Topic: U.S. Department of the Interior

BP oil spill: MMS shortcomings include 'dearth of regulations'

MMS (Minerals Management Service) was ill-prepared to oversee the oil and gas industry because it lacked inspectors and regulations, the Interior Department's inspector general testified Thursday.
06/17/2010 03:37 pm

Studies suggest MMS knew blowout preventers had 'critical' flaws

Government regulators have said that the failure of the Deepwater Horizon's blowout preventer April 20 was unforeseeable. But studies conducted for federal regulators in MMS or with their participation show that blowout preventers were known to have 'safety critical' vulnerabilities.
06/17/2010 10:55 am

Oil on Orange Beach, spill keeps looking worse

The spill was flowing at a daily rate that could possibly have been as high as 2.1 million gallons, twice the highest number the federal government had been saying.
06/11/2010 11:37 am

BP's gulf oil spill response plan lists the walrus as a local species. Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal is furious.

Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal is angry and frustrated at BP's 2009 response plan for a Gulf of Mexico oil spill, which lists walruses, sea otters, sea lions, and seals as 'sensitive biological resources' and names a man who died in 2005 as a national wildlife expert.
06/09/2010 07:19 pm

After oil spill cleanup, will we tighten the laws?

As the BP oil spill cleanup continued last week, Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) proposed new legislative action that would raise the BP's liability. Are we entering a new era of increased regulation?
06/07/2010 12:22 pm

Oil spill jail time for BP officials? It could happen.

BP officials could be prosecuted under the Clean Water Act, the Oil Pollution Act, and the Endangered Species Act. So could federal officials if they aided and abetted any illegal acts.
06/02/2010 07:55 pm

Before BP oil spill, Big Oil-led study urged feds to cut safety testing

The 2009 study intensifies suspicions that Big Oil interests trumped US safety regulations, a concern that has been growing since the BP oil spill.
06/02/2010 04:47 pm

Gulf oil spill: Obama’s big political test

President Obama is facing a critical test of his political philosophy: If the federal government can do so much, why can’t it stop the slow-motion Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf?
05/29/2010 11:41 am

BP Gulf oil spill: Congress zeroes in on federal oversight

Was the government adequately monitoring the drilling by the Deepwater Horizon? Is the government too cozy with the industry it's regulating? Lawmakers of both parties want answers following the Gulf oil spill.
05/27/2010 08:34 pm

BP oil spill update: Smooth sailing for 'top kill,' MMS director ousted

Even after the leaking well is permanently sealed, the Deepwater Horizon drama won't be anywhere near over. Just in Thursday's BP oil spill update, the MMS director is out, the spill is resized, and hearings proliferate on Capitol Hill.
05/27/2010 06:52 pm

BP oil spill worse than Exxon Valdez, according to government estimates

The BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is larger than the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil tanker spill off the coast of Alaska, according to federal government estimates.
05/27/2010 06:02 pm

BP oil spill: harrowing escapes of Deepwater Horizon survivors

With hearings into the Deepwater Horizon accident ongoing in Louisiana and Washington, survivors' tales are coming out. They paint a picture of chaos and desperation after the explosion and offer hints about what might have caused the BP oil spill.
05/27/2010 03:02 pm

Gulf oil spill now bigger than Exxon Valdez disaster

The Exxon Valdez disaster caused 11 million gallons of oil to leak into Prince William sound. BP's Gulf oil spill may have leaked 39 million gallons into the Gulf of Mexico.
05/27/2010 02:10 pm

Managers say BP took 'shortcuts' prior to Gulf rig explosion. Will the 'top kill' work?

A Transocean rig worker said he overheard senior managers complaining that BP took 'shortcuts' by replacing heavy drilling fluid with saltwater in the oil well that blew out, triggering the massive Gulf oil spill.
05/26/2010 01:02 pm

BP stops short of accepting blame, plans a 'top kill' to plug oil leak

BP will attempt a 'top kill' in which heavy mud and cement would be shot into the well to plug it up.
05/25/2010 12:23 pm

The Monitor's View Gulf oil spill: six lessons

The Gulf oil spill has produced a gusher of lessons about oil production, consumption, and oversight.
05/14/2010 04:28 pm

As BP stumbles, an expanding federal role in Gulf oil spill

After BP's repeated failed attempts to cap the well at the center of the Gulf oil spill, the Obama administration is gradually becoming more involved. This week, it has sent two cabinet members to the scene and devoted more of its science resources to the relief effort.
05/12/2010 08:47 pm

Obama to sever ties between drilling cops and Big Oil

As oil continues to spew into the Gulf of Mexico, the Obama administration moves to break up the agency tasked with both collecting royalties and policing Big Oil.
05/11/2010 06:12 pm

BP oil spill halts US drilling permits, for now

Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced that no new drilling permits would be released until a safety review ordered by Obama is released later this month. The BP oil spill has increased calls by environmentalists for a permanent ban on offshore drilling.
05/07/2010 12:38 pm

Gulf oil spill: Did Big Oil run roughshod over regulators?

Why didn't the US Minerals Management Service require that Big Oil install secondary blowout preventers on oil rigs, as other countries have? Congress is investigating this and other issues.
05/06/2010 05:03 pm

Utah uses eminent domain to seize land of ... Uncle Sam

A new eminent domain law in Utah authorizes seizure of some of the federal government's vast land holdings. It's designed to pick a fight with Uncle Sam.
04/30/2010 02:24 pm

Prices at gas pump ticking up ahead of Memorial Day travel

On average, drivers are paying $2.88 a gallon at the gas pump. Gas prices are expected to continue rising because of high oil prices.
04/29/2010 08:07 pm

Spread of Gulf oil spill puts fragile Louisiana Coast on alert

The oil spill issuing from the sunken oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico is not yet an immediate threat to the Louisiana coast. But the longer it spreads, the greater the risk to the fragile ecosystem.
04/26/2010 06:46 pm

Why do so many oil spills happen?

The science and history behind oil spills.
04/23/2010 04:40 pm

In Pictures Unusual birds