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U.S. exempted BP's Gulf of Mexico drilling from environmental impact study
WaPo ^ | May 5, 2010 | Juliet Eilperin

Posted on 05/05/2010 6:13:41 AM PDT by bamahead

The Interior Department exempted BP's calamitous Gulf of Mexico drilling operation from a detailed environmental impact analysis last year, according to government documents, after three reviews of the area concluded that a massive oil spill was unlikely.

The decision by the department's Minerals Management Service (MMS) to give BP's lease at Deepwater Horizon a "categorical exclusion" from the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) on April 6, 2009 -- and BP's lobbying efforts just 11 days before the explosion to expand those exemptions -- show that neither federal regulators nor the company anticipated an accident of the scale of the one unfolding in the gulf.

--SNIP--

In one assessment, the agency estimated that "a large oil spill" from a platform would not exceed a total of 1,500 barrels and that a "deepwater spill," occurring "offshore of the inner Continental shelf," would not reach the coast. In another assessment, it defined the most likely large spill as totaling 4,600 barrels and forecast that it would largely dissipate within 10 days and would be unlikely to make landfall.

"They never did an analysis that took into account what turns out to be the very real possibility of a serious spill," said Holly Doremus, a law professor at the University of California at Berkeley who has reviewed the documents.

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...


TOPICS: Front Page News; Government; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: bp; deephorz; deepwaterhorizon; energy; environment; government; offshore; oil; oilspill; oops
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To: Palter

Although Tourre is almost beyond satire in reality, I believe the article you reference is satire.


21 posted on 05/05/2010 6:46:25 AM PDT by Voter62vb
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To: bamahead

Obama and his Big Oil buddies.

Same charge thrown @ Bush for all those years. Howz it feel, zer0?


22 posted on 05/05/2010 6:48:26 AM PDT by ScottinVA (RIP to the country I love...)
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To: Eric in the Ozarks

These oil rigs are beyond our 12 mile limit.

What possible control with the EPA getting their noses into the mess could there be?

It is outside our territorial limits.


23 posted on 05/05/2010 6:48:33 AM PDT by ridesthemiles
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To: Voter62vb

I’m shocked.


24 posted on 05/05/2010 6:52:44 AM PDT by Palter (Kilroy was here.)
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To: bamahead

The buck stops with Obama. It’s his fault.


25 posted on 05/05/2010 6:52:47 AM PDT by Freddd (CNN is down to Three Hundred Thousand viewers. But they worked for it.)
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To: ridesthemiles

The Department of the Interior’s Minerals Management Service still has authority over the area.


26 posted on 05/05/2010 6:53:23 AM PDT by Eric in the Ozarks (Impeachment !)
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To: bamahead

Link to additional detail on the engineering phase underway during the blowout - http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2507104/posts


27 posted on 05/05/2010 6:54:20 AM PDT by Nobel_1 (bring on the Patriots!)
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To: bamahead

OK, this is possibly tainted, but sometimes stuff just happens. The oil business is dangerour and difficult, especially in deep water. Boone Pickens was on Fox News today and for once I agreed with him. The host asked him how this could happen, and Boone said that accidents happen. It’s been a long time since we’ve had one, and this is not a perfect world.

Every disaster does not presuppose a villain.


28 posted on 05/05/2010 7:01:09 AM PDT by Pining_4_TX
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To: All

First-hand account of accident on WBAP / Dallas
http://www.rigzone.com/news/article.asp?hpf=1&a_id=92765


29 posted on 05/05/2010 7:19:02 AM PDT by Nobel_1 (bring on the Patriots!)
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To: mlocher
“Obama treats corporate America like a cheap whore.”

While I agree, I must point out that BP stands for British Petroleum. It is not an American company, though I doubt that matters to Obama as he looks for others to blame. Not that BP is blameless - far from it. Obviously, BP screwed up. But a main responsibility of the Interior Dept. is to protect the environment. Exempting BP from an environmental impact analysis, which I would assume other companies had to do, is irresponsible & smells of favoritism. Makes me wonder what other rules & regs they "avoided"?

