Menendez Author of Oil Liability Bill, Says B.P. Escrow Account is Only First Step Toward Ensuring Full Accountability

Press Release

According to news reports, BP has agreed to White House and Senate Democrat demands that it put an initial $20 billion into an independently-administered escrow account to help guarantee it will have the capital available to cover damages along the Gulf Coast. U.S. Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ), author of the Big Oil Bailout Prevention Act to do away with the oil company liability limit, released the following statement:

"This is the very least BP must do to start making the coastal communities devastated by its recklessness whole again. This fund helps ensure BP will have the capital available to pay for the damages it causing, but it should not be mistaken for an acceptance of full accountability or as a removal of the liability cap. We absolutely need to continue our work to guarantee that BP is bound to cover all economic and environmental damage. To remove all legal wiggle-room BP may have, and to guarantee full protection of coastal communities in the event of future spills, we need to pass the Big Oil Bailout Prevention Act."

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