WASHINGTON – U.S. Congresswoman Candice Miller (MI-10), a member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, today successfully offered an amendment to the Oil Spill Accountability and Environmental Protection Act of 2010 (H.R.5629) which will require that every drilling facility located in more than 500 feet of water to include a sensing and monitoring system. This system will provide real-time data on the physical, biological and environmental situation surrounding deep-water oil wells. It will also alert operators to unusual circumstances in advance of catastrophic problems, and would provide water flow modeling in the event of a spill. H.R.5629 passed through committee and will now head to the House Floor for passage.

“When the explosion occurred at the Deepwater Horizon on April 20, very few of us knew of the unbelievable oil spill that was already taking place and that unfortunately continues to this day. BP provided early estimates were stating that as little as 5,000 barrels a day were leaking from the ocean floor. We now know that those estimates were way off, and that it is possible that roughly 70,000 barrels each day – or maybe even more – are being pumped into the Gulf of Mexico. We do not have an accurate estimate of exactly how much oil is being spilled, other than the fact that this is the worst oil spill in our history and I believe that this lack of information slowed the government’s initial response to the disaster.

“My amendment seeks to fill this information void. As it relates to current circumstances, such a system would have provided an accurate flow rate early on instead of the dangerously low underestimating BP did for weeks. It would also prove very helpful in determining how much oil has remained underwater in the underwater plumes. Although the technology would be different, we have a somewhat similar system that does real-time monitoring for any chemical spills or contaminates in the St. Clair River and Lake St. Clair that I obtained federal funding for. These devices are installed at every water intake valve and alert us immediately if there are any contaminates in our drinking water system. Clearly, it is critical that we utilize technology where we are conducting deep-water drilling.”

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