WorldTVNews.com
WorldTVNews.com
It now appears BP’s original estimate of the size of the oil leak was way off target. A New York Times report quoting government experts says the leak was 2.4 to 3.8 times larger than BP initially reported.
“If these new estimates prove to be accurate,” the Times says, “the spill would be far bigger than the Exxon Valdez disaster in 1989 and the worst in United States history.”
“We have to verify whatever they say about the damage,” Obama said at a White House news conference.
One incentive for underestimating the size of the leak could be BP’s potential exposure to penalties under the Clean Water Act. The law may allow the federal government to fine BP about $4,300 for every barrel of oil spilled.
That could mean big bucks. BP’s original estimate was 5,000 barrels a day. The accurate number could be up to 19,000 barrels a day, although the U.S. Geological Survey says the new numbers could also prove to be incorrect.
Tony Hayward, BP’s chief executive, has denied corporate cost reductions of four billion dollars in 2009 led to risky safety and emergency response cuts, but he does admit failing to respond to the disaster appropriately.
"We have let people down in our defense of the shore,” Hayward told the Telegraph of London.
Giving a not so subtle hint of what is to come, Obama said the industry has enjoyed “a culture in which the oil companies were able to get what they wanted without significant regulations.”
Oil and gas industry can expect new regulations because of BP disaster
May 27, 2010
WorldTVNews.com
WASHINGTON - President Obama is placing new restrictions on oil exploration and suggesting new regulation of the oil and gas industry is needed to prevent another “economic and environmental tragedy” like the disaster playing out in the Gulf of Mexico.
