The chairman of a congressional subcommittee said today it uncovered significant problems with the device that was supposed to cut the oil flow after BP's oil rig exploded, creating a massive unchecked spill.
Representative Bart Stupak, head of the House Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, said the rig's underwater blowout preventer had a leak in its hydraulic system and the device was not powerful enough to cut through joints to seal the drill pipe.
He said the panel also discovered the blowout preventer had been modified, which made it difficult to operate after the accident. Mr Stupak said the device's emergency backup controls may have failed because the explosion that destroyed the rig also disabled communications, preventing workers from sending signals to the underwater device.
"The safety of its entire operations rested on the performance of a leaking and apparently defective blowout preventer," he said.
Top executives involved in Gulf of Mexico disaster returned to Capitol Hill today for the second day of hearings after marathon sessions yesterday.
Representative Joe Barton, the top Republican on the subcommittee's full Energy and Commerce Committee, urged lawmakers not to restrict offshore drilling but still condemned the companies involved in the accident.
"We've had an accident. It is not an act of God," Barton said. "It is something that could have been and should have been contained. The facts that we've uncovered . . . show that there was in all probability shoddy maintenance."
Jack Moore, the president of Cameron International, which built the blowout preventer, said in written testimony to the House panel that it was "far too early" to draw conclusions on what caused the accident.
He said the company has not been able to the examine the blowout preventer under the Deepwater Horizon rig.
Legislation proposed by the Obama administration to respond to the massive Gulf oil spill foresees $118 million in one-time discretionary spending, the bulk of which is expected to be covered by well owner BP, senior administration officials said today.
White House officials who briefed reporters on the legislation in a conference call from Washington said it would enable the federal government to speed assistance to those affected if the spreading spill worsens, which seems likely.
It would also lift an existing cap on damages liability for the responsible company - BP in this case - relating to economic losses caused by the oil spill.
BP is struggling to contain the oil gushing unchecked from its Gulf of Mexico seabed well, which officials acknowledge threatens serious economic and ecological damage to U.S. Gulf Coast states, affecting tourism, fisheries and wildlife.
Reuters