Revelations flooding out of the Gulf oil spill disaster provide damning evidence about the main federal agency tasked with regulating offshore oil leases. Corrupted by its closeness to the oil industry and lax oversight from political leaders, (sound familiar?) the Minerals Management Service allowed British Petroleum to drill under risk-heavy circumstances, in waters too fragile to sustain a major spill, without an adequate plan to keep a spill from being catastrophic.
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Direct intervention from the president and the secretary of interior are needed to prevent the potential for another Gulf disaster from spreading to America's Arctic Ocean, where Shell Oil—with a plan approved by the MMS —is poised to begin drilling this summer. If you think you've heard the president say that there will be no new drilling until the cause of the Gulf blow-out is understood, think again. So far, there has been no reconsideration of the permits to drill in the Arctic this summer.
The reasons for intervention are twofold. First, marine scientists agree that drilling's impacts on the Arctic Ocean have yet to be adequately studied. The Chukchi and Beaufort seas, where the drilling would take place, are among the world's most remarkably wild places; home to many animals, fish, and the native people who depend on them. We have a responsibility to ensure that these American treasures won't be spoiled in the event of a large oil spill like the one unfolding in the Gulf of Mexico.
This is particularly true because an oil spill in the Arctic Ocean's icy waters, far from significant infrastructure, would be much more difficult to stop, contain and clean up than a spill in the temperate and accessible Gulf of Mexico.
Second, MMS is supposed to thoroughly review drilling proposals to ensure they comply with environmental laws and that detailed plans are in place to deal with possible accidents. Shell—like BP in the Gulf of Mexico—downplayed the likelihood of a spill in its drilling plans.
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Back in the Gulf of Mexico, it's abundantly clear that having response plans at the ready is critical to swiftly and effectively containing a spill. BP has been struggling for a month to stop its hemorrhaging deepwater well, which has fouled the Gulf's waters with hundreds of thousands of gallons of oil a day. The company's obvious lack of preparation for dealing with the catastrophe is attributable in part to the fact that MMS waived key requirements for oil spill response strategies in BP's plan to drill.
Most frightening, the rubber-stamped BP permit isn't one-of-a-kind. In 2008, MMS sent a notice instructing oil companies operating in the Gulf of Mexico to not bother submitting worst-case oil spill scenarios and response plans in their drilling plans. (WTF?)
