matrix
22nd May 2010, 09:01 AM
Obama to convene oil spill panel
US President Barack Obama is setting up a commission to probe the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, as efforts to contain the massive slick continue to fail.
http://uc-njavan.ir/images/35xan5w09r3yu5uarblv.jpg (http://uc-njavan.ir/)
The presidential panel, which will be established by an executive order, is to examine oil industry practices and the government's role in the disaster.
It will also study rig safety, regulatory regimes and the functions of the Minerals Management Service (MMS) agency.
MMS is responsible for regulating offshore oil drilling.
Last week, Obama grilled the federal agency, headed by Chris Oynes, for being too "cozy" with oil companies.
"It seems as if permits were too often issued based on little more than assurances of safety from the oil companies. That cannot and will not happen anymore," Obama stated.
Oynes is now set to resign at the end of the month.
Obama's new panel would be similar to previous commissions created to investigate the1986 space shuttle Challenger explosion and the 1979 Three Mile Island nuclear accident.
The Deepwater Horizon rig exploded on April 20, rupturing an undersea wellhead and killing 11 workers.
Since then, some 5,000 barrels of oil a day have been pouring into the Gulf of Mexico.
The leak has already affected the coasts of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.
A top US Coast Guard official has warned that the slick may reach southern Florida.
On Sunday, scientists also found vast underwater plumes of oil, one, which was 10 miles (16km) long and a mile wide, fueling fears of a prolonged and growing environmental disaster in the region.
So far, efforts to contain the leak have been unsuccessful.
This has triggered a blame game among politicians in Washington and the three giant oil (and oil-related) companiess -- British Petroleum (BP), Transocean and Halliburton -- involved in the incident
US President Barack Obama is setting up a commission to probe the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, as efforts to contain the massive slick continue to fail.
http://uc-njavan.ir/images/35xan5w09r3yu5uarblv.jpg (http://uc-njavan.ir/)
The presidential panel, which will be established by an executive order, is to examine oil industry practices and the government's role in the disaster.
It will also study rig safety, regulatory regimes and the functions of the Minerals Management Service (MMS) agency.
MMS is responsible for regulating offshore oil drilling.
Last week, Obama grilled the federal agency, headed by Chris Oynes, for being too "cozy" with oil companies.
"It seems as if permits were too often issued based on little more than assurances of safety from the oil companies. That cannot and will not happen anymore," Obama stated.
Oynes is now set to resign at the end of the month.
Obama's new panel would be similar to previous commissions created to investigate the1986 space shuttle Challenger explosion and the 1979 Three Mile Island nuclear accident.
The Deepwater Horizon rig exploded on April 20, rupturing an undersea wellhead and killing 11 workers.
Since then, some 5,000 barrels of oil a day have been pouring into the Gulf of Mexico.
The leak has already affected the coasts of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.
A top US Coast Guard official has warned that the slick may reach southern Florida.
On Sunday, scientists also found vast underwater plumes of oil, one, which was 10 miles (16km) long and a mile wide, fueling fears of a prolonged and growing environmental disaster in the region.
So far, efforts to contain the leak have been unsuccessful.
This has triggered a blame game among politicians in Washington and the three giant oil (and oil-related) companiess -- British Petroleum (BP), Transocean and Halliburton -- involved in the incident