Markey: BP 'either lying or grossly incompetent' on worst-case scenario

A key Democratic lawmaker revealed an internal BP document on Sunday showing that the embattled oil giant's worst-case scenario projected that 100,000 barrels of oil could be released each day that the well remains uncapped.

Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), chairman of the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming, said that number was in stark contrast to BP's public projections at the time the study was finished that only 5,000 barrels would be lost each day.

The top-ranking Democrat on the Energy and Commerce's subcommittee on energy policy said on NBC's "Meet The Press" that "again, right from the beginning, BP was either lying or grossly incompetent. First they said it was only 1,000. Then they said it was 5,000 barrels. Now we're up to 100,000 barrels."

Almost nine weeks have passed since an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon rig and the ensuing Gulf Coast gusher that BP has not been able to cap yet.

Markey held a high-profile hearing last week with BP CEO Tony Hayward.

"It was their technology. It was their spill cam. They are the ones that should have known right from the beginning and either to limit their liability or because they were grossly incompetent they delayed a full response to the magnitude of this disaster," Markey told "Meet The Press" host David Gregory.