Federal lawmakers are demanding more information on the massive oil spill off the coast of California as a legislative battle looms over whether to include a ban on future offshore drilling in a scaled-down $3.5-trillion bill.<\/b>
\nFederal lawmakers are demanding more information on the massive oil spill off the coast of Orange County as a legislative battle looms over whether to include a ban on future offshore drilling in a scaled-down $3.5-trillion bill. The House Oversight and Reform Committee on Wednesday requested reams of records from federal agencies to figure out whether regulatory failings contributed to a pipeline spilling an estimated 144,000 gallons of crude oil into the Pacific Ocean. In a letter to the federal regulators, Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney (D-N.Y.), chairwoman of the oversight committee, and five Democratic members of the California delegation documented what they described as troubling compliance issues with Amplify Energy\u2019s San Pedro Bay Pipeline, which is operated by Beta Operating Co., the source of last week\u2019s leak. The lawmakers are seeking briefings and documents related to federal inspections of the San Pedro Bay Pipeline, as well as documents detailing enforcement actions for noncompliance by Amplify and Beta since Jan.1,2011. The lawmakers wrote that the Interior Department\u2019s Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement has documented about 125 noncompliance incidents by Beta since 2011, which led to at least 53 warnings,71 \u201ccomponent shut-in violations\u201d and a \u201cfacility shut-off\u201d violation. The Transportation Department\u2019s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, the lawmakers added, has issued multiple warnings to Beta since 2008, including a corrective action order Tuesday. \u201cThis is particularly concerning because the pipeline reportedly should have been monitored by an automated leak detection system,\u201d they wrote in the letter, which was obtained by The Times. \u201cThe damage from the spill is widespread, and local officials fear that some of it will be irreversible. Despite efforts to contain the damage, dead birds and oil-covered fish have been washing up along the ocean\u2019s shores. The extent of the ecological damage has yet to be determined.\u201d In a statement, Maloney called the images coming from the waters off the Orange County coast \u201cdevastating.\u201d \u201cThis oil spill has wreaked havoc on the California coastline and its wildlife, while putting the health of nearby communities at risk,\u201d Maloney said. \u201cThe consequences of these types of oil spills are often long-lasting, and I am committed to seeking accountability for those responsible and reforms to prevent similar tragedies in the future.\u201d In an interview, Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Fremont), who chairs the oversight panel\u2019s environment subcommittee and signed the letter, said lawmakers want to understand what led to the oil spill and why Amplify failed to report the oil spill to the National Response Center until at least 10 hours after federal and California authorities learned of the incident. The company also did not warn local officials and the public about the spill until hours after it told the response center, Khanna and the other lawmakers wrote. \u201cWhat do we need to do to prevent these kinds of violations from happening again in California, and why is it that people didn\u2019t know about the leak until it was too late and it was hours after the leak?\u201d he asked. \u201cWhy is that the case? What went wrong?\u201d Khanna said he expects regulatory agencies to cooperate with members of Congress and stressed that \u201cwe have to understand the past violations of the pipeline safety regulations and why those violations continue.\u201d The letter was addressed to the acting directors of the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement and the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, and it was signed by Maloney, Khanna and Reps. Alan Lowenthal, Katie Porter, Mike Levin and Nanette Diaz Barrag\u00e1n. Federal lawmakers are also seeking to take legislative action. Sens. Alex Padilla and Dianne Feinstein of California joined a trio of other West Coast Democrats in urging their chamber\u2019s leaders to include a prohibition on new oil and gas drilling off the costs of California, Oregon and Washington in the multitrillion-dollar reconciliation bill that\u2019s being negotiated on Capitol Hill. \u201cBudget reconciliation provides us with an opportunity to construct the energy policy of the future and avoid the worst impacts of climate change,\u201d the senators wrote in the letter to Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W. Va.), chairman of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee. \u201cIn taking advantage of this opportunity, we must reflect the will of our constituents and permanently ban new offshore oil and gas drilling along the West Coast. Doing so would help build a cleaner, more sustainable energy future.\u201d Padilla told MSNBC on Wednesday that the spill is \u201cthe most recent reminder to why we need to end offshore oil drilling, both because of the ecological disasters and economic impacts that disasters like this have.\u201d At the state level, multiple elected officials are also calling for oversight hearings. State and local leaders representing the areas hit by the spill have raised questions about the Coast Guard\u2019s initial response, following a report in The Times that state and federal authorities were alerted to a spill as early as Friday night. The Coast Guard did not survey the area until the following morning, citing inconclusive information and the difficulty of surveying the area in the dark \u2014 despite a second report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that one of its satellites had detected a sheen in the water that it identified with \u201chigh confidence\u201d as oil. State legislators have also raised questions about the operator of the pipeline and the condition of its equipment. Some legislators are calling for increasing bans on drilling in state waters. Assemblywoman Janet Nguyen (R-Huntington Beach) whose district has beaches that were hit with oil, said that she and other legislators \u201cwant a full investigation. And I want to hold people accountable for this incident.\u201d Times staff writers Anita Chabria and Chris Megerian contributed reporting.<\/p>\n