30 posted on 05/05/2010 7:26:47 AM PDT by Mister Da (The mark of a wise man is not what he knows, but what he knows he doesn't know!)
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To: bamahead; Jet Jaguar; NorwegianViking; ExTexasRedhead; HollyB; FromLori; ...
The list, ping

Let me know if you would like to be on or off the ping list

31 posted on 05/05/2010 8:26:49 AM PDT by Nachum (The complete Obama list at www.nachumlist.com)
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To: Nachum

You’re doing a good job on pings, FRiend. =]


32 posted on 05/05/2010 8:35:01 AM PDT by Arthur Wildfire! March (We knew deep down it was this bad. Devour ugly truths with glee -- truth is our weapon.)
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To: bamahead

BTT!


33 posted on 05/05/2010 8:40:41 AM PDT by AuntB (Illegal immigration is simply more ‘share the wealth’ socialism and a CRIME not a race!)
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To: bamahead

Obama was bribed and fish died. /stupid bumpersticker idea


34 posted on 05/05/2010 8:53:42 AM PDT by lwd
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To: All

LAUGH BREAK LAUGH BREAK LAUGH BREAK LAUGH BREAK LAUGH BREAK

The WH Response to the Oil Spill
Whitehouse.gov | May 1, 2010 |
By Robert Gibbs, White House Press Secretary

The response to the BP Oil Spill began as an emergency search and rescue mission by the U.S. Coast Guard and other partners on April 20. Concurrently, command center operations were stood up immediately in the Gulf Coast to begin also addressing the environmental impact of the incident.

The morning after the explosion, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar deployed Deputy Secretary David J. Hayes down to the gulf to assist with coordination and response to the incident.

The Administration immediately began holding regular calls with BP leadership and numerous senior-level meetings have been held between the administration and BP to discuss BP’s response effort and federal oversight and support.

The National Response Team (NRT), an organization of 16 federal departments and agencies responsible for coordinating emergency preparedness and response to oil and hazardous substance pollution incidents was quickly activated and a coordinated group of federal partners-including the United States Coast Guard, Departments of Homeland Security, Commerce, Interior and the Environmental Protection Agency-immediately began directing and overseeing BP’s response.

The President immediately began actively monitoring the incident and consulting on the response. The President has been in contact with all the governors of the states that may be affected and ordered that the administration use every single available resource at our disposal.

The Department of Defense is fully integrated into the DHS-led team and fully supportive of all response activities. Navy assets have been involved since day #1, and the Coast Guard and Department of Defense continue to work closely together, anticipating requirements, identifying response options, and rapidly providing response support.

The Secretary of Defense has approved a request for two C-130 aircraft with Modular Aerial Spray Systems (MASS), which are currently en route to the affected area. The Coast Guard has requested assistance from the Department of Defense for these aircraft. These aircraft dispense the same dispersant chemical being used by BP and the federal responders. Each system is capable of covering up to 250 acres per flight with three flights per aircraft per day.

Additionally, in direct support of the Coast Guard under an existing pollution clean-up and salvage operations agreement, the Navy is providing a variety of oil pollution control equipment.

The Navy has sent thousands of feet of inflatable oil boom with mooring equipment, several skimming systems, related support gear, and personnel to support oil spill response efforts. Naval Air Station Pensacola is serving as a staging facility for Coast Guard contractor-provided equipment.

To prepare for the possible spreading of the oil slick across the Gulf Coast and in support of the 2nd Unified command Center in Mobile, Ala., Department of Defense is airlifting additional boom materials to Mobile later today.

The booms are currently located on four tractor trailers to expedite transportation on the receiving end.
Early on, the President directed responding agencies to not only devote every resource to respond to this incident but to also determine its cause. Earlier this week, Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano and Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar laid out the next steps for the investigation.

The President has also dispatched Secretary Napolitano, Secretary Salazar, EPA Administrator Jackson, Assistant to the President for Energy and Climate Change Policy Carol Browner and NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco to the Gulf Coast to ensure all is being done to respond to this oil spill.

Secretary Napolitano announced that this incident is a spill of national significance, the Department of Interior has announced that they will be sending SWAT teams to the Gulf to inspect all platforms and rigs, and the EPA is conducting air monitoring activities to gather information on the impact of the controlled burn on air quality.

As part of the designation of the BP Oil Spill as a Spill of National Significance, Secretary Napolitano has announced that U.S. Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Thad Allen will serve as the National Incident Commander for the administration’s continued, coordinated response—providing additional authority and oversight in leveraging every available resource to respond to the BP oil spill and minimize the associated environmental risks.

