Two top Democrats on the House Energy and Commerce Committee yesterday questioned BP America Inc. over media reports that the company required scientists researching the Gulf of Mexico oil spill to sign confidentiality agreements.

Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) and Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass.), who heads the Energy and Environment subpanel, sent a letter yesterday to Lamar McKay, the president of BP America, requesting the company brief the committee on the issue by Aug. 6.

"The disaster in the Gulf of Mexico is not a private matter," the congressmen wrote. "Mitigating the long term impact of the oil spill will require an open exchange of scientific data and analysis. Any effort to muzzle scientists or shield their findings under doctrines of legal privileges could seriously impede the recovery."

The lawmakers also asked for copies of all BP contracts with any third-party consultant, scientist or academic related to assessing the spill's impacts and restoration of the Gulf.

BP has set up a $500 million research fund for independent scientists to study the spill's impact over the next 10 years. The company has said it does not restrict academics from speaking about scientific data, though media reports said the contracts prohibit researchers from publishing their findings for three years or until after the government approves a Gulf restoration plan that BP and its partners must fund.

Concern about the nondisclosure agreements was also expressed by Sen. Benjamin Cardin (D-Md.) and others at a Senate Environment and Public Works Committee hearing earlier this week (E&E Daily, July 28).