Lawmakers Berate Oil Execs over Response Plans

(CBS/AP)  Updated 7:01 p.m. EDT

BP's Lamar McKay went before Congress Tuesday to answer questions about the oil spill. Other top oil executives stood shoulder-to-shoulder for the oath and then tried their best to put distance between their companies and BP, reports CBS News investigative correspondent Sharyl Attkisson.

Members of Congress chastised the largest oil companies Tuesday, saying they are no better prepared to avoid an environmental catastrophe than BP was when its well exploded, unleashing millions of barrels of crude.

With top oil company executives waiting to testify at a House hearing, Rep. Henry Waxman asserted that the companies' spill response plans amounted to "paper exercises" that mirrored BP's failed plan. Their strategies to plug a spill deep beneath the sea are the same failed strategies that have stymied BP, the California Democrat said.

Special Section: Disaster in the Gulf

The other companies "are no better prepared to deal with a major oil spill than was BP," said Waxman, setting the tone for a tense hearing.

One lawmaker after another expressed frustration at BP's inability to stop oil gushing from its stricken well as the chief executives representing ExxonMobil, Chevron, ConocoPhillips and Shell - as well as BPAmerica - sat shoulder to shoulder at the witness table.

Rep. Ed Markey, chairman of the House Energy and Commerce environment subcommittee, said the five companies' response plans "cite identical response capabilities and tout identical ineffective equipment." Markey said that two plans list the phone number for the same dead expert, and three include references to protecting walruses - which do not live in the Gulf

Markey said that while the companies present at the hearings have reaped nearly $300 billion in profits over the last three years, they each spend around $20 million annually on safety and spill response - less than one-tenth of 1 percent of profits. He said that the companies pay nothing for leases to drill on public land worth at least $50 billion.

"Time after time BP appears to have taken shortcuts that increased the risks of catastrophic blowout," Committee Chairman Henry Waxman said in his opening statement.

He also criticized the oil companies' "cookie cutter plans" and said that BP's competitors are as unprepared as BP was to respond to a spill. All five response plans were produced by the same third-party company, Waxman said, and contain much of the same text.

"The record does not support that the other companies here today have been more prepared than BP," said Waxman.

Each company's plan for cases in which a blowout preventer fails - the exact scenario that led to the current disaster - includes only a few vague sentences about assembling a team of technical experts.

As for BP, McKay wasn't about to say he's sorry for allegedly lowballing the amount of oil coming from the well at the start, leading many to underestimate the predicted impact.

"Are you ready to apologize for getting that number so grossly wrong?" asked Markey.

"We have provided every bit of data we've got into the unified area command," said McKay.

Your cameras, your technology, your expertise that the American people were relying upon, and you got it completely wrong. Please, one final chance, apologize," said Markey.

"We are sorry for everything that the Gulf coast is going through," said McKay. "We are sorry for that and the spill. "

"I really think you should be resigning as chairman of BP America," said Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.) "I'm not asking you to apologize. I'm asking you to resign."

"In the Asian culture we do things differently. During the samurai days we just give you a knife and just ask you to commit hara-kiri," said Rep. Joseph Cao (R-La.)

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Perhaps the most scathing opening statement came from Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., who pointed out that ExxonMobil's plan includes a 40-page appendix on managing public relations in the wake of a disaster - far more material than it devotes to protecting wildlife, for example.

The PR plan includes pre-scripted responses to questions about criminal charges, global warming, and the deaths of hypothetical accident victims, and pre-written press releases saying the company "deeply regrets" an outcome or is "deeply saddened" by deaths.

The House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing unfolded as President Barack Obama was on the Gulf coast for the second day and walked on a beach near Pensacola, Fla. as onlookers chanted "Save our beach, save our beach." Obama planned to address the nation Tuesday night on the oil spill.

The House hearing marked the first time that the chief executives of the major oil companies - all leaders in deep-water drilling in the Gulf - were called before Congress since the April 20 BP explosion on the Deepwater Horizon. The accident unleashed the nation's worst oil spill. The government has estimated that as much as 2 million gallons of oil a day may be flowing into the Gulf.

