We are 18 days out from Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott's May 3, 2010 pronouncement concerning the April 20 BP disaster in the Gulf of Mexico that BP had made "all the right actions and all the right comments".[i]

Attorney General Abbott's unwavering defense of BP remains wrong. Prior press releases highlight six wrong BP actions and statements, including BP's own admissions of missteps, use of inferior dispersants and misstatements of ability to contain the spill offshore, leak size and ability to handle a "worst case scenario".[ii] And, Mr. Abbott has yet another reason to retract his May 3 embrace of BP.

BP proceeded outside its own emergency crisis plan. Poorly prepared, BP then failed to assess its contingency and safety plans.[iii]  BP absurdly claimed it must wait to measure the oil spill until the spill is contained. [iv] This misconduct ignores safety concerns. Waterkeeper Alliance has specifically listed the important monitoring needed for safety reasons.[v]

The Attorney General should proceed now with discovery against BP, requiring BP to produce its disaster contingency plans as of April 20, and all new plans developed after.

The Texas Attorney General has massive power to demand BP's plans. She could do it via a subpoena-like tool called a "civil investigative demand." A similar CID to each energy company operating in the Gulf of Mexico would reveal all prior and current plans.

Barbara Ann Radnofsky, 2010 Democratic nominee for Texas Attorney General: "Texas should study all contingency plans, to deal with the harm to the environment and prevent future disasters. If NASA had waited two weeks after Apollo 13 experienced trouble to develop proper contingency plans, we'd have lost 3 brave astronauts.

"In his prompt, over-zealous defense of BP, Mr. Abbott demonstrates he will not fight for Texas, his true client. Greg Abbott should retract his foolish defense and issue Civil Investigative Demands, so we can assess past conduct, learn how to prevent similar catastrophes from occurring, and control future damage. Mr. Abbott's two million dollars in oil and gas campaign donations blinded him to his duty: serve Texas, not British Petroleum."

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During her 30 year legal career, Barbara Ann has represented retirees, life-saving doctors, blood banks, children burned by lighters, families of murder victims, unfairly treated businesses: a wide variety of persons entitled to protection. Barbara Ann graduated with honors from the University of Houston and the University of Texas School of Law.   She was honored as the Outstanding Young Lawyer of Texas in 1988 and for the past 17 years she has been listed in "Best Lawyers in America".

Prior to 2006, she was a partner at the law firm of Vinson & Elkins in Houston, where she served as head of the Alternate Dispute Resolution Section.  She was the first woman at Vinson & Elkins to have children as an associate and later attain partnership.  Texas has never had a woman Attorney General. 

Media Contact:
Katie Floyd: 713-357-3360 (office); katie.floyd@radnofsky.com

[i] Texas Tribune, May 3, 2010

[ii] Radnofsky Campaign Press Releases: AG Abbott's Quick Defense of BP Will Backfire; Abbott Defends BP: Day 10; 2,000,000 Reasons Abbott Defends BP: Day 14

[iii] USA Today, "BP Emergency Plan Shows Lack of Readiness for Oil Spill." May 18, 2010. "The 582-page document, titled 'Regional Oil Spill Response Plan - Gulf of Mexico' was approved in July by the federal Minerals Management Service (MMS).  It details how to use chemical dispersants and providers instructions on what to say to the news media, but it does not mention how to react if a deep-water well spews oil uncontrollably."

[iv] Houston Chronicle, May 19, 2010 (page B8)

[v] Waterkeeper Alliance has recommended: Rigorously and fully perform tests on the water column to determine what toxicity risks and dangers the Gulf's people, communities, and fish and wildlife are being exposed to. Conduct full and diligent tracking and testing of the flesh of fish, turtles and other marine animals to detect the presence of toxins associated with dispersants being used in the Gulf of Mexico by BP. Improve air-quality testing, increase the number of air monitoring stations (which are wholly inadequate now), and establish monitoring stations in population centers. And, full transparency in the straightforward public communication of these findings so that residents of gulf communities, public officials, and spill responders can take appropriate safety precautions.