Oil spill panel chief to Senate: Give us subpoena power

The co-chairman of the White House-created panel probing the BP oil spill is pressing the Senate to give the commission power to compel testimony from witnesses.

The House has twice approved subpoena power for the bipartisan National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling. But the Senate has not acted.

“I wish they would give us subpoena authority and hope that they do that as soon as they come back from recess,” said co-chairman William Reilly in an interview that aired Sunday on Platts Energy Week.

Reilly — a Republican who led EPA under former President George H.W. Bush — predicted the panel would need the power during its probe of the April 20 accident on the Deepwater Horizon rig that touched off the worst oil spill in U.S. history.

“At some point, I suspect lawyers will say to various witnesses within industry who have vital information, you don’t want to be implicated and if you don’t have to testify you shouldn’t,” he said.

The House voted 420-1 in June to give the panel subpoena power. It was also part of a broader — and far more controversial — bill that narrowly passed the House in late July to overhaul offshore drilling oversight.

Subpoena power for the commission is part of a package of drilling reforms that Senate Democratic leaders decided against bringing up before the August recess.

The bill is mired in disputes over changes to industry liability for offshore spills and other matters.