Waxman's committee is expected to question BPAmerica chairman Lamar McKay on internal company e-mails and documents that the lawmaker said showed that BP made repeated decisions in the days and hours before the explosion that increased the risk of a major well blowout.

Chevron CEO John Watson said Chevrons deep water drilling activities "are safe and environmentally sound," But he said the company welcomes any new standards and "we must learn from this accident."

Some executives sought to distance themselves from BP.

ExxonMobil chief executive Rex Tillerson told the committee that the Gulf spill would not have occurred if BP had properly designed its deepwater well.

"We do not proceed with operations if we cannot do so safely," said Tillerson.

Insisted Shell president Marvin Odum, "Safety and environmental protection shall and will be Shell's top priorities."

Meanwhile, federal officials have given permission for BP to use a new method for capturing oil from the damaged wellhead, including burning some of the oil off after it is collected and brought to the surface.

BP said Monday it hopes to trap roughly 2.2 million gallons of oil daily by the end of June as it deploys additional containment equipment, including the flaring system.

Obama's trip to the Gulf was his fourth since the spill began. The president, who visited Mississippi and Alabama on Monday and Florida's coast Tuesday, sought to assure residents - and the country - that the government will "leave the Gulf Coast in better shape than it was before."

On Monday, Waxman's committee released documents that showed BP made a series of money-saving shortcuts and blunders that dramatically increased the danger of a destructive spill from a well that an engineer ominously described as a "nightmare" just six days before the April blowout.

Investigators found that BP was badly behind schedule on the project and losing hundreds of thousands of dollars with each passing day, and responded by cutting corners in the well design, cementing and drilling efforts and the installation of key safety devices.

"Time after time, it appears that BP made decisions that increased the risk of a blowout to save the company time or expense. If this is what happened, BP's carelessness and complacency have inflicted a heavy toll on the Gulf, its inhabitants, and the workers on the rig," Waxman and Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the committee's investigations panel, wrote in a letter.

So far, 114 million gallons of oil have poured into the Gulf under the worst-case scenario described by scientists - a rate of more than 2 million gallons a day. BP has collected 5.6 million gallons of oil through its latest containment cap on top of the well, or about 630,000 gallons per day.

In a prepared statement released before the hearing began, the head of BP America said that despite the catastrophic oil spill, the U.S. cannot do without oil from the Gulf of Mexico.

BP America chairman and president Lamar McKay said in prepared testimony that America's economy, security and standard of living "significantly depend upon domestic oil and gas production." He said that companies have operated in the Gulf safely and reliably. The Associated Press obtained a copy of his remarks prior to delivery.

McKay warned that reducing energy production without consumption would shift jobs offshore - and put millions of additional barrels onto tanker ships that travel across oceans.

[BCSBUDDY]

No doubt, BP has made a mess and has got a mess to clean up. However, for the Congress to get that "holier than thou" attitude is crazy. I would like to know which one(s) have had a perfect record on ANYTHING. They are hypocrites at the very least.

[jmmowrey]

I am outraged and embarrassed that a US rep (Cao Lou) would make a reference to a BP America official that he should commit Hari Kari, especially a rep with a Japanese heritage. I commend the BP America President for not stooping to his level and reminding him of December 7, 1941 or a couple of hundred other atrocities committed by the "honorable" Japanese, Bataan death march, rape of Nanking,etc. He should appologize for his sophomoric grandstanding and his comments embarrassing the US populace. He should resign immediately, or consider his own historical option. John M. Mowrey Toledo, Oh.

[jgg000101]

after a crabcake, a shrimp cocktail and a sno cone obama is an expert in the oil business. The snake oil business. And the only oil henry waxman knows about oozes from his greasy pores. What exactly does this accomplish other than deflect blame from obama. What a useless dog and pony show.

[sgotrl]

headline should read: Lawmakers put on act of scolding their bank-rollers and pretending to give rats-ass about chastising their string pulling masters!!!!!

