News Roundup: Expert Richard Charter Says...

Courtesy FWS

Offshore drilling expert and Defenders senior policy advisor Richard Charter is back in Washington this week. Here’s what he’s been saying on the capped well,  BP’s response plan, new wellhead management and shutting down Arctic drilling.

Appearing on CTV National News earlier this week, Richard spoke about the recently capped wellhead. “It’s pathetic that it had to take 87 days, but we are glad it has stopped. We hope it continues.” But we must proceed with caution, he warns, “You do not want to rupture the seafloor or have oil come out around the lock preventor or around the wellhead and create a situation to which you have no response, ever.” (See Richard at 00:40).

In regards to a new $1 billion spill response fund put together by four Big Oil giants, Richard told the Houston Chronicle that “One billion dollars sure didn’t go very far in response to this spill.” BP so far has spent upwards of $4 billion on the Gulf spill and has committed an additional $20 billion to pay claims.  

Facing public criticism, the White House has tightened its grip over BP’s spill response. “There’s a newfound precautionary approach that the administration is applying to wellhead management. It is forcing BP to monitor and respond to every bubble or seepage,” Richard said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal.

In this week’s good news, a federal court in Alaska called for a halt to oil and gas drilling activities in the Arctic’s Chukchi Sea until further environmentel analysis has been completed. Richard told Bryan Walsh of TIME Magazine, “If you cannot clean up the spill in the calm, flat seas of the Gulf, don’t call me if you have a spill in the broken sea ice of the Arctic Ocean. It would be ecological suicide.”

Be on the lookout for more as Richard continues to pound the pavement around Capitol Hill.