2nd UPDATE: US Rep Waxman Blasts BP CEO At Congressional Hearing

17th Jun 2010 17:23

(Updates with comment from White House, Justice Department) By Siobhan Hughes, Tennille Tracy and Stephen Power Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--U.S. lawmakers on Thursday blasted BP PLC's (BP, BP.LN) chief executive officer at his first appearance before Congress since a deadly oil-rig explosion, with a top Democrat telling the executive that he "found no evidence that you paid any attention to the tremendous risks BP was taking." The remarks from U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D., Calif.) at the start of BP Chief Executive Tony Hayward's testimony on Capitol Hill suggest that BP's agreement to contribute $20 billion to a spill-damage fund did little to quell anger among Democrats on Capitol Hill. Though Waxman praised BP's decision, he had little else positive to say. "There is not a single email or document that shows you paid even the slightest attention to the dangers at this well," Waxman told Hayward. "You are the CEO, so we considered the possibility that you may have delegated the oversight responsibility to someone else," but after reviewing emails received by other executives, "we could find no evidence" that they had received briefings about drilling activities at the well. Hayward, who was sworn in under oath, told the committee that the situation is "a tragedy" and said that "I deeply regret" the impact the spill has had on people and the environment. He said that while "we don't yet know" the causes of the April 20 blowout, the company is "doing everything we can" to secure the well and "we will make this right." He said that BP's latest effort to capture oil that has been spewing out of a leaking well in the Gulf of Mexico has succeeded in containing about 20,000 barrels of oil a day. By the end of June, the company will have in place equipment to handle between 40,000 and 50,000 barrels a day, Hayward said. "We will pay all necessary cleanup costs," he added. Waxman, whose panel has been investigating the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, said that "there is a complete contradiction between BP's words and deeds. You were brought in to make safety the top priority of BP. But under your leadership, BP has taken the most extreme risks." The mood in the panel suggested the damage to BP from the panel's investigation, which involved a review of 30,000 pages of documents. One email cited by congressional investigators earlier showed a BP official brushing aside warnings from Halliburton Co. (HAL) that the company was using too few "centralizers." "Who cares, it's done, end of story, will probably be fine and we'll get a good cement job," according to the email from BP's operations drilling engineer. "You said safety was your No. 1 priority," said Rep. Michael Burgess (R., Texas). "Safety was traded off; in fact it was not the priority." Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R., Tenn.) said that "the appearance is, Mr. Hayward, that BP has not learned from previous mistakes." She said that "BP cannot blame mother nature, or equipment failure or even other subcontractors. Their actions have put at risk the livelihood of communities and businesses that depend on the Gulf." While focusing their anger on BP, some Republicans also used the hearing to direct anger toward the Obama administration. A Wednesday deal between the White House and BP on the $20 billion escrow fund has riled some people in the business community, who fear that the U.S. government is using strong-arm tactics that go beyond ordinary legal processes for handling such disasters. "I think that it is a tragedy of the first proportion that a private corporation is subjected to what I would characterize as a shakedown, in this case a $20 billion shakedown," said Rep. Joe Barton (R, Texas). While "there is no question that BP is liable," he complained about the participation of the Justice Department in talks at the White House. "I apologize. I do not want to live a country where any time a citizen or a corporation does something that is legitimately wrong is subject to some sort of political pressure." U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder told reporters that "I don't apologize for the Justice Department's role in this matter." He said that "what we have done has been entirely appropriate." The White House issued a statement calling on lawmakers to "repudiate" Barton's comments. Rep. Betty Sutton (D., Ohio) said she felt "physically sick" viewing scenes of the spill on television and condemned BP's "culture of carelessness." Rep. John Dingell (D., Mich.) recited BP's history of accidents in recent years involving an Alaska pipeline and a deadly fire at a refinery, and a series of comments Hayward has made in recent weeks, some of which he has apologized for, such as his remark that he wanted his "life back" and that the amount of oil spilled is "tiny" when compared with the total water volume of the Gulf. "Last year, Mr. Hayward enjoyed a 41% pay raise even as BP's profits dropped 45%," Dingell said. "I am just a poor Polish lawyer from Detroit, but that seems like a curious response to a drop in profits." -By Siobhan Hughes, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-6654; [email protected] (END) Dow Jones Newswires June 17, 2010 12:23 ET (16:23 GMT)