By John Ballard
One might think the BP/Deepwater Horizon disaster would precipitate a slowdown of similar projects but one would be wrong.
Deborah White, my long-time friend in the About community, gave me this heads-up.
Obama Administration Approves 27 Offshore Drilling Projects After Gulf Oil Spill
Here's some news that points to such shocking irresponsibility by the federal government that it is almost impossible to believe.
Since April 20, when the Deepwater Horizon offshore oil rig exploded, killing 11 workers and starting an oil spill that continues to pollute the Gulf of Mexico and threaten the fragile marine and coastal environments of several southern states, the Obama administration has quietly approved 27 new offshore drilling projects.
Twenty-six of those projects were approved under the same environmental review exemption that was used to green-light the deadly BP drilling project that led to the current disaster. Essentially, those 26 projects received environmental waivers or exemptions from the Minerals Management Service (MMS), a division of the U.S. Interior Department. Incredibly, two of those approvals were for new BP offshore drilling projects, despite BP's responsibility in the current disaster and the company's poor safety record.
All this took place while emergency crews were working feverishly to stop the flow of millions of gallons of crude oil from an underwater oil well that are drifting toward the fragile Gulf Coast. And it all happened while the White House was promising to do everything necessary to ensure better safety for offshore drilling, and while David Axelrod, one of President Obama's closest advisors, was telling reporters that no new offshore drilling projects would be allowed to proceed until a thorough investigation of the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill was complete.
This is no longer news, incidentally.
That was published yesterday.
But McClatchy News Service wrote it up last Friday.
Since the Deepwater Horizon oil drilling rig exploded on April 20, the Obama administration has granted oil and gas companies at least 27 exemptions from doing in-depth environmental studies of oil exploration and production in the Gulf of Mexico.
The waivers were granted despite President Barack Obama�s vow that his administration would launch a �relentless response effort� to stop the leak and prevent more damage to the gulf. One of them was dated Friday � the day after Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said he was temporarily halting offshore drilling
The exemptions, known as �categorical exclusions,� were granted by the Interior Department�s Minerals Management Service (MMS) and included waiving detailed environmental studies for a BP exploration plan to be conducted at a depth of more than 4,000 feet and an Anadarko Petroleum Corp. exploration plan at more 9,000 feet.
�Is there a moratorium on off shore drilling or not?� asked Peter Galvin, conservation director with the Center for Biological Diversity, the environmental group that discovered the administration�s continued approval of the exemptions. �Possibly the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history has occurred and nothing appears to have changed.�
MMS officials said the exemptions are continuing to be issued because they do not represent final drilling approval.
To drill, a company has to file a separate application under a process that is now suspended because of Salazar�s order Thursday.
Oh, that splains it. I feel all better now, don't you?
They gotta file a separate application to drill. Right.
�
I watched a little bit of the Senate Committee, Energy and Natural Resources Hearing this afternoon but they had to stop for a vote. Poor Mr. Danenberger was holding up pretty well, but I note he was a "Former Chief" from the Mimerals Management Service. Nothing like Senator Levin's delightful moment with the guy from Goldman, but perhaps in future they will be inviting someone representing the current leadership. This bit toward the end of the McClatchy report caught my eye.
Holly Doremus, a professor of law at Boalt Hall, University of California at Berkeley, said MMS has had a culture of minimizing environmental reviews of oil and gas development dating back to its inception in 1982.
�That�s related to the fact that oil companies have a great deal of power over MMS and there hasn�t been much oversight,� she said. �My guess is that these things are routinely being signed off on as categorical exclusions even though they deserve a closer look.�
Other companies that received the waivers include: Shell, Kerr-McGee Oil & Gas Corporation, Royal Exploration Company, Inc., MCX Gulf of Mexico, Tana Exploration Company, Tarpon Operating & Development, Rooster Petroleum, Phoenix Exploration Company, and Hall-Houston Exploration III.
Tracy L. Austin, spokeswoman for Mitsubishi International Corporation, which owns MCX Gulf of Mexico, said she could not comment on MMS� handling of the exemptions overall.
�While we understand that the MMS has come under criticism for failing to adequately regulate the industry, with respect to our operations, we believe the MMS has acted responsibly,� she said.
Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle have already called for reform of MMS after news that BP was granted on exemption for the Deepwater Horizon site. That waiver was first reported by the Washington Post.
�If the conclusion is we need new regulation to prevent something like this from happening again, we�d welcome that because we believe we operate in a safe and environmentally responsible manner,� said Mintz with Apache. �But right now, the current rules say certain activities can proceed based on the studies that have been done.�
In 2008, a series of government watchdog reports implicated a dozen current and former employees of the MMS in inappropriate or unethical relationships with industry officials.
The reports described "a culture of substance abuse and promiscuity'' in the Royalty in Kind program, in which the government forgoes royalties and takes a share of the oil and gas for resale instead. From 2002 to 2006, nearly a third of the RIK staff socialized with and received gifts and gratuities from oil and gas companies.
I smell something.
You smell anything?
Is that gas we smell?
If that Senate Committee doesn't follow through on what they started they are missing a good chance to win friends and influence people, as well as clean up a tawdry political mess along with an environmental disaster. We'll soon find out who has been collecting from the oil companies (which means everyone, I think) and still has the courage to do what is right.
My only regret about the Tea Party is that they haven't enough intelligent people to twist the right tails, because here is an entire Senate committee confronting panel after panel of the right people waiting to have their tails twisted. And I'm talking about the elected representatives as well as those on the panels.
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