WASHINGTON (June 5, 2014) – Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), who was the leading Congressional voice holding BP accountable for their 2010 oil spill and pushing for increased drilling safety, today released the following statement regarding the Chemical Safety Board’s blowout preventer report. That report finds that the buckling of BP’s drilling pipe at the Macondo well stopped the blowout preventer from working correctly, and that other blowout preventers could fail.

Below is the statement of Senator Markey, a member of the Environment and Public Works Committee:

“Blowout preventers should be failsafe, not destined to fail. This report is another data point in a long list of drilling safety failures that were discovered following BP’s oil spill. The report further highlights that other blowout preventers currently being used by the oil industry in offshore drilling could have the same types of deficiencies that led to the BP spill. 

“If the oil industry ignores or dismisses this report, they will be ignoring these potential ticking time bombs and the safety reforms that could prevent another tragic incident. We need stronger safety standards that build on the improvements already undertaken by the Obama administration, and we need an oil industry that is willing to reform their ways before history repeats itself.”