A MERE nuts-and-bolts explanation for the blowout that caused America’s worst environmental disaster will not satisfy a commission appointed by Barack Obama which promised yesterday “to follow the facts”.
But the commission took a softly, softly approach to the first day of public hearingsin a New Orleans hotel, passing up the chance for tough questioning of BP and US coast guard witnesses, to focus on the economic and environmental fallout from the spill.
BP said it hoped to install a new sealing cap on the well, a step towards a containment system that could potentially trap all the leaking oil. Kent Wells, a senior vice-president for BP America, told the hearing it would take two or three days to determine the effectiveness of the seal.
As the disaster entered its 13th week, Bob Graham, the former Democratic senator who is co-chair of the commission, said he would press hard to shed light on safety practices as well as government oversight. The commission has until December 15th to produce a definitive account of the causes for the explosion, and offer recommendations to prevent such an event happening again.
“Was the Deepwater Horizon an oil rig that operated outside the normal standards of safety, or was it representative of other rigs? There is almost a cultural issue in the industry and in the government agencies responsible for monitoring the industry,” Mr Graham said.
William Reilly, the commission’s other chairman, who was head of the Environmental Protection Agency when the Exxon Valdez tanker ran aground in Alaska 20 years ago, also promised a far-ranging investigation. “We will follow the facts wherever they lead and determine the cause and the root cause of the event.”
The hearing produced little new information beyond that already uncovered by the coast guard inquiry and various congressional investigations. But the commission did establish that the enormity of the disaster had far outstripped government and industry capabilities to contain it.
“I am not sure any agency is capable of handling anything that goes on for this period of time,” Peter Neffenger, the coast guard’s deputy incident commander, told the commission. He acknowledged that the Gulf region would be feeling the effects of the oil spill long after BP’s well was plugged, which, by the earliest estimates, would be mid-August. “There will be many weeks, many months of tar balls coming ashore,” he said.
Commission members said they had opted for a soft launch. The seven-member team, dominated by academics and environmentalists, has been accused of bias and of lacking oil industry expertise. It is also taking up its charge at a time of deep distrust of intervention from Washington.
Barely a few dozen members of the public showed up for the start of the hearings, held in a ballroom that could seat 500. Two protesters were ejected. – (Guardian service)