Permanent Cap Marks End of Beginning of Gulf Oil Disaster

BP announced Sunday a permanent seal had been placed on its Macondo well, site of the April 20th Deepwater Horizon disaster that killed 11 people and led to an estimated 206 million gallons of oil gushing into the Gulf of Mexico.

NWF President Talks to Fishing Boat Captain

Larry Schweiger, president & CEO of the National Wildlife Federation, said today:

The permanent seal on BP’s Macondo well marks only the end of the beginning of the Gulf oil disaster. Oil and other fossil fuels remain in the water – new research shows millions of gallons of oil remain in thick layers on the Gulf’s floor and suspended in undersea plumes. Oil is still coming ashore – fresh waves of petroleum have hit Louisiana’s coast this month. And communities are far from recovery – demand for seafood remains devastated by uncertainty.

Disappointingly, the Senate has failed to act on a single measure to prevent future tragedies. With Senate obstructionists blocking both the oil disaster response bill and clean energy and climate legislation, America remains just as vulnerable to another oil disaster as it was on April 20th. And with laughably low liability cap remaining in place, oil companies enjoy the same protections they did on April 20th.

The National Wildlife Federation has spent years fighting to put America on a new, clean energy path and restore coastal Louisiana. The Gulf oil disaster has only strengthened our resolve. Congress must enact real energy reforms with cap on carbon pollution that break America’s addiction to oil, lift oil companies’ $75 million cap on liability and the cap on punitive damages, and make a national investment to restore the Mississippi River Delta, including Louisiana’s coastal wetlands.

Learn more about the National Wildlife Federation’s response to the Gulf oil disaster at NWF.org/OilSpill.