Talk Radio News Service: News, Politics, Media

By: Justine Rellosa
Talk Radio News Service

U.S. Associate Attorney General Thomas Perrelli made clear on Tuesday that there should not be an arbitrary cap for oil spill accidents, like the one that occurred at the Deepwater Horizon in the Gulf of Mexico site over one month ago.

“With respect to activities that might have the risk in resulting in a similar or major oil spill, such as we are seeing currently, we don’t think there should be an arbitrary cap on corporate responsibility,” said Perrelli during a hearing held by the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.

Current law caps how liable companies are for economic damages caused by spills at $75 million, although a group of Democratic Senators, led by Robert Menendez (D-N.J), is looking to the cap to $10 billion dollars.

Perrelli added that if Congress voted to raise the cap and apply it retroactively, the government would likely win any legal challenges put forth by members of the oil industry.

U.S. Department of the Interior Deputy Secretary David Hayes reassured the Committee that his department is doing all it can to make sure the regulatory system is “state of the art.”

“We are committed to doing a thorough investigation and a top to bottom evaluation of whether we have the right regulatory system...and whether there is enough oversight of industry.”