Former U.S. Senator Bob Graham will push for higher safety standards, more stringent regulation and greater penalties for oil companies drilling in the Gulf of Mexico when he testifies before Congress in two weeks.
Those are some of the recommendations of the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling, which Graham co-chaired. Graham met with Gov. Rick Scott in Tallahassee on Friday to discuss the issue, and later spoke at a meeting of the Economic Club of Florida. He said some of the recommendations could be put into place through an executive order from President Barack Obama, who ordered the Commission, but will argue for the other recommendations before Congress.
I think this incident was a wake-up call for America, Graham said of the explosion on April 20, 2010, that led to the oil spill.
The Commissions report, which was released Tuesday, included recommendations to raise the oil spill liability cap, which currently stands at $75 million, and create an independent agency to oversee and regulate gas and oil companies engaged in offshore drilling. The industry is regulated by the Minerals Management Service, which also collects revenues from leasing offshore wells, creating a conflict of interest.
Oversight of the industry was compromised. Regulations didnt keep pace with advances in the industry, said Terry Garcia, the former deputy director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and a member of the Commission.
Besides the possible policy changes that could result from the report, the Commission could also affect the remaining fallout from the spill. Garcia said that 200 million gallons of oil were released into the Gulf of Mexico during the course of the spill, but admitted that number will spark a battle between BP and the government.
Obviously, the question of how much oil was released is going to be one thats fought over, Garcia said, adding that the amount of fines BP faces will be determined in part by the extent of the spill.
Graham wants money recovered from BP to go to those impacted economically by the spill, but also to combating the environmental damage incurred from the spill.
Florida was the state that was most economically affected by this spill and by a wide margin, Graham said.
The former U.S. senator and former Florida governor would also like to see a coalition of Gulf states lobby for more stringent safety standards for the oil industry, as well as an international body to set standards for offshore drilling. He warned of Cubas desire to build 14 wells off its northern coast, close to Florida, using Russian firms with lax safety standards.
This is going to happen less than 50 miles from Florida right in the Gulf Stream, Graham said.
It is unclear, however, how the new Congress, especially the Republican House, will view the new recommendations. Graham admitted that even in Florida there remains support for offshore drilling.
Weve seen that there has been a shift in the political winds in Florida on this issue, Graham said.
Gov. Scott, who rode into office decrying hefty government regulations as job killers, said Friday that he wants to ensure the safety of any drilling operation so Floridas environment and economy isnt impacted again by another spill.
Despite the uproar throughout last summer as efforts to cap the gushing well failed, the issue seems to have drifted from the minds of the public as more pressing kitchen-table matters take precedent. A recent Gallup poll showed that 93 percent of respondents thought the economy was extremely or very important, whereas just 59 percent thought the environment was extremely or very important, the lowest number reached of the 15 issues the survey polled.
Reach Gray Rohrer at grohrer@sunshinestatenews.com or at (850) 727-0859.
