Atlantis: Deeper Than Deepwater Horizon
Yesterday, in a hearing before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Representative Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) took the Bureau of Ocean Energy “Management,” “Regulation,” and “Enforcement” head Michael Bromwich to task for his agency’s notorious failure to ensure that BP’s Atlantis platform is operating safely. His words resonated with us because they echoed questions that we too are eager to have answered. Particularly, why is it that, even after a former BP contractor-turned whistleblower and 36 members of Congress called into question the facility’s unsafe operation, the government is taking so long to investigate these claims?
Rep. Dennis Kucinich to Mr. Michael Bromwich, director of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement: "We’ve got to find out whether BP has certified-as-built drawings on file."
Rep. Kucinich has apparently wondered the same thing. “Though I am happy to see that an investigation is now under way, I am concerned that it is not expected to conclude until September. It’s important to keep in mind that this platform is in waters deeper than the Deepwater Horizon platform, and BP’s own worse-case-scenario for a catastrophe with Atlantis would put over 200,000 barrels of oil per day into the Gulf, which is about anywhere from four to ten times the size of the Deepwater Horizon Catastrophe.”
When asked by Rep. Kucinich if BP would be breaking the law if it were revealed that it didn’t in fact have certified engineering documents for Atlantis, Bromwich was clearly stumped, saying, “Uh, I don’t know the answer to that. Let me get back to you on that.”
But Kucinich knew the answer.
“I’m disappointed you don’t have the answer to that, because that’s your job,” he said. “The answer – I’ll give you the answer – the answer would be yes. Now I’m told that it should not take that long to review the plans. That raises a question that the plans might not even exist. I’m concerned that Atlantis is the rule, and not the exception… You understand the concern here. You are dealing with a catastrophe from a lack of appropriate oversight of the Deepwater Horizon. A lack of appropriate oversight also exists with respect to the BP Atlantis platform, which could have even more catastrophic implications that the Deepwater Horizon.”
Environmental catastrophes aside, this exchange raises some disturbing questions about Bromwich. If the Mineral Management Service and now BOEMRE is actually looking into the possible safety problems on Atlantis, a potential time bomb that has received plenty of public scrutiny over the past several months, why is the man supposedly in charge so clueless about the investigation? Even worse, what does it say about the agency’s ability to verify Atlantis’s safety?
Mr. Bromwich went on record today—however vague his statement may be—as saying he will move forward on the investigation of BP Atlantis. “I’m not as fully aware of the Atlantis matter as you would like me to be, but I will make it my business to become more knowledgeable about it, and I’ll be happy to talk to you further about it in the future.”
Rep. Kucinich responded by laying out his assignment. “Mr. Chairman, I just want this committee to be on notice, that we’ve got to find out whether BP has certified-as-built drawings on file. This is a serious matter, especially in light of Deepwater Horizon.”
It IS a serious matter, Rep. Kucinich—deeper than deep water.
-Kate Fried & Rich Bindell
* A webcast of the hearing is now available on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform website. After the stream has finished buffering, please forward directly to 25:40 for Kucinich’s opening statement, and then again to 57:43 for his questions.
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