BP is 'constraining Gulf clean up'

Oil industry giant BP is asserting too much control over the clean up efforts in the Gulf of Mexico, the Senate Environment committee has been told.

The chairman of the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority told the Water and Wildlife hearing that BP's control of clean up funding was being used to interfere with scientific assessment of damage to the natural resources in the region following last summer's Deepwater Horizon oil disaster.

Garret Graves told the hearing that the fact BP has to sign off assessment activities has the potential to create two major problems – that delay in consent could threaten timely collection of ephemeral data and that the oil giant could refuse assessments that are at odds with their legal interests.

"Responders are dependent upon the financial resources of and have repeatedly shown signs of empathy toward the Responsible Parties who hold them financially captive to the detriment of the will and best interests of the public," Mr Graves said.

An estimated 53,000 barrels of oil per day escaped the well before it was capped, forcing a total of 4.9 million barrels into the Gulf of Mexico.