Menendez Repeats Call For Oil Spill Legislation On Anniversary Of BP Spill

By Rachel Whitt

Today marks the one-year anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion which killed eleven workers and spilled roughly five million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico.

Senator Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) released a statement this morning arguing that BP — which owned the troubled rig — and other oil companies operating in the Gulf are still not being held accountable for the risks associated with offshore drilling.

“One year ago BP, Transocean, and Halliburton were responsible for the most devastating oil spill in our nation’s history,” Menendez said. “Eleven are dead, fishermen and other coastal businesses are bankrupt, and the environmental cleanup is at best years away from completion. We have to send a message loud and clear to Big Oil: you make the mess, you clean it up.”

In January, Menendez reintroduced legislation to remove the current cap for damages that companies pay when they are held responsible for spills. Since the BP spill, 84 bills related to the disaster have been introduced in Congress. Yet only two of those measures have passed the House while zero have passed the Senate. Menendez said the only way to maintain safe coastal drilling conditions is through accountability

“That’s why I’ve reintroduced the Big Oil Bailout Prevention Act and why I am working with my fellow senators to ensure that if an oil company spills, taxpayers are not left on the hook to pay for the economic damages,” he said. “The best way to prevent future spills is to make sure oil companies bear the full cost for their mistakes.”