Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) is asking the Interior Department’s inspector general to investigate the degree of oil-and-gas industry influence over offshore oil rig safety rules that Nelson calls too lax.

Nelson has stepped up his attacks on offshore drilling in the wake of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

In a letter Monday to acting IG Mary Kendall, Nelson criticizes Interior’s Minerals Management Service for not requiring oil rigs to have audio equipment that can remotely trigger devices called “blowout preventers.”

The leaders of the House Natural Resources Committee – which oversees offshore drilling and some related coastal issues – have dispatched committee staff to monitor the work of federal agencies responding to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

“We are sending Committee staff to observe the joint unified command as they problem-solve in real time to ensure protection of our economically critical coastlines and ocean resources,” Chairman Nick Rahall (D-W.Va.) and Ranking Member Doc Hastings (R-Wash.) told Interior Secretary Ken Salazar in a letter late last week.

“Together, Committee staff and the joint unified command staff will enable us to better inform both the Executive and Legislative branch of the current status and potential future needs of our agencies and the impacted communities,” they added.

Rep. Meek is pressing his opponents in the Florida Senate race to back a moratorium on new drilling.

BP CEO Tony Hayward said Monday that the failure of a so-called blowout preventer to contain the well that is leaking oil into Gulf of Mexico “unprecedented.”
 
The device did not deploy when the April 20 rig accident occurred, and the damaged well continues to pour thousands of barrels of oil per day into the Gulf.

“This is an unprecedented accident in terms of the failure of the blowout preventer,” Hayward told National Public Radio. “It is the ultimate safety system on any rig and there is no precedent for them failing.”

* BP struggles to contain massive Gulf oil spill

The struggle to contain the oil streaming into the Gulf of Mexico continued Sunday as BP prepared to install a shut-off valve to one of the three leaks.

But attempts to plug the two other leaks were still days away and involve a complicated process that officials weren’t sure would work at the depths where the leaks are occurring.

President Barack Obama toured the Gulf area under threat, calling the spill a “potentially unprecedented environmental disaster.” The slick is drifting toward the Alabama and Florida coasts, including the Chandeleur Islands off Louisiana’s southern tip, the New York Times reports.

From the Times: “The root of the problem appears to be a towering stack of heavy equipment 5,000 feet below the surface of the gulf known as a blowout preventer. It is a steel-framed stack of valves, rams, housings, tanks and hydraulic tubing that is designed to seal the well quickly in the event of a burst of pressure. It did not work when the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded.”

More on the Gulf of Mexico oil spill: Sam Youngman reports that President Barack Obama surveyed what Obama called a "massive, potentially unprecendented" disaster Sunday, while Michael O'Brien reports on the conflicting views of Sens. David Vitter (R-La.) and Ben Cardin (D-Md.) about expanded oil-and-gas drilling. His pieces are here and here.

Elsewhere on our website, Sam Youngman reports on President Barack Obama’s arrival in Louisiana to address the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, while Michael O’Brien looks at the federal decision to close fishing grounds affected by the oil.

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist (I) said Sunday that the spreading Gulf of Mexico oil spill shows that offshore drilling “has got to be tabled for sure.”

“When I flew over it on Tuesday and I saw the magnitude of this thing, it was unbelievable . . . it frightens me,” Crist said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

Crist, who days ago left the Republican Party to pursue an independent bid for the state's open Senate seat, has backed off his support for offshore drilling.

In the wake of the Gulf of Mexico’s catastrophic oil spill, Louisiana lawmakers made clear Sunday that they expect their constituents to be compensated for the expected damage.

Rep. Charlie Melancon (D-La.) and Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) said on CBS’s "Face The Nation" that the federal government and BP, who leased the oil rig responsible for the spill, need to be prepared to step in with funds so Louisiana can recover.

Melancon said he has already written a letter to the National Marine Fisheries Services saying the agency should prepare to allocate monies to the fishermen affected by the oil spill.

“This is about saving what makes their living. This is about the area that they've all grown up in and grown to love and make their living from it,” Melancon said. “So it's important to them that they save it.”

Landrieu said the oil company responsible for the spill will be faced with determined lawmakers who want to see their constituents compensated for their losses.  

“BP has tremendous liability,” Landrieu said. “Our delegation is going to be very strong in making sure anyone who was affected is fully compensated.”