http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/e2-wire/215981-oil-spill-commission
By Andrew Restuccia – 03/14/12 10:47 AM ET
Members of the national oil spill commission are reuniting to monitor the federal government’s progress in implementing a series of drilling safety recommendations put forward by the panel last year.
The seven-member commission, which was tasked by President Obama with investigating the massive Gulf of Mexico oil spill, is forming what it calls “Oil Spill Commission Action.”
The new group will issue a report in April assessing government and industry efforts to enhance safety and environmental standards in the aftermath of the spill, which dumped 4.9 million barrels of oil into the Gulf. The report’s release will coincide with the two-year anniversary of the April 20, 2010, disaster.
“The commissioners have become increasingly concerned that efforts to implement the recommendations are ebbing in spite of all that still needs to be done,” William Reilly, co-chairman of the commission, said in a statement.
The commission issued a report in January of 2011 citing “systemic” problems within the oil industry, warning that another disaster could occur without major reforms within both the industry and the federal government.
In the months after the spill, the Interior Department issued a slew of more stringent offshore drilling safety regulations and restructured the department’s offshore drilling arm. The oil industry is working separately to improve oil spill containment technology and ensure that companies are better prepared to deal with well blowouts.
But the commission said Wednesday that more action is needed.
“We intend to do our best to ensure that the public and other stakeholders do not lose sight of the problems we identified and the actions needed to mitigate future spills like the Deepwater Horizon,” Bob Graham, the commission’s other co-chairman, said in a statement.
Natural Resources Defense Council President Frances Beinecke, a member of the commission, added, “If America is to have the safest operations in the fragile offshore environment, it’s essential that our recommendations be implemented. Vigilance and oversight of the oil industry are essential to the protection of the public’s interest.”
http://www.bellinghamherald.com/2012/03/14/2436385/presidential-spill-panel-regroups.html
Bellingham Herald
POSTED: Wednesday, Mar. 14, 2012
Presidential spill panel regroups to press reform
By DINA CAPPIELLO – Associated Press
WASHINGTON – The seven-member commission selected by President Barack Obama to investigate the Gulf oil spill is getting back together. This time, it will press for action to improve drilling safety.
The re-formed group, announced on Wednesday, plans to issue a report card on actions taken by Congress, the administration and the industry next month, around the second anniversary of the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history.
“The commissioners have become increasingly concerned that efforts to implement the recommendations are ebbing in spite of all that still needs to be done,” said William K. Reilly, co-chair of the panel, and a former Environmental Protection Agency administrator under President George H.W. Bush.
Last January, the panel called for a series of steps to improve offshore drilling safety from boosting budgets and training at the agency that oversees drilling, to increasing the liability cap for companies drilling offshore.
But only one appears to have a chance in Congress: diverting 80 percent of the water pollution fines from the disaster to states affected by the spill. With high gasoline prices, the focus of Republicans and the White House in an election year has turned to boosting domestic oil and gas production.
The commission has been critical in the past of the administration and the industry. While the Interior Department under Obama has initiated widespread reforms and a massive reorganization, the panel concluded that the improvements made were modest, and highlighted mistakes made by the government in estimating the size of the spill.
On the industry side, the commission called for an industry-led safety institute, independent of the oil and gas industry’s main lobbying group, the American Petroleum Institute. The API recently launched such a group, the Center for Offshore Safety. However, it is housed within API, which also selects the center’s chairman.
Oil Spill Commission Action, as the reconvened panel will be called, has received money from a foundation set up by the founders of Wal-Mart, but much of the work will be done on a volunteer basis, according to Toby Clark, a spokesman. It will operate as a project of Resources for the Future, a non-profit and nonpartisan group that conducts research into environmental issues.
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Online: Oil Spill Commission Action www.oscaction.org
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Read more here: http://www.bellinghamherald.com/2012/03/14/2436385/presidential-spill-panel-regroups.html#storylink=cpy
Special thanks to Richard Charter