Food & Water Watch sues feds regarding Gulf of Mexico oil spill
May 18th, 2010 - 3:37 am ICT by BNO NewsHOUSTON, TEXAS (BNO NEWS) – National consumer advocacy group Food & Water Watch filed suit on Monday in a Houston federal court seeking a temporary injunction to halt operations of BP’s massive Atlantis oil drilling platform until critical safety documents are produced.
The agency, along with a former BP document controls subcontractor, maintains the Department of the Interior has allowed BP Atlantis to operate without documented, approved final engineering drawings considered critical to safe operation.
In addition, the company began an advertising campaign Monday, promoting public pressure on the Obama Administration to shut down BP Atlantis until proven safe.
“BP Atlantis is a ticking time bomb,” Wenonah Hauter, executive director of Food & Water Watch said, noting that the Horizon oil spill has reportedly already surpassed the 10.8 million gallon Exxon Valdez spill. “As clean-up continues in the Gulf, we need to act to prevent a larger disaster looming. Given that we have repeatedly asked regulators to act to solve the Atlantis safety crisis, it’s outrageous that nothing has been done yet,” she added.
“We are moving quickly with legal action to prevent a disaster. We will show that MMS has failed in its duty to ensure these increasingly complex deepwater platforms are operating safely,” said Mikal C. Watts, the attorney representing the plaintiffs. “Given the impending threat of this year’s hurricane season, the situation presents an emergency warranting immediate action and swift attention,” he added.
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