MMS Thought Deepwater Horizon was Award-Winningly SAFE

This afternoon Energy and Commerce Chairman Henry A. Waxman (D-CA) and Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations Chairman Bart Stupak (R-MI) sent letters to BP America and Transocean Ltd. requesting information as part of an investigation into the "companies' risk management and emergency response plans for accidental oil and gas releases at the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig and other offshore deep water or ultra-deep water drilling facilities."

But we think it would probably be wise for the committee to expand their investigation to see whether the Minerals Management Service (MMS) conducted adequate oversight of the drilling rig. In addition to the document unearthed by Marcus Baram at Huffington Post that said that BP would be able to respond to this kind of disaster "to the maximum extent practicable," a POGO blog reader pointed our attention to an article in Beacon magazine noting that MMS awarded Transocean a District Safety Award for Excellence (SAFE). Transocean won the award "for the outstanding manner in which it conducted its drilling operations in the Lafayette District during the rating period of January 1 through December 31, 2008." Transocean is not noted on MMS's own press release for the 2009 award, though they did win in 1999.

For those who have been following royalty issues for a while, it's fun to note that the Kerr-McGee Corporation also was recognized for corporate leadership in 1999 (now called Anadarko, they were also honored in 2007). Since then, the company has been in litigation with the government over royalty relief for deepwater drlling leases in the Gulf of Mexico. The most recent GAO estimate is that taxpayers could stand to lose $53 billion in royalties. For more information on royalty relief, go here.

MMS announced that due to the accident, this year's award ceremony will be postponed (but Anadarko will again be recognized).

-- Mandy Smithberger

Photo: Minerals Management Service

See also:

• President Obama Agrees with POGO: Cozy Relationship Between Industry and MMS Must End
• Splitting MMS a Good Start, but Mission Conflict Remains
• MMS Scandal: Where Are They Now? Deepwater Horizon Edition
• More Lessons From the Deepwater Horizon Disaster
• How Much Will the Deepwater Horizon Spill Cost Taxpayers?

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Comments

[Stupak is a dem]

Nuff said

[Baffled]

So much for the "Civilised" Western world! lmao - nothing but a buncha carpet baggers!!!

[nader paul kucinich gravel mckinney]

One can tell Chris Oynes is a hard working government servant.

[Phil Werntz]

I'm with you, Lesley Palmer. I am just damned sick and tired of hearing the one and only excuse over and over again.. ..."Mistakes were made, etc...." It is HIGH time any and all of these people do some HARD TIME in some damned MEAN prisons !!

[Siberia Bill]

Anadarko is a minor partner with BP in the blowout well

[Lesley Palmer]

The MMS clowns who ran the regulatory agency should be fired. This is leftover stuff from Bush and Cheney. George, I don't know if your post is satire or not. Oil companies...Let me see....BP will NOT be paying for this cleanup...You and I will...they will employ their sleazy corporate lawyers to find ways to weasel out of everything they can...and they will do it with more urgency than their "response" to the spill.

[George Griffin]

I think we have come up with a way to help clean up the oil in the ocean if we can get someone to contact us.