Stearns Urges U.S. Justice Department to Determine if BP Surpressed Data on Oil Spill

Press Release

Today, Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-Sixth) sent a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder asking him to include as part of the Justice Department's comprehensive investigation into the Deepwater Horizon oil spill whether British Petroleum (BP), specifically Chairman of BP America Lamar McKay, has made false and misleading statements to the federal government regarding the amount of oil leaking into the Gulf.

Stearns, a senior member of the House Energy & Commerce Committee, wrote, "BP has consistently misled the American public and may have suppressed data to hide the true extent of this catastrophe. In keeping video footage from the public and not using the best available techniques for estimating the spill rate, BP has manipulated information to hide the severity of this calamity from the federal government and the public."

Stearns also highlights the response he received from Lamar McKay during an Oversight and Investigation hearing held on May 12, 2010. Stearns asked, ""what is the current spill per day today?'" McKay responded, ""the current estimate is 5,000 barrels a day.'" However, the U.S. Geological Survey stated on May 27 that "its best estimate of the spill rate was from 12,000 barrels per day to 19,000 barrels per day, more than twice the amount that BP was stating."

In addition, Stearns notes that BP's own plan for dealing with offshore oil leaks requires an accurate estimation of the amount released, but BP officials early during the incident stated that determining the amount was not a priority. Quoting from BP's own 583-page plan, Stearns points out that on page 2 it states, ""In the event of a significant release of oil, an accurate estimation of the spill's total volume…is essential in providing preliminary data to plan and initiate cleanup operations.'"

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