As National Incident Commander, Admiral Allen will continue to work closely with Coast Guard Rear Admiral Mary Landry, the federal on-scene coordinator, and the Departments of Homeland Security, Defense, Interior and Commerce, the Environmental Protection Agency and other federal departments and agencies as appropriate—as well as BP, the responsible party in the spill—to ensure the efficient continued deployment and coordination of vital response assets, personnel and equipment that were activated immediately after the spill began.

To keep the public informed about the latest, validated environmental air and water sampling results, EPA has launched a dedicated website at www.epa.gov/bpspill, which will also provide information on the broader federal response.

In response to the BP oil spill, the Secretary of Defense is authorizing under title 32 the mobilization of the Louisiana National Guard to help in the ongoing efforts to assist local communities in the cleanup and removal of oil and to protect critical habitats from contamination. As the responsible party in this incident, the government will hold BP accountable for the costs of the deployment.

The Minerals Management Service remains in contact with all oil and gas operators in the sheen area. Two platforms have stopped production and one has been evacuated as a safety measure. Approximately 6.2 million cubic feet of natural gas is shut-in—less than one-tenth of a percent of daily gas production in the Gulf of Mexico.

As the nation’s leading scientific resource for oil spills, NOAA has been on the scene of the BP spill from the start, providing coordinated scientific weather and biological response services to federal, state and local organizations.

NOAA spill specialists are advising the U.S. Coast Guard on cleanup options as well as advising all affected federal, state and local partners on sensitive marine resources at risk in this area of the Gulf of Mexico.

Rapid response teams are staged to deploy to shorelines affected by oil to evaluate and determine an appropriate clean-up effort to minimize the impact to the environment.

A volunteer program has been established and a toll-free number—(866)-448-5816—set up for people to call to learn about volunteer opportunities in all areas and what training is required. By the Numbers to Date:
•Personnel were quickly deployed and nearly 2,000 are currently responding to protect the shoreline and wildlife—hundreds more than yesterday.

•Approximately 75 response vessels have been responding on site, including skimmers, tugs, barges, and recovery vessels to assist in containment and cleanup efforts—in addition to dozens of aircraft, remotely operated vehicles, and multiple mobile offshore drilling units.

•More than 275,000 feet of boom (barrier) have been deployed to contain the spill—an increase of nearly 60,000 feet since yesterday. An additional 316,470 feet is available.

•More than 1 million gallons of an oil-water mix have been recovered—an increase of approximately 150,000 gallons since yesterday.

•Nearly 143,000 gallons of dispersant have been deployed—an increase of more than 3,500 gallons since yesterday. An additional 68,300 gallons are available.

•Six staging areas (Biloxi, Miss., Pensacola, Fla., Venice, La., Pascagoula, Miss. and Theodore, Ala., and Port Sulphur, La.) were set up to protect sensitive shorelines.

LAUGH BREAK LAUGH BREAK LAUGH BREAK LAUGH BREAK LAUGH BREAK


35 posted on 05/05/2010 1:16:30 PM PDT by Liz (If teens can procreate in a Volkswagen, why does a spotted owl need 2000 acres? JD Hayworth)
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To: maggief; Grampa Dave; stephenjohnbanker; GOPJ; hoosiermama; KentTrappedInLiberalSeattle; ...

ping


36 posted on 05/05/2010 1:20:02 PM PDT by Liz (If teens can procreate in a Volkswagen, why does a spotted owl need 2000 acres? JD Hayworth)
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To: STARWISE; Ernest_at_the_Beach; bamahead

Obama was number one recipient of BP donations....lol.


37 posted on 05/05/2010 1:43:28 PM PDT by onyx (Sarah/Michele 2012)
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To: Liz

Thanks for the ping - they’re shameless.


38 posted on 05/05/2010 1:45:43 PM PDT by onyx (Sarah/Michele 2012)
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To: kcvl; MNJohnnie; bamahead

PING


39 posted on 05/05/2010 1:55:55 PM PDT by onyx (Sarah/Michele 2012)
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To: Liz

It’ll clean itself up. Even Jacques Cousteau had stated that it would prove very difficult for man to permanently pollute the ocean(s).


40 posted on 05/05/2010 2:09:01 PM PDT by jla
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