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Congress Considers Requiring Standby Ships At Gulf Drilling Sites For Safety

By Eileen Fleming

http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wwno/local-wwno-992650.mp3

New Orleans, LA – Republican Congressman Jeff Landry of New Iberia wants rescue vessels assigned to oil and gas facilities in the Gulf of Mexico. Landry has been a vocal critic of government regulations issued after BP's oil spill last year. Louisiana Oil and Gas Association Vice President Gifford Briggs says the proposed regulations could be so expensive that production couldn't continue.
"Balancing the safety is obviously very important, but if we get to a point where it's cost prohibitive, there's no reason to provide safety because there won't be any activity in the Gulf of Mexico anyway." :14
Briggs has no estimate of what those standby vessels would cost overall. He says independent companies would be hit harder than major international producers. Congress is not expected to vote on the proposal until returning to session later this month.
For WWNO, I'm Eileen Fleming.

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