Month After Oil Spill, Why Is BP Still In Charge?

==5 Reasons Why You Won't See The Worst Of The Spill



The press has been repeatedly forbidden to enter impacted areas by the Coast Guard, BP, or the Fish & Wildlife Service. I was on the ground in the Gulf, and trying to get the story from one of the fishermen contracted to work with BP was like asking them if they’d like a root canal on the spot. Word is that cleanup workers are told if they talk to press, they’re fired. And then there are the toxic chemical dispersants, which plays the biggest role in masking the extent of the disaster’s damage by breaking the oil up and spreading it out — at who knows what cost.==



http://blogs.alternet.org/speakeasy/2010/05/22/5-reasons-you-wont-see-the-worst-of-the-gulf-oil-spill/



So much for transparency.



You can not have a healthy robust democracy without a fully informed electorate.
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Month After Oil Spill, Why Is BP Still In Charge?

Then by your same logic, Bush didn't do anything wrong, it was Cheney or Gale Norton, et al.



The buck stops at the Oval Office because that is who has been hired to manage the departments of government. MMS is under the president's authority. If there is mis-, mal- or nonfeasance going on (and it appears that there was all 3), that's the president's responsibility.



Whether it happened under Bush's watch (and it did) no longer matters because Obama chose to block all investigations and prosecutions into that administration's activities. By doing that, Obama (for all intents and purposes) was certifying that what went on wouldn't be going on, and that it was all now his responsibility. Obama would make it all better. What we're finding out is that Obama has continued Bush's policies throughout all of the government. It's not that he hasn't gotten to it yet -- He's rubberstamped and is continuing what Bush and Cheney did.



I don't know what your story is, jmpurser, and why you hold Obama to a different standard than you would hold Bush or any other president, but loyalty to Obama isn't the same as loyalty to the nation and your own well being. That's true for all of Obama's (& Bush's, & Democrats' & Republicans') most ardent supporters. Stop supporting your 'team' and start supporting the nation's and your own best interests -- That's the real allegiance of a patriotic American/human being.
About Gulf Oil Spill
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Month After Oil Spill, Why Is BP Still In Charge?

The Deepwater Horizon rig is not in international waters. It is 48 miles from the Louisiana coast, and is in the US's outer continental shelf* and considered part of the internationally recognized continental shelf of the US.



*'Outer continental shelf' refers to all submerged lands, its subsoil, and seabed that belong to the United States and are lying seaward and outside of the states' jurisdiction.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outer_Continental_Shelf
About Gulf Oil Spill
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Month After Oil Spill, Why Is BP Still In Charge?

Obama Sheltered BP's Deepwater Horizon Rig from Regulatory Requirement



http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=19027
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Frustration Mounts As Oil Seeps Into Gulf Wetlands

Directs the President to designate areas for Area Committees within six months after enactment of this Act. Sets deadlines for implementation of related measures.



Requires the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating to ensure that vessels designed and built to replace buoy tenders are equipped with oil skimming systems that complement the vessels' primary mission of servicing navigation aids.



Requires the President to determine the quantities of oil and hazardous substances that may be harmful to the environment as well as to public health or welfare.



Permits the issuance of coastwise certificates to not-for-profit oil spill response cooperatives whose foreign ownership is not more than 50 percent.



http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d101:HR01465:@@@D&summ2=m&
About Gulf Oil Spill
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Frustration Mounts As Oil Seeps Into Gulf Wetlands

Requires the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating to establish a National Response Unit at Elizabeth City, North Carolina, to: (1) compile a list of oil spill removal resources, personnel, and equipment worldwide; (2) coordinate use of private and public personnel and equipment in worst case discharges; (3) administer Coast Guard strike teams and provide technical assistance; and (4) review and keep area contingency plans. Requires the same Secretary to establish in each Coast Guard district a Coast Guard District Response Group.



Establishes an Area Committee of presidentially-appointed Federal, State, and local agency personnel for each area designated by the President. Requires each Area Committee to submit an Area Contingency Plan for the President's approval.



Directs the President to issue regulations requiring an owner or operator of a tank vessel or facility to submit for presidential approval a worst case discharge response plan. Requires him to review promptly and periodically any response plan for an onshore facility which could reasonably be expected, because of location, to cause significant and substantial environmental damage with a discharge. Requires periodic removal drills. Denies any Federal liability for damages arising from actions or omissions relating to a response plan.



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About Gulf Oil Spill
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Frustration Mounts As Oil Seeps Into Gulf Wetlands

"The law prevents the government from just taking over", Coast Guard Commandant Thad Allen said. "After the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska, Congress dictated that oil companies be responsible for dealing with major accidents – including paying for all cleanup – with oversight by federal agencies".



This is not true.



The Oil Pollution Act of 1990 makes oil companies FINANCIALLY responsible, but in no way requires them to be in charge or even involved in dealing with accidents or clean-up.



Subtitle B alone parks this FUBAR directly at the Oval Office:



Subtitle B: Removal - Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (FWPCA) to require the President to ensure effective and immediate removal of a discharge, and mitigation or prevention of a substantial threat of discharge, of oil or hazardous substances into the Exclusive Economic Zone or onto adjoining shorelines or in any way threatening natural resources under exclusive Federal management authorization. Requires the President to direct all Federal, State, and private actions in the event of an actual or potential discharge which is a substantial threat to the public health or welfare. Exempts from liability, with certain exceptions, any person acting pursuant to the National Contingency Plan or as otherwise directed by the President. Requires the Plan to establish procedures for: (1) removing a worst-case discharge or threat; and (2) coordinating the activities of Coast Guard strike teams and specified others. Requires revision and republication of the Plan by a certain date.



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