Hill Heat

The public hearing for the joint investigation is scheduled to continue May 26-29, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. (CDT) at the Radisson New Orleans Airport, 2150 Veterans Blvd., Kenner, LA – Bayou Meeting Room. Mr. David Dykes, MMS, and Captain Hung Nguyen, USCG, are the co-chairs of the joint investigation.

Witnesses

• Carl Smith – Consultant
• Douglass Brown – Transocean
• Forsythe – American Bureau of Shipping (ABS)
• Roy – American Bureau of Shipping (ABS)
• David McKay – Det Norske Veritias (DNV)
• Steve Tink – BP
• Adrian Rose – Transocean
• Paul Johnson – Transocean

Witnesses

Panel 1

• Sheldon Whitehouse, United States Senate

Panel 2

• Thomas Perrelli Esq. Esq., Associate Attorney General, U.S Department of Justice
• Craig Bennett, Director, National Pollution Funds Center, United States Coast Guard
• David Hayes, Deputy Secretary , The U.S. Department of Interior

Panel 3

• Jonathan Ramseur, Specialist in Environmental Policy, Congressional Research Service
• Rawle King, Analyst in Financial Economics and Risk Assessment, Congressional Research Service
• Robert Meltz, Legislative Attorney, Congressional Research Service

“The entire nation mourned the recent loss of 29 miners at the Upper Big Branch coal mine in West Virginia. As Chairman of the HELP Committee, I am examining possible legislation that would make a number of policy changes in the area of mine safety. But additional Federal appropriations are also needed to help prevent similar disasters, particularly when it comes to reducing the backlog of appeals at the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission,” said Harkin. “Senator Byrd requested this important hearing and I am happy to examine this critical area.”

“I would like to thank Chairman Harkin, a fellow son of a coal miner, for agreeing to hold this very important hearing at my request,” added Byrd. “This is a good beginning to a process that I hope will lead to substantial and long-overdue changes. We must examine the level of resources allocated to our mine regulatory agencies to ensure that, in this day and age, tragedies like the one at Upper Big Branch mine are prevented in the future.”

Witnesses

Panel I

• Joseph A. Main, Assistant Secretary of Labor for Mine Safety and Health, U. S. Department of Labor
• M. Patricia Smith, Solicitor of Labor, U. S. Department of Labor
• John Howard, M.D., Director, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, U. S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• Mary Lu Jordan, Chairman, Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission

Panel II

• Don L. Blankenship, Chairman and CEO, Massey Energy Company, Richmond, Virginia
• Cecil Roberts, International President, United Mine Workers of America, Fairfax, Virginia

_Witnesses_

• Dr. Ralph Cicerone, President of the National Academy of Sciences and Chair of the National Research Council
• Dr. Mario Molina, Nobel Laureate in Chemistry and Professor, University of California at San Diego
• Dr. Stephen Schneider, Professor, Stanford University
• Dr. Ben Santer, Research Scientist, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
• Dr. William Happer, Professor, Princeton University

Witnesses

• Steve Wereley, Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Purdue University
• Richard Camilli, Associate Scientist, Applied Ocean Physics and Engineering, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
• Michael Freilich, Director of the Earth Science Division, NASA
• Frank Muller-Karger, Professor of Biological Oceanography and Remote Sensing, University of South Florida

Witnesses

Panel 1

• Lisa Jackson, Administrator, United States Environmental Protection Agency
• Ken Salazar Secretary, United States Department of the Interior
• Nancy Helen Sutley, Chair, Council on Environmental Quality

Panel 2

• Rear Admiral Peter V. Neffenger, Deputy National Incident Commander for the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Response, United States Coast Guard
• Jo-Ellen Darcy, Assistant Secretary of the Army (Civil Works)
• John R. Fernandez, Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development, Economic Development Administration

Witnesses

• Adm. Thad Allen, commandant, U.S. Coast Guard
• Jane Lubchenco, administrator, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
• Lamar McKay, chairman and president, BP America Inc.
• Steven Newman, president and CEO, Transocean Ltd.
• Deborah French McCay, principal, Applied Science Associates Inc.

Witness

• Ken Salazar, Secretary of the Interior

• U.S. Coast Guard Rear Adm. Mary Landry
• BP Chief Operating Officer Doug Suttles
• MMS Regional Director of the Gulf of Mexico Region Lars Herbst

The entrance location for press conferences at the Shell Robert Training and Conference Center has changed. Members of the media will enter the facility from the back gate. The address is 23260 Shell Lane in Robert, La., 70455-1928. A Unified Area Command joint information center representative will be at the gate at 12:30 p.m., to escort media.

The call-in number for press unable to attend: (877) 918-5750. International callers use (312) 470-7364 Password – RESPONSE (73776673). Live broadcast may be available on the Digital Video Information Distribution System (DVIDS) hub, which can be accessed at www.dvidshub.net. To see the live broadcast or download video of the conference, media must register with DVIDS no later than 1:45 p.m. This can be done on the DVIDS Web site or by calling (678) 421-6612.

Witnesses

Panel 1

• The Honorable Janet A. Napolitano, Secretary, U.S. Department of Homeland Security
• Rear Admiral Peter V. Neffenger, Deputy National Incident Commander, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Department of Homeland Security

Panel 2

• Lamar McKay, Chairman and President, BP America, Inc.