Obama to establish commission on oil spill as blame game heats up

[The Straight Story]

Obama to establish commission on oil spill as blame game heats up
By Darren Goode CongressDaily May 18, 2010

President Obama will establish an independent commission to investigate the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico through an executive order, creating a panel that resembles those that probed the Three Mile Island nuclear accident and explosion of the space shuttle Challenger. Current federal officials would be barred from serving on it.

Rep. Lois Capps, D-Calif., who has pushed for such a commission, said in a statement it will "ensure that our scrutiny matches the depth and breadth of this human, economic and environmental disaster."

Also on Monday, Chris Oynes, the career executive in charge of offshore oil and gas drilling at the Interior Department's Minerals Management Service, told officials he would resign at the end of the month. An Interior official told The Washington Post Oynes was not forced out but resigned of his own accord. Oynes had more than three decades of federal service.


Before news of the commission spread Monday, Senate Environment and Public Works Democrats requested a Justice Department inquiry into whether BP violated civil and criminal law, while federal and BP officials came under bipartisan fire from another Senate panel.

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