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US lawmakers pilloried the boss of the British oil company that caused the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico channelling American anger over the country's worst environmental disaster.
BP chief Tony Hayward spent most of Thursday testifying before Congress trying to distance himself from day-to-day company policies or decisions that led to the well blowout and America's worst environmental tragedy.
"I'm not stonewalling. I simply was not involved in the decision-making process," Hayward said, infuriating members of Congress.
Testifying as oil still surged into the Gulf of Mexico and coated ever more coastal land and marshes, Hayward declared "I am so devastated with this accident," "deeply sorry" and "so distraught."
Yet the oil man disclaimed knowledge of any of the myriad problems on and under the Deepwater Horizon rig before the deadly explosion, telling a congressional hearing he had only heard about the well earlier in April, the month of the accident, when the BP drilling team told him it had found oil.
Hayward said his underlings made the decisions and federal regulators were responsible for vetting them.
"With respect, sir, we drill hundreds of wells a year around the world," Hayward told Republican Rep. Michael Burgess. "Yes, I know," Burgess shot back. "That's what scaring me right now."
BP had 760 safety violations in the past five years and paid $373 million in fines, Sullivan said. By contrast, Sunoco and ConocoPhillips each had eight safety violations and ExxonMobil just one, Sullivan said.
