BP Claimed It Could Deal With Big Spills

Documents and Congressional testimony revealed on Wednesday that in 2009 BP claimed it could handle an oil spill 50 times the size of the one it’s currently having trouble cleaning up in the Gulf of Mexico. An exploration plan BP filed last year states that, in the event of an "unlikely" spill, the energy giant possessed "the capability to respond, to the maximum extent practicable, to a worst-case discharge, or a substantial threat of such a discharge, resulting from the activities proposed in our Exploration Plan." Not surprisingly, on Wednesday the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee had several questions for BP America Chairman Lamar McKay: "Would you make that statement today?" asked James Oberstar (D.-MN), to which McKay responded that the spill resulting from an explosion on oil rig Deepwater Horizon was "a very unique situation." McKay defended his company's attempts to contend with the disaster, but admitted that plans failed to factor in a failed blowout preventer.