KPLU Local News
(2010-07-06)
Senator Maria Cantwell says oil companies should use the latest technology, such as the sea glider (left) to clean up oil spills.
Photo By: Charla Bear/KPLU
US Senator Maria Cantwell says she wants to require oil companies to use the latest tools.
The federal government already requires oil companies to have a plan if they dump oil in the ocean. Senator Cantwell says BP's Deep Horizon spill in the Gulf of Mexico shows that just having a plan isn't enough.
"New technology can help us," she says. "And we should require it to be deployed on these companies and vessels that are doing so much drilling."
Cantwell says a spill could be especially devastating here in Washington where the Puget Sound is a major part of the economy and way of life.
University of Washington researchers say a tool that could be ready within a year is a robot glider. It travels underwater to collect information.
The researchers say the glider could be modified to detect oil plumes. It could let clean up crews know if a plume exists and how big it is.
Cantwell's bill would require companies to use the best technology available and continually update their spill response plans.
She says if these policies would've been in place last spring, they might have reduced the impact of the BP spill.
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