Oberstar, Klobuchar Assess Gulf Coast Oil Spill Damage

Press Release

Minnesota's two senior members of Congress will be holding hearings into massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico to determine if new laws are necessary to prevent future environmental disasters.

Today U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar and Congressman Jim Oberstar visited the Gulf Coast as part of a bipartisan delegation to assess the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and meet with U.S. officials and local leaders about ongoing recovery efforts. Coast Guard officials joined Oberstar and Klobuchar on an aerial tour of area around the sunken Deepwater Horizon oil rig that is the source of the spill and surveyed how the spill is threatening Louisiana and other coastal states.

"I saw firsthand the miles and miles of oil slick. Seeing the devastation this oil spill could inflict on Gulf Coast waters and economies, I am committed to ensuring that BP and any other responsible parties clean up this spill and fully compensate Gulf Coast residents and the American taxpayers for the damage they have caused," said Klobuchar. "The briefing gave us a firsthand appreciation of the complexity of putting a 60 ton dome over a seven inch pipe 5000 feet under water in the middle of strong ocean currents."

"The magnitude of the spill can best be appreciated on site," said Congressman Oberstar. "Senator Klobuchar and I have an even greater appreciation of the federal government response and the industry effort. This is a well-integrated, highly orchestrated 24/7 intense effort."

After the flyover, the delegation was briefed by U.S. Coast Guard Rear Admiral Mary Landry and representatives from the Department of the Interior, Environmental Protection Agency, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Fish and Wildlife Service, and BP, the company that owns the oil rig responsible for the spill.

Oberstar chairs the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure which has jurisdiction over the U.S. Coast Guard. The Committee will be holding hearings on the spill.

Klobuchar is a member of the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee that has jurisdiction over oil spill recovery. On Tuesday, May 11, the EPW Committee will hold a hearing on the "Economic and Environmental Impacts of the Recent Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico" that will include public testimony from Lamar McKay, Chairman and President of BP America, and Steven New, President and CEO of Transocean Ltd., which operated the Deepwater Horizon rig. The hearing will also include oil spill experts and representatives from the Gulf Coast fishing and business communities.

An explosion aboard the Deepwater Horizon oil rig on April 20 caused an oil leak nearly a mile below sea level. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration projects that by Friday, the spill will measure 240 miles east to west and about 100 miles north to south, with an estimated rate of 210,000 gallons leaking every day over the last two weeks. The oil slick could become one of the nation's worst environmental disasters in decades, threatening hundreds of species of fish, birds and other wildlife along the Gulf Coast -- one of the world's richest seafood grounds, teeming with shrimp, oysters, and other marine life.

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