight
and Investigations
[1] U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board, Explosion and Fire at the Macondo Well: Investigative Report, Volume 2 (June 5, 2014).
[2] Id. at 93.
[3] For a list of hearings and other investigation activities, see Committee on Energy and Commerce Democrats, Energy and Commerce Committee's Investigation of the Deepwater Horizon Explosion and Oil Spill (online at https://democrats.energycommerce.house.gov/index.php?q=page/energy-and-commerce-committees-investigation-of-the-deepwater-horizon-explosion-and-oil-spill).
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