Members of Congress Urge Bureau of Ocean Energy Management to Reject BP’s Ultra-deepwater Oil Drilling Proposal in Gulf of Mexico

Washington, D.C. —

Members of Congress sent a letter to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) today urging the federal agency to reject BP’s new, proposed ultra-deepwater oil drilling project in the Gulf of Mexico. The letter was led by Ranking Member of House of Representatives Natural Resources Committee Jared Huffman (CA-D) and Senator Edward Markey (MA-D), and also included signatures from Representative Yassamin Ansari (AZ-D) and Representative Sarah K. Elfreth (MD-D).

The Members say the proposed ultra-deepwater project, called Kaskida, represents “an unacceptable threat to Gulf communities, ecosystems, and the climate.” The project would endanger lives, as its associated pollution would compound the already significant public health burdens borne by Gulf communities from oil extraction and refining, and it would further threaten the Gulf’s fragile marine ecosystem. The Members also outline how BP’s application to BOEM “fails to meet basic regulatory standards required for federal approval.”

If approved, Kaskida would be BP’s first completely new oilfield in the Gulf since its 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster, which remains the worst oil spill in U.S. history. 15 years later, lasting damage from the oil spill is apparent, including chronic illness in marine mammals like dolphins, toxins found in fish, and long-term ecosystem degradation affecting coastal wetlands, beaches, and deep-sea corals, and significant economic and psychological impacts on affected communities.

The Members warn BOEM that BP’s proposal raises serious concerns about the company’s readiness to safely operate a high-pressure, high-temperature (HPHT) project. For example, BP has failed to show that it possesses the necessary equipment to contain a high-pressure spill. This “alarming” fact alone warrants application denial under BOEM’s own regulations, they say.

“Most troublingly,” the Members explain that BP has severely underestimated the potential size and duration of a worst-case oil spill, with the company claiming it could stop a blowout in 90 days while its own numbers suggest it would take at least 100 days, potentially spilling 4.5 million barrels of oil vs. 4 million. This calculation error, combined with the lack of transparency around spill assumptions, “fatally undermines confidence in BP’s planning and modeling.”

The Members conclude that approving Kaskida would set “a dangerous precedent for a new era of ultra-deep, high-risk drilling in the Gulf” that the oil industry is trying to establish, even as it relies on experimental technologies in increasingly hostile environments. As a result, they advise BOEM to evaluate these inherently riskier ventures with “far more rigorous scrutiny, oversight, and public accountability than BP’s current application reflects.”

In addition to the Congressional letter, tens of thousands of Americans submitted public comments and sent letters to BOEM this summer also urging the agency to reject Kaskida.

Gulf and environmental groups responded to the Congressional letter to BOEM with the following statements:

“Kaskida is a reckless gamble with the Gulf’s future. BP has failed to show it can safely drill or respond to a disaster in waters even deeper and riskier than Deepwater Horizon. Approving this project would expose our communities, our wildlife, and our climate to unacceptable danger.” said Healthy Gulf Executive Director Martha Collins. “BOEM should reject Kaskida and stop rubber-stamping ultra-deepwater projects that put profits ahead of people.”

“If approved, BP’s ultra-deepwater oil project would directly threaten the health of Gulf communities like Port Arthur, Texas, whose families and children are living on the frontlines of pollution tied to offshored drilling,” said former refinery worker and founder of Port Arthur Community Action Network John Beard. “We’re grateful to these members of Congress for urging the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management to reject BP’s Kaskida project. Greenlighting massively risky offshore drilling projects should never happen, especially when the public resolutely opposes them.”

“BP is responsible for the worst oil spill in the history of the world and now they are trying to drill in the Gulf again with a new project, farther, deeper, under greater pressure and undertaking the most dangerous conditions possible all while utilizing untested and unapproved drilling methods,” says JJ Waters, a longtime resident of Pensacola Beach, FL who suffered through the summer of 2010, as BP’s Deepwater Horizon disaster oiled the iconic white sand beaches just a few feet from her home. “If BP is allowed to move forward with Kaskida, Pensacola Beach may no longer be the ‘World’s Whitest Beaches’ and Deepwater Horizon no longer the ‘World’s Worst Oil Spill.’”

