Salazar admits lapses in oil spill

We would still like to know why BP requested the change of procedure when it came to cementing the plug and why the Federal Minerals Management office approved the change. We have yet to hear a reason for the request to change procedures.

While the cause of the accident at the BP PLC well and spill has yet to be pinpointed, information uncovered so far raises the question of where the Minerals Management Service, the Interior agency that oversees offshore drilling, was in ensuring that wells are drilled safely, Mr. Bingaman said.

Eleven men were killed and there is a catastrophe waiting to happen if the oil gets into a powerful enough stream that could take it to the Gulf Coast of Florida, and we still don't have the answers as BP is less than forthcoming.

Already the area for curtailing fishing in the Gulf has grown. All because BP changed the procedure. Didn't save money as they were still going to have to cement the plug so why did they did they change? Is anyone from BP going to come forward with the truth?

Procedures need tightened for when a company requests a deviation from accepted procedures as safety has to be a primary concern.

Interesting to see Salazar telling people not to rush to judgement because so much of our oil comes from the Gulf. Wonder if he told Obama to cool his rhetoric concerning off shore drilling?

Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Salazar admits lapses in oil spill

By Matthew Daly ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Interior Secretary Ken Salazar caught sharp criticism from lawmakers Tuesday over the government's failures in overseeing offshore oil drilling, and he acknowledged his department had been lax in holding industry accountable.

Mr. Salazar, in his first appearance before Congress since the April 20 accident that unleashed a massive Gulf of Mexico oil spill, promised an overhaul of the agency that regulates offshore oil drilling to give it "more tools, more resources, more independence and greater authority."

Even as legislators in Washington debated what went wrong, evidence of the dimensions of the problem only grew. Federal regulators nearly tripled the federal waters in the Gulf of Mexico where fishing is shut down because of the spill. And government scientists were studying aerial photos to see if oil from the spill had entered a powerful current that could take it to Florida.

Sen. Jeff Bingaman, New Mexico Democrat, in opening a congressional hearing into the spill, said Congress wanted to explore "the role of regulatory failure" in the accident and what President Obama has acknowledged for years has been a "cozy relationship" between government regulators and the oil and gas industry.

(snip)

Mr. Salazar promised an overhaul of federal regulations and said blame for the BP spill rests with both industry and the government.

"There will be tremendous lessons to be learned here," he told legislators, adding that changes in federal law were surely needed.

But Mr. Salazar cautioned against overreaction, noting that the Gulf waters produce nearly a third of the nation's oil.

How the government -- including Congress -- responds to the offshore disaster is crucial, said Mr. Salazar, noting that the Challenger space shuttle disaster shut down the space program for 2 1/2 years and the Three Mile Island nuclear accident "shut down the nuclear industry for 30 years."

Excerpt: Read More at Washington Times