Washington, DC--On the same day that British Petroleum (BP) seems to have finally capped its runaway well in the Gulf of Mexico, Rep. Engel and the House Energy and Commerce Committee passed legislation designed to prevent future blowouts by a vote of 48-0. 

This legislation, the Blowout Prevention Act (HR 5626), is designed to make sure that the problems that caused BP’s Deepwater Horizon blowout in the Gulf do not happen again.  Rep. Engel is a senior member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

Said Rep. Engel, “We are nearly three months into the largest environmental disaster in U.S. history with millions of gallons of oil crude oil polluting the Gulf, and BP only now seems to have it under control. This disaster could have been prevented but BP took unforgiveable shortcuts in drilling this well.  Those shortcuts saved time and money for BP, but led to the catastrophic blowout. 

“And when it occurred, BP was totally unprepared to deal with the consequences. Today’s legislation brings us one step closer to ensuring that no one will ever again take the type of shortcuts that led to this catastrophe.”

Rep. Engel added, “Better late than never comes to mind and on behalf of the Gulf residents and wildlife, I think everyone is holding their breaths right now to make sure this cap works. Only time will tell, but we are all praying for the best.”

The bill responds to the Committee’s investigations by: 

• Establishing new standards for redundancy, testing, and third-party certification on blowout preventers.
• Establishing new requirements and third-party certification for safe well design and cementing.
• Requiring a lock-down device at the wellhead.
• And requiring that the company Chief Executive Officer attest to the fact that the company is using a safe well design, have a blowout preventer that actually works, and have an appropriate and effective spill response plan.

BP now must wait to see if the cap can hold the oil without blowing open a new leak.  This is not a permanent fix, but it is the only one to have successfully halted the flow of oil into the Gulf.  Relief wells are being drilled to pump mud and cement into the leaking well to hopefully plug it for good.

The 11-term Congressman added, “‘Drill, Baby, Drill’ is not, never has been, and never will be the answer to our energy and climate crises.   The best way to ensure both energy independence and long-term job creation, while preventing catastrophic ecologic disasters such as this one, is for the Senate to follow the House’s lead and pass comprehensive energy policy reform.”  Rep. Engel is a senior member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

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