House committee questions BP’s history on oil spills and safety

One month after the Deepwater Horizon Oil Rig explosion, BP has yet to stop millions of gallons of oil from gushing into the Gulf of Mexico. Today, BP and Transocean executives continued to face lawmakers on Capitol Hill as more information emerges on the oil giant's safety record. In the latest of a series of hearings, today the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure looked at BP's history with oil spills. Committee Chair James Oberstar.

"When BP obtained its approval for safety and response plan required for drilling in the Gulf, BP claimed that if there were a spill it would not have an environmental impact because BP would rely upon 'industry-wide standards for using proven technology and practices for responding to the spill.' ...and practices to clean up after an oil spill."

One issue lawmakers tried to uncover is whether BP knew in advance of the explosion that the Blowout Preventer was faulty - that's the key piece of equipment that was supposed to shut off the flow of oil. Oregon Congressmember Peter Defazio drilled BP President Lamar McKay.

"So you would then say that having a blow-out preventer that is incapable, at least part of the time, of shutting off a well would mean that it's either gross negligence or it's willful misconduct or you didn't meet the federal safety or operating regulation...I do think there are going to be some changes made."

Meanwhile, on the Gulf Coast, the US Coast Guard says tar balls found in the Florida Keys are not from BP's growing oil spill. Though the source of the tar balls is unknown, the Coast Guard says tests showed conclusively the material doesn't match the oil gushing from the Deepwater Horizon well. But the massive plume of oil could still threaten the Keys and Florida's coral reefs, and eventually move up the east coast, as parts of it begin to enter the Loop Current.