“Earthjustice is extremely grateful to the Members of Congress who are stepping in to urge the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management to reject BP’s highly troublesome Kaskida project,” said Earthjustice Senior Legislative Representative Laura M. Esquivel. “If this project were to be approved as is, it would be a massive insult to the millions of people in the Gulf whose lives and businesses were impacted for the worse by Deepwater Horizon. Projects like Kaskida deserve robust scrutiny not only for the high risks they pose to the Gulf — but also because the oil industry is sitting on millions of acres of unused leases while continuing to demand more of our public waters, all while the U.S. is producing more oil than any nation in history.”

“Offshore drilling is one of the most dangerous and environmentally destructive kinds of extraction there is,” said Mike Scott, manager of Sierra Club’s Oil & Gas Campaign. “One wrong move, and millions of gallons of oil wreak havoc on marine ecosystems and coastal communities and economies, as we saw with the Deepwater Horizon disaster. Even when things go according to plan, marine habitats are destroyed and wildlife suffers from polluted and disrupted waters. For BP, with their disastrous track record, to undertake one of the largest ultra-deepwater oil drilling projects ever attempted is the epitome of hubris and environmental folly that could scar the Gulf for decades.”

“The BP Kaskida project is a reckless proposal that threatens both Gulf coast communities and ecosystems,” said Pete Stauffer, Ocean Protection Manager, Surfrider Foundation. “Offshore drilling projects in ultra-deepwater are significantly more dangerous given the extreme conditions involved. The federal administration should not be subjecting the Gulf region to the risks and impacts of another major oil spill disaster. Surfrider Foundation urges the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management to reject this dangerous project.”

“Using our Gulf waters as a testing ground for experimental deepwater oil drilling is mind-blowingly irresponsible. The Kaskida project could be Deepwater Horizon all over again,” said Rachel Rilee, oceans policy specialist at the Center for Biological Diversity. “Only 15 years after the worst oil spill in U.S. history, federal officials should exercise caution and reject the Kaskida project, and we appreciate the members of Congress who recognize this threat. If Kaskida goes forward, the health of workers, coastal communities, and Gulf wildlife like whales and sea turtles will be at risk of another horrible explosion and oil spill.”

“BP’s Kaskida project is a reckless gamble that repeats the same dangerous playbook as Deepwater Horizon — only this time in even deeper, riskier waters. That disaster killed 11 workers, devastated Gulf communities, and pushed the critically endangered Rice’s whale to the brink. BOEM should reject Kaskida and put the health of people, wildlife, and the Gulf ahead of another round of profits for a company with a record of environmental ruin,” said Zanagee Artis, Fossil Fuels Policy Advocate, Natural Resources Defense Council.

Background:

In the 15 years since the Deepwater Horizon disaster, the oil industry has increasingly moved into deeper water. The NOAA Fisheries has determined that the likelihood of uncontrolled oil spills arising from offshore drilling operations increases “exponentially” with depth, making deepwater and ultra-deepwater drilling particularly risky. And the chance of a blowout frequency occurring — which is what happened with Deepwater Horizon — becomes seven times more likely for HPHT deepwater projects than non-HPHT projects.

But in the last five offshore lease sales BOEM held, over 60% of new industry bids went for deep or ultra-deepwater. This is happening even as oil companies sit on millions of acres of unused leases and as the U.S. produces more oil than any nation in history.

Meanwhile, climate change caused by the burning of fossil fuels is contributing to more powerful hurricanes in the Gulf, making drilling everywhere there more dangerous.

But the Trump administration has fired more than 2,000 workers at the Interior Department, including at the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, which is responsible for managing the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf in an environmentally and economically responsible way.