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A project of Common Dreams

For Immediate Release
Contact:

Kate Fried, Food & Water Watch: (202) 683-2500, kfried(at)fwwatch(dot)org.

House Groundswell Against Atlantis Amps Up

Food & Water Watch Pressures Feds to Tell BP to Take its Business Elsewhere

WASHINGTON

"This week, in a letter to the Department of the Interior and the
Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation, and Enforcement (BOEMRE)
,
Representative Louise Slaughter (D-NY) and 17 other members of Congress
called on the agencies to halt operation on BP's Atlantis oil and gas
facility until it can be proven safe to operate. We applaud
Representative Slaughter, the influential Chairwoman of the House
Committee on Rules, and her colleagues for taking a stand against this
ticking time bomb.

"Among those who signed on to the letter were 8 members of the House
who had not previously spoken out against the facility. To date,
thirty-six legislators have questioned the continued unsafe operation of
Atlantis. This opposition reaffirms Food & Water Watch's campaign
to protect the Gulf and Gulf Coast communities from a potential
environmental disaster many times worse than that created by BP's
Horizon platform.

"Slaughter's letter also rightly takes aim at BOEMRE for dragging its
feet on its investigation of Atlantis. We hope that this reproach will
inspire BOEMRE to swiftly and completely conduct its investigation of
the facility's possible safety deficiencies.

"The issues highlighted by Slaughter also reinforce criticisms of BP
by Food & Water Watch to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
In a letter sent to EPA this week, we called on the agency to debar BP
from contracting with the federal government. From Texas City to Prudhoe
Bay, from the Horizon to the Atlantis, BP has demonstrated little
regard for public safety and the stewardship of natural resources. It
should be blocked from further business with the government before it
can inflict any more damage.

Food & Water Watch mobilizes regular people to build political power to move bold and uncompromised solutions to the most pressing food, water, and climate problems of our time. We work to protect people's health, communities, and democracy from the growing destructive power of the most powerful economic interests.

(202) 683-2500