Cartoon by RJ Matson, St Louis Post Dispatch
Matthew L. Wald of The New York Times live-blogged Tuesday’s Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources hearing on the Gulf of Mexico oil spill and the future of offshore oil drilling.
The full session, which includes testimony from Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, can be found on the NYT Green blog at: http://bit.ly/9vLOPE
On a separate but related note, Marcia Coyle of the National Law Journal reports that the U.S. Department of Interior’s Minerals Management Service – more specifically Ken Salazar – is being sued over the BP oil spill by
Earthjustice and New Orleans’ Waltzer & Wiygul, on behalf of the Gulf Restoration Network and Sierra Club.
Following is an excerpt from the article, detailing the basis of the suit.
The agency violated federal law by exempting oil companies that drill in the Gulf of Mexico from disclosing blowout and worst case spill scenarios as well as plans for dealing with them before approving the companies’ offshore drilling plans.
For the BP Deepwater Horizon exploration plan, the Minerals Management Service, according to the suit, had issued notices to the oil companies that they did not have to comply with the blowout and worst case oil spill rules. The agency also failed to analyze the potential environmental impact of a blowout and spill as required by the National Environmental Policy Act.
“This case is about lax regulation by the Minerals Management Service,” said Earthjustice attorney David Guest in a statement. “It is actually easier to get a permit for an offshore oil well than for a hot dog stand.”
The full article can be found behind the free registration wall at: http://bit.ly/b0rDKQ
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