BP spill probe: 'More effort' needed to avoid another oil disaster
The oil industry and the government need to do more to reduce the chances of another large-scale oil spill, a US presidential panel investigating the BP well blow-out said today.
Its seven members unanimously endorsed 15 separate recommendations in the wake of the largest offshore oil spill in US history. Many of the proposals will require action by Congress.
The panel called for increasing budgets and training for the federal agency that regulates offshore drilling; increasing the liability cap for damages when companies drill offshore; dedicating 80% of fines and penalties from the BP spill to restoration of the Gulf; and lending more weight to scientific opinions by other federal scientists in decisions about drilling.
“It is our government’s responsibility that exploration and extraction occur in ways that are beneficial to the country,” panel co-chair and former Florida Senator Bob Graham said. “Drilling offshore is a privilege to be earned, not a right to be exercised by private corporations.”
If the recommendations are not carried out, “the probability of another failure will be dramatically greater,” he said.
The panel said Congress should draft legislation to create an independent safety agency and a separate environmental office to evaluate the risks of oil drilling to natural resources.
US regulations for offshore drilling should be at least as stringent as those in other oil-producing nations and require oil companies to adopt safety procedures common elsewhere but lacking in the Gulf, it said.
A spokeswoman for Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, said yesterday that the department already has “undertaken an aggressive overhaul” to increase safety and ensure responsible oil and gas development.
“We have made significant progress over the last eight months, but these reforms must continue,” she said.
The panel also called for an industry-led safety institute, similar to the one created by nuclear power producers after the 1979 Three Mile Island accident.
The oil industry and government have taken numerous steps in an effort to improve safety since the BP blow-out.
BP fired its executive responsible for deep-water wells like the one that blew out in the Gulf of Mexico in September. The company also created a new unit to police safety practices in all of BP’s technical operations, while the federal government imposed new regulations and a moratorium on deep-water drilling. It later lifted the moratorium.
Additionally, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management Director Michael Bromwich established an internal affairs unit to expose improper relationships between companies and regulators. He has vowed to improve inspections, and required operators to show that they are prepared for a potential blow-out and massive oil spill.
New drilling proposals also will have to undergo more thorough environmental reviews, and meet new safety standards that apply to all deep-water operations.
Part of the problem has been with Congress and successive administrations that have not provided the agency with the resources needed to carry out its mandate. Fixing that problem will be especially tough in a new Congress with a House dominated by Republicans keen on reducing budgets and the regulatory reach of government.
