Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Subcommittee Chairman Frank A. LoBiondo (NJ-2) today announced he will hold a hearing next month on the cause of the
recent Delaware River oil spill, and future prevention efforts that might be needed. He has been receiving regular updates on the progress of the oil spill clean up, and the direction of the oil sheen from the U.S. Coast Guard. Chairman LoBiondo also participated in a flyover of the area last week to see the affected areas in Southern New Jersey.
“I am pleased to see the Coast Guard identify the obstruction that most likely caused this accident,” said Chairman LoBiondo. “More investigation needs to be done. It is essential that we have the facts to take action and prevent incidents such as this from occurring in the future.”
Chairman LoBiondo said the field hearing will take place in the Southern New Jersey/ Philadelphia area. It will look into how the obstruction was introduced into the river, why it was not detected earlier, what can be done to improve oil spill response, and future prevention efforts.
“We all want to know how this happened, and what we can do to prevent an incident like this from happening again. Before we can hold the hearing, the investigation and cleanup must be allowed move forward,” Chairman LoBiondo said.