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Flow Rate Estimate Spikes As Oil Executives Face Congressional Criticism of Disaster Response Plans - ABC News
Long-Dead Expert and Walruses in the Gulf?
Markey said that the five oil giants had disaster response plans that were "virtually identical," with equipment he called "ineffective."
Markey said that "two other plans are such dead ringers for BP's that they list a phone number for the same long-dead expert."
Indeed, BP's 582-page response plan, filed in 2009, listed Professor Peter Lutz from the University of Miami as a wildlife expert, though he has been dead since 2005. The document, outlining the company's planned response to a Gulf spill, listed walruses, sea lions and seals as animals that could be affected -- though none of them live in the Gulf of Mexico's warm waters.
Waxman provided examples of sentences from different companies' plans that are identical, save for the name of the company.
"When you look at the details, it becomes evident these plans are just paper exercises. BP failed miserably when confronted with a real leak, and one can only wonder whether ExxonMobil and the other companies would do any better," said Waxman.