from In These Times:
As Oil Spreads in Gulf, BP Insists on Self-RegulationThursday
April 29
12:20 pm
By Lindsay Beyerstein
The Deepwater Horizon oil rig continues to pour oil into the Gulf of Mexico. It was revealed that oil was gushing five times faster than previously reported. The U.S. military is stepping in to help contain the disaster. As usual, the private sector is the very soul of efficiency and foresight...until it needs a government bailout.
As oil spreads over the Gulf, British Petroleum (BP) continues to oppose a proposed rule by the Minerals Management Service (the agency that oversees oil leases on federal lands) that would require lessees and operators to develop and audit their own Safety and Emergency Management Plans (SEMP). BP and other oil companies insist that voluntary compliance will suffice to keep workers and the environment safe.
Whenever a company says that voluntary compliance is good enough, I'm reminded of how philandering South Carolina governor Mark Sanford wrote the fidelity clause out of his wedding vows. He felt a voluntary compliance regime would suffice.
Amongst other things, an SEMP would include a hazard analyses, safe work requirements, training requirements, operating procedures, and emergency response plans. Oil companies are not keeping their own houses in order. An MMS review found that 41 oilworkers were killed while working on the outer continental shelf between 2001 and 2007. Eleven oilworkers died in the Deepwater Horizon disaster. ..........(more)
The complete piece is at:
http://www.inthesetimes.com/working/entry/5925/bps_friends_in_high_places/
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