Panel Says Lack Of Subpoena Power Hinders Oil Spill Probe
September 28 2010 - 2:44PM
Dow Jones News
The co-chairmen of a presidentially appointed panel probing the
BP PLC (BP, BP.LN) oil spill said that a lack of subpoena power is
hindering their ability to fully investigate the causes of and
response to the disaster.
"It really strikes me as unjustifiable for the Congress not to
give full authority for us to use all of the instruments of the
investigative process to resolve this," William Reilly, a
co-chairman of the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon
Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling, told reporters.
He and co-Chairman Bob Graham called on Congress to pass
legislation to grant the panel subpoena power before Congress
adjourns this week ahead of the November elections. The U.S. House
of Representatives has already passed legislation to give the
commission subpoena power, but legislation has stalled in the U.S.
Senate amid a broader battle over how to advance energy
legislation.
"If we don't get subpoena power until the lame-duck session,
which may be six, eight weeks from now, we will have lost an
enormous amount of our ability to complete a full report within the
time frame," Graham said. The deadline is the second week of
January.
Resistance to providing complete answers to commission
investigators is "coming from various of the parties that were
involved in and responsible for different aspects of the rig
operation," Reilly said.
BP, Halliburton Co. (HAL) and Transocean Ltd. (RIG, RIGN.VX)
were the main companies working on the Deepwater Horizon rig before
it exploded on April 20.
"Eleven Americans lost their life as a result of this," Graham
said. "We think we owe it to them as well as to the American people
who have been affected by this to have the fullest, most
confidence-building report that is in our ability to produce. We
think that without subpoena power, we will do the best we can, but
it will not be as good as the American people deserve."
-By Siobhan Hughes, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-6654;
siobhan.hughes@dowjones.com
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