I 
111TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 5666 
To amend the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to require the drilling 
of emergency relief wells, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 1, 2010 
Mr. GRAYSON introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Natural Resources 
A BILL 
To amend the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to require 
the drilling of emergency relief wells, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Emergency Relief Well 
Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds that— 
(1) the April 20, 2010, explosion and sinking of 
the mobile offshore drilling unit Deepwater Horizon 
resulted in the largest release of petroleum in the 
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history of the United States, causing tens of billions 
of dollars in economic damages and widespread dev-
astation of natural resources; 
(2) numerous attempts over several months 
failed to stem the flow of oil from the Deepwater 
Horizon incident, including the use of— 
(A) a containment dome to cover the leak; 
(B) a top kill procedure to plug the well 
with viscous drilling fluid; 
(C) a junk shot to clog the well with var-
ious waste materials; and 
(D) a cut and cap procedure to excise a 
damaged riser pipe and apply an oil collection 
device; 
(3) all of the attempts described in paragraph 
(2) failed to permanently stop the flow of oil; 
(4) drilling emergency relief wells is the most 
effective procedure to permanently stop the flow of 
oil from a damaged well; 
(5) the success of relief wells in stopping oil 
spills has been demonstrated in the Ixtoc Spill in 
Mexico in 1979 and the Montara Spill in Australia 
in 2009, which were 2 of the largest oil spills in re-
cent history; 
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(6) although emergency relief wells successfully 
stopped the Ixtoc and Montara spills, the emergency 
relief wells— 
(A) took several months to complete; and 
(B) required multiple successive attempts 
before finally stopping the flow of oil; 
(7) other governments have maintained emer-
gency relief well policies to ensure that preparations 
are made for emergency relief wells before an emer-
gency blowout; 
(8) although no measure can prevent a spill or 
leak or make drilling safe, relief wells are the most 
proven way of stopping a spill or leak after a spill 
or leak has occurred; and 
(9) if emergency wells had been prepared at the 
mobile offshore drilling unit Deepwater Horizon at 
the initiation of drilling, months of disaster relief 
measures could have been eliminated, and tens of 
millions of gallons of oil could have been prevented 
from entering the Gulf of Mexico and damaging the 
surrounding economies and natural resources. 
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