WASHINGTON (April 13, 2015) – Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) released the following statement regarding the Department of Interior’s proposed regulations to improve the performance of blowout preventers used in offshore oil and gas drilling operations. The failure of the blowout preventer during the 2010 BP Gulf of Mexico spill was a major element in that tragedy. Senator Markey was the leading Congressional investigator into the BP oil spill, and the first to post the Spillcam online of the underwater spill.

 

“These new regulations will make blowout preventers more ‘fail-safe’, as they were touted to be before the BP disaster, instead of destined to fail. The blowout preventer is a safety device of last resort, so it is also important to continue updates to all drilling safety and environmental regulations.

 

“Congress must still act to hold the oil industry to the highest standards, including raising the fines for safety violations, and making the liability cap for oil spills unlimited. More must also be done to improve the safety of dispersants and other oil spill response technologies.

 

“Five years after the BP spill, the Gulf Coast is still recovering. We can never let another spill harm our coasts, which is why I will continue to oppose the possibility of opening up the East Coast to oil and gas drilling.”

 

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