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October 13, 2010 6:23 p.m. EST
Topics: politics, regulatory policy and organization, disaster and accident, environmental issue, environmental politics, industrial accident, United States
Tom Ramstack - AHN News Correspondent
Washington, D.C., United States (AHN) - A federal panel reviewing the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico last spring plans to recommend sweeping regulatory changes for the offshore oil industry.
The panel is preparing a report to President Barack Obama on what went wrong to cause the worst oil spill in U.S. history and what can be done to prevent similar disasters.
The report includes recommendations for “a fundamental shift in the regulatory regime,” said Sen. Bob Graham, co-chairman of the National Commission on BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling.
The nine-member commission said regulatory oversight of offshore drilling and the government’s technical expertise to properly monitor oil companies’ operations were inadequate.
As a result, oil company BP was using equipment and procedures that safety inspectors did not fully understand and could not have regulated well enough to prevent the April 20 natural gas explosion that killed 11 oil rig workers.
The commission is recommending training for safety inspectors that is specific to the latest technology rather than a generalized awareness of the oil industry techniques.
“This isn’t something that we should not be starting and stopping and starting and stopping,” said Christopher Smith, Energy Department assistant secretary. “There is going to have to be a partnership between government and industry.”
The panel held its most recent meeting Wednesday at a Washington, D.C., hotel one day after Obama lifted a moratorium on new offshore oil drilling. He imposed the moratorium days after BP’s Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded and sank. The accident opened a shaft to an underground oil well that took three months to plug.
Regulatory authority that was delegated between different agencies contributed to the problem, the commissioners said.
Normally, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulates industrial safety.
However, its rules make exceptions for ocean vessels, which it defines to include oil rigs.
OSHA gives the authority over oil rig safety to the Coast Guard, which contracts it to other agencies that the commissioners said lacked expertise.
“I was very surprised OSHA does not exercise authority over these rigs,” said William Reilly, co-chairman of the commission on the BP oil rig disaster. “We’re not happy with that.”
He said the injury rate among oil rig workers in the United States is four times higher than Norway or the United Kingdom, which the commissioners said have more sophisticated safety programs.
Another part of the problem resulted from the “breathtaking advance in the technology” for oil drilling, Reilly said.
Only the BP workers understood completely what was needed to prevent accidents, the commissioners said.
“It was just a serious lack of training,” said Terry Garcia, a member of the commission.
The commission also recommends that oil companies develop safety plans that are more specific to each offshore rig.
Oil companies must update their safety plans every two years, but they typically include standardized operating procedures for their industry, the commissioners said.
“The response plan has to be tailored, not a generic one,” said Cherry Murray, a commission member.
The Obama administration already enacted one set of new safety rules while the Deepwater Horizon oil rig continued spilling oil into the Gulf of Mexico. They are expected to cost the industry $183 million.
However, they merely added to existing rules.
The BP oil disaster commission plans to recommend more expansive regulatory changes.
After Obama announced the lifting of the offshore drilling moratorium Tuesday, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said during a news conference that current safety procedures would prevent another major oil rig disaster.
“We have made and continue to make significant progress in reducing the risks associated with deepwater drilling,” Salazar said. “I have decided that it is now appropriate to lift the suspension on deepwater drilling for those operators that are able to clear the higher bar that we have set.”
BP officials said they are uncertain whether they would apply for another oil drilling permit in the Gulf of Mexico.
Other oil companies, which pressured the White House to lift the moratorium, have announced they would seek new permits.
Read more: http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7020206857?Investigators%20Recommend%20Big%20Safety%20Changes%20for%20Offshore%20Drilling#ixzz12LHozBX7
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