\nproblem with paper towels? <\/strong>One big reason
\nthe means of cleaning up oil spills have barely changed since the Exxon Valdez spill is that the Minerals
\nManagement Service’s budget for oil-spill research has been stuck at roughly $6
\nmillion a year since 1990. That’s one-tenth
\nof a penny for every dollar MMS has collected in royalties from oil companies for
\noffshore drilling rights over the same period.
\nIn real numbers, that’s $129 million spent on research over 20 years while
\n$107 billion was collected. Almost two-thirds of what MMS spends on
\nresearch goes to maintaining a wave pool in New Jersey where it tests cleanup
\nequipment. The
\nHouston Chronicle has more.<\/a><\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
2. What’s $10 <\/p>\n 3. They aim to <\/p>\n 4. Wonks just <\/p>\n 5. Now you see us, <\/p>\n 6. Ooooops.<\/strong> Last year, MMS gave BP an exemption from doing an environmental impact analysis <\/p>\n 7. Scientists <\/p>\n 8. Details, details. <\/strong>Recently, an MMS <\/p>\n 9. But they <\/p>\n 10. You be safe now, okay?<\/strong> MMS apparently Related Links:<\/strong><\/p>\n David Brooks to old folks: cities are better now<\/a><\/p>\n U.S. bans more Gulf fishing as oil fears grow for Florida<\/a><\/p>\n Obama’s ocean chief dismisses loop current threat: ‘Very little tarballs!’<\/a><\/p>\n
\nbillion among friends? <\/strong>In January 2007, the head of MMS, a former energy
\nexploration executive from Wyoming named Rejane “Johnnie” Burton, came under
\nfire from the Interior Department’s inspector general for ignoring or not
\naddressing a leasing error that could have let oil companies avoid paying up to
\n$10 billion in royalties. The auditor
\ngeneral described it as a “jaw-dropping example of bureaucratic bungling.” Burton resigned four months later. See
\nthe New York Times story.<\/a><\/p>\n
\nplease. <\/strong>Noting an annual savings of $340,000 per oil rig, the MMS in 1998 cut
\nin half the number of pressure tests on valves of blowout preventers. An industry executive praised the
\n“flexibility” of MMS regulators. The
\nblowout preventer on the Deepwater Horizon rig failed. Follow
\nthe AP’s investigation.<\/a><\/p>\n
\ngotta have fun. <\/strong>In September 2008, the Interior Department’s inspector general
\ndelivered reports to Congress detailing a sex and cocaine scandal within MMS as
\nwell as numerous cases of employees getting gifts from energy companies,
\nincluding golf and ski trips and even a paintball outing. He characterized the agency as having “a
\nculture of ethical failure.” Get
\nthe lowdown from The New York Times.<\/a> <\/p>\n
\nnow you don’t<\/strong>. During the past five years, MMS became increasingly lax
\nabout making monthly safety inspections of the Deepwater Horizon rig. Which explains why, since
\nJanuary 2005, inspectors had issued just one minor infraction for the rig. And
\nthat helps explain why last year MMS was able to single out the Deepwater well
\nas an industry model for safety. See the AP’s
\nreport.<\/a> <\/strong><\/p>\n
\non the Deepwater Horizon because a massive oil spill was
\nconsidered unlikely. In fact, the agency over the past year has routinely
\nissued drilling permits in the Gulf of Mexico without obtaining federal permits
\nrelated to potential environmental threats. Read
\nabout it in The Washington
\nPost.<\/a><\/p>\n
\nare such <\/strong>drama queens. <\/strong>MMS
\nroutinely overruled its staff biologists and engineers who raised concerns
\nabout the safety and the environmental impact of certain drilling proposals in
\nthe Gulf and in Alaska, according to a half-dozen current and former agency
\nscientists. Those scientists said they were also regularly pressured by agency
\nofficials to change the findings of their internal studies if they predicted
\nthat an accident was likely to occur or if wildlife might be harmed. See the New York Times article.<\/a><\/p>\n
\nengineer who gave BP the go-ahead to drill an exploratory well under the
\nDeepwater Horizon rig admitted he never got assurance from the firm that a
\nlast-ditch mechanism at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico would be able to slice
\nthrough its drill pipe to shut off the well in an emergency. Get
\nthe full story from the New Orleans Times-Picayune.<\/a> <\/strong><\/p>\n
\ngave their hand such a slap. <\/strong>MMS red-flagged potential violations of
\ngovernment safety standards in five out of 20 accident investigations it
\ncompleted at BP offshore operations since 2005, including rigs and platforms.
\nBut only one incident resulted in a fine, according to a
\nHouston Chronicle investigation<\/a>.<\/p>\n
\nfollowed a pattern of setting broad safety goals for offshore drilling, but
\nlargely leaving it up to the oil companies to decide how—and whether—to
\nmeet them. <\/strong>The
\nWall Street Journal has the details.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n
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