WASHINGTON, D.C.—The U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation held a full committee hearing today on response efforts to the Gulf Coast oil spill.

Witness List:

Panel I

Admiral Thad Allen, Commandant, United States Coast Guard

The Honorable Jane Lubchenco, Administrator, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Panel II

Mr. Lamar McKay, Chairman and President, BP America Inc.

Mr. Steven Newman, President and CEO, Transocean Ltd.

Dr. Deborah French McCay, Principal, Applied Science Associates, Inc.

Key Quotations from Today’s Hearing:

“I want to be very clear about my views on this oil spill—the people who created this terrible mess must be fully responsible for cleaning it up, and the American taxpayer should not be asked to foot the bill. We deserve a complete and transparent accounting of exactly what went wrong and why. Today and in the days and months ahead, the American people will expect full and honest answers from BP and Transocean.”

Chairman John D. (Jay) Rockefeller IV

“Through the National Incident Command, we are ensuring all capabilities and resources—government, private, and commercial—are being leveraged to protect the environment and facilitate a rapid, robust cleanup effort. Every effort is being made to secure the source of the oil, remove the oil offshore, protect the coastline, include and inform the local communities in support of response operations, and mitigate any impacts of the discharge.”

Admiral Thad Allen, Commandant, United States Coast Guard

“NOAA will continue to provide scientific support to the Unified Command. NRDA efforts in coordination with our federal and state co-trustees have begun. I would like to assure you that we will not relent in our efforts to protect the livelihoods of Gulf Coast residents and mitigate the environmental impacts of this spill.”

The Honorable Jane Lubchenco, Administrator, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

“We recognize that beyond the environmental impacts there are also economic impacts on many of the people who rely on the Gulf for their livelihood. BP will pay all necessary clean up costs and is committed to paying legitimate claims for other loss and damages caused by the spill.”

Mr. Lamar McKay, Chairman and President, BP America Inc.

“What caused that sudden, violent failure? And why weren’t the blow-out preventers able to squeeze, crush or shear the pipe and thereby shut in the flow? These are some of the critical questions that need to be answered in the coming weeks and months.”

Mr. Steven Newman, President and CEO, Transocean Ltd.

“The purpose of using dispersants on the oil is to lessen the potential impact to wildlife and shoreline habitats. However, to some degree there is a tradeoff, in that the contamination in the water is increased by dispersant application. The objective is to achieve a net environmental benefit: to disperse the oil sufficiently to reduce the impact to wildlife and shorelines, but to do so in deep water where the dilution potential is high to minimize adverse effects on fisheries resources.”

Dr. Deborah French McCay, Principal, Applied Science Associates, Inc.

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