Food & Water Watch Sues Feds for Ignoring Problems at Operating BP Platform; 'Catastrophic Operator Errors' Could Be Next Gulf Disaster

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May 17, 2010, 02:54 ET

Launches 'Spill the Truth' Campaign, Puts MMS Under Scrutiny to Close BP Atlantis Platform Amid Safety Concerns

NEW ORLEANS, May 17 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- National consumer advocacy group Food & Water Watch filed suit today 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.

The organization also kicked off a related advertising campaign today to put public pressure on the Obama Administration to shut down BP Atlantis until proven safe. The television ad is featured at www.SpilltheTruth.org.

Oil gushing from Horizon has already surpassed the 10.8 million gallon Exxon Valdez spill, according to news reports. A worst-case scenario oil spill from Atlantis would be many times larger than the spill from the Horizon explosion and exceed the Exxon Valdez spill within just two days, according to Wenonah Hauter, executive director of Food & Water Watch.

"BP Atlantis is a ticking time bomb," Hauter said. "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."

"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.

http://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/press/press-releases/food-water-watch-sues-feds-for-ignoring-problems-at-operating-bp-platform/

SOURCE Food & Water Watch