[culturechang]

Another day of yelling and scolding in Congress...with nothing actually being done about it or any change in policy. It's all for show folks.

[steeepe]

What prevents any of those companies from selling the oil and gas on the open world-wide market? What ensures that those reserves benefit American consumers? NOTHING!!!!!

[newskitten]

Why can't people use hydrogen fuel? It's more practical than oil, and better for the environment.

[trillion1]

Hydrogen producers don't own congress.

[DaveShoe]

Ammonia is a superior alternative to hydrogen. Two gallons of ammonia contain the same heat energy as one gallon of gasoline. Ammonia is best manufactured from water, air, and electricity generated by wind and solar sources. If ammonia manufacturing and storage facilities were placed at electric power stations, wind and solar energy could be profitably transferred across the nations electric power grid. Ammonia would be manufactured during off-peak hours to be stored for months until it was needed for heating and cooling homes, powering industry, and fueling vehicles. Ammonia shortages in one community could be transfered using the electric power grid during off-peak hours by a community with an ammonia surplus. A mixture of 75% ammonia and 25% ethanol is an ideal automotive fuel. Since ammonia does not burn by itself, ethanol is used to trigger the ignition in an engine. If we became an ammonia-based economy, energy costs would be recirculated within a community, rather than shipped overseas. Wind patterns have been documented for all locations in America over the past fifty years. Just a few calculations would accurately determine whether a wind turbine would be profitable at any given location, even if it was only windy a couple months out of the year. People would invest in wind turbines and retire off the electricity and ammonia income, and the new industry would provide good employment. Beats the heck out of oil spills and bogus "carbon sequestration" schemes.

[ConstantineXIII]

Obama was not prepared either. CBS of course can't bring itself to report this truth as it has become(along with other Obama friendly media) essentially Obama's public defender when Obama screws up(which is often). The Netherlandsa(which has significant expertise and experience in cleaning up oil spills) offered skimmers and booms three days after the oil spill and Obama told the Netherlands he wasn't interested(now over a month later he is interested apparently but in the meantime countless number of birds, fish and wetlands have been killed or damaged because of the failure to take advantage of the Netherlands offer). The Houston Chronicle and Fox have reported on this but CBS(and other Obama friendly news media) stubbornly continue to hide this truth in the hopes they can prevent the public from discovering how Obama is incompetent and how Obama(through his incompetent response) has damaged the environment. How ironic it is that Obama(whom environmentalists fawned over during the campaign) has damaged the environment way more than Bush and Cheney ever did(or could possibly do). It doesn't matter what Obama says tonight. We can't turn the clock back to make Obama accept the Netherlands offer three days after the spill occurred. It is too late for that. The only thing we can do is vote the Democratic Party out in 2010 and Obama in 2012 to prevent this type of incompetence(and damage to the environment) from occurring again.

[newskitten]

CBS has not been "Obama's public defender", they have been reporting the news fairly. If the Netherlands offered oil-cleanup help and Obama refused it, and if it has not been reported by many news organizations, perhaps it couldn't be verified. Maybe it was just a rumor.

[newskitten]

This environmental disaster was caused by BP. BP ought to be held responsible for all cleanup costs.

[stn_sage]

I find it interesting that these oil companies made $300 BILLION dollars over just 3 years, but ONLY spent $20 MILLION on safety, LESS THAN one-tenth of ONE percent! My, my boys! Don't spend too much on safety!!

And, the way they write up 'phony' paperwork in the form of safety plans, et cetera to satisfy government requirements! And, our government is allowing these idiots to play 'Russian roulette' with our environment?!

Finally, I'm unimpressed by all the politicians who are 'jumping on the bandwagon' to verbally lambaste oil execs now; especially, since most of them, have, at one time or another, greedily taken ANY and EVERY campaign contribution that the oil companies have thrown their way!

This oil DISASTER should impress the public, even more, with the necessity of 'kicking out' incumbents in November and getting new people in there who aren't 'in the pocket' of 'big oil'...at least, yet!