Center for Biological Diversity Statement on BP's Internal Report on Deepwater Horizon Disaster

Kieran Suckling, executive director of the Center for Biological Diversity,
issued the following statement today in response to BP's just released report on
the Deepwater Horizon explosion and
spill:

"BP's internal investigation doesn't pass the smell test.
Rather than accept the blame and financial consequences for its disaster, BP is continuing to point
fingers at everyone it can. This report is more concerned with calming BP's
shareholders than taking responsibility for its actions."

"BP is well aware that hundreds of lawsuits and tens of
billions of dollars in fines rest on determining who is to blame and whether
they were criminally negligent. This report bends over backwards to spread the
blame around, conceal BP's financial interest in cutting corners, and avoid any
hint of criminal liability."

"With operational costs running to a million dollars a
day, BP had an overriding interest in cutting corners and completing the well as
cheaply as possible. Its own engineers warned that is well design was dangerous
and the company was so concerned about loss of hydraulic fluid in its
problematic blowout preventer that it did not fully pressure test it in the days
before the explosion."

"This accident can not be reduced to technical and human
errors, it was caused by a deep flaw in America's oil drilling system which
allowed BP to lease and drill for oil with no environmental review, no safety
measures to protected imperiled wildlife, no meaningful spill cleanup plan, no
backup blowout preventers, and a complete absence of government regulators from
key decision moments such as cementing and pressure testing the
well."

"We look forward to objective investigation by the
Department's of Interior and Justice to find what really happened and who is to
blame."