...but the same link address....
Now this strikes me as a
very odd move by the
Wall Street Journal, eh?.
Just when I wanted to post this little snippet:
From the original piece, titled
"Leaking Oil Well Lacked Safeguard Device", written by By RUSSELL GOLD, BEN CASSELMAN And GUY CHAZAN:
.....
Industry critics cite the lack of the remote control as a sign U.S. drilling policy has been too lax. "What we see, going back two decades, is an oil industry that has had way too much sway with federal regulations," said Dan McLaughlin, a spokesman for Democratic Florida Sen. Bill Nelson. "We are seeing our worst nightmare coming true."
U.S. regulators have considered mandating the use of remote-control acoustic switches or other back-up equipment at least since 2000. After a drilling ship accidentally released oil, the Minerals Management Service issued a safety notice that said a back-up system is "an essential component of a deepwater drilling system."
The industry argued against the acoustic systems. A 2001 report from the International Association of Drilling Contractors said "significant doubts remain in regard to the ability of this type of system to provide a reliable emergency back-up control system during an actual well flowing incident."
By 2003, U.S. regulators decided remote-controlled safeguards needed more study. A report commissioned by the Minerals Management Service said "acoustic systems are not recommended because they tend to be very costly."
.....
Hmmmmm. What happened to the MMS between 2000 and 2003...
Right. George W. Bush and Dick Cheney.
Remember, the Interior Department's Minerals Management Service (MMS), which is the agency overseeing offshore drilling, has been the subject of investigations into corruption during the Bush Administration, coziness with industry officials and allegations of substance abuse at the agency.
Yeah, these are the same people who decided in 2003 that acoustic shut-off switches were too cost-prohibitive to require on oil rigs.
From the
Center For Public Integrity:
An eye-opening series of reports in fall 2008 by the Department of the Interior’s inspector general disclosed a stunning level of corruption at the Minerals Management Service (MMS), and a coziness with industry officials that included a “culture of substance abuse and promiscuity” at the agency.
MMS is responsible for collecting royalties from companies for the right to produce oil and gas from federally controlled land and water; in 2007, MMS collected more than $9 billion in oil and gas royalties, making it one of the largest sources of income for the United States government. The agency also runs the Royalty-in-Kind program out of its Denver office, through which it takes delivery of oil and gas from energy firms in lieu of cash payments, and then sells it to refiners.
The inspector general concluded that officials in the MMS Royalty-in-Kind program “frequently consumed alcohol at industry functions, had used cocaine and marijuana, and had sexual relationships with oil and gas company representatives.”
The IG said that one-third of Royalty-in-Kind officials were taking bribes and gifts, and noted that former MMS officials received contracts from their friends still in the department. Out of 718 bid packages awarded by MMS between 2001 and 2006, 121 were modified by the agency — and all but three of the modifications benefited the oil companies.
The inspector general said that these relationships have cost taxpayers $4.4 million in lapsed collection fees, but due to the sloppy administration at MMS, the real cost may go undiscovered.
In a separate report, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that MMS is plagued by inefficiency in collecting royalties, and that there is no way to backtrack and figure out how much has actually been lost.
Currently, oil companies submit their own data and MMS simply takes them at their word, rather than independently confirming that the numbers are correct — what the inspector general has referred to in a letter to Secretary Dirk Kempthorne as a “Band-Aid approach to holding together one of the federal government's largest revenue producing operations.”
A separate GAO report found that the United States is not collecting fair market price for royalties on public resources — which may be seriously limiting the amount of money taken in by MMS, and hence, the taxpayers.
Follow-up:
The Government Accountability Office has issued recommendations to make MMS more efficient in gathering revenue, but they have yet to be implemented. One MMS official, Jimmy W. Mayberry, pleaded guilty to a felony conflict-of-interest charge and was sentenced in November to two years of probation and a $2,500 fine. Two other officials retired; for unknown reasons, the Department of Justice has declined to pursue charges.
While there have been changes that have “strengthened review,” the Inspector General’s Office says further improvements are needed. The MMS press office did not respond to a request for comment, but, after declaring that he was “outraged” by the findings, Secretary Kempthorne has begun a series of changes aimed at cleaning out corruption in MMS. The House and Senate each acted on legislation intended to reform MMS, increase oversight and accountability, and impose penalties for oil executives who give improper gifts to Interior employees. However, none of the measures made it through both houses of Congress, so the process will need to begin again in the 111th Congress.
And, what has since been done about this? ***crickets***