“The sheen, located about 50 miles off Louisiana’s shore in the Mississippi Canyon block 252 where the Macondo well was drilled, was detected in satellite images taken on Sept. 9 and Sept. 14. The Coast Guard said the size of the sheen has varied with weather conditions.

Samples of the crude were collected and sent to a Coast Guard laboratory in New London, Conn. On Tuesday, the Coast Guard told BP and Transocean, owner and operator of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig that caught fire and sank, that the oil from the sheen and spill matched.

In a meeting Wednesday, the Coast Guard told the companies to come up with a plan of action for determining the source. “No one’s 100 percent as to where it’s coming from,” said Frank Csulak, scientific support coordinator for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Since the disaster in 2010, which killed 11 workers, the wreckage of the massive rig, the crumpled riser and some hardware used in the attempt to kill the well have remained on the gulf floor.”

Via WaPo

Regulatory capture is one of my favorite environmental topics. It’s when an agency has been “captured” by the industry they’re trying to regulate.

The very best example is what big oil did to the employees at the Mineral Management Service (MMS, now called the BOEMRE). The MMS regulated oil and gas land-leases, environmental permits, and safety inspections.

MMS was “captured” by the oil and gas industry a few years ago. What happened? How about:

• Provided staff with hookers, meth, pot, porn, and cocaine (here)
• Wined and dined oil and gas well inspectors
• MMS hired employees from the oil and gas companies
• Convinced inspectors to “call ahead” before surprise safety inspections
• Poisoned peoples’ ethics, generally.

In 2010, HuffPo posted an excellent piece on Regulatory Capture. I think this bodes well with the current Congress, which are disgusting slaves to their ideological funders.

In a dramatic illustration of regulatory capture, a new report from an Interior Department review board has found that poorly trained, ill-equipped and overextended federal inspectors who were supposed to be policing the nation’s offshore oil and gas drilling facilities were routinely bullied by industry representatives and were often undercut by their managers when they reported safety violations.

The review board was appointed after a BP rig exploded in the Gulf of Mexico in April, causing the worst accidental offshore oil spill in history. Its report paints a devastating picture of the Minerals Management Service, the agency now known as the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE).

HuffPo

Absolutely worth reading in full. US calling for full accountability of the spill, including suing contractors. Companies aggressively appealing and could end up in the Supreme Court. Fines could reach $4,300 per barrel of oil leaked, up to $21 billion in fines.

U.S. offshore-drilling officials issued their first violations stemming from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill Wednesday, accusing BP and two of its contractors of breaking several rules.

The citations were widely expected against BP, the operator of the Deepwater Horizon rig. But the government’s decision to pursue contractors Transocean and Halliburton for infractions jolted the contracting industry, which traditionally avoids liability in such accidents.

The decision to penalize the contractors “reflects the severity of the incident,” the Interior Department said in a statement. Interior officials are committed “to holding all parties accountable.”

The citations follow a months-long investigation by the Interior Department and Coast Guard. Interior said Wednesday it had identified 15 incidents of noncompliance with federal rules. Among them were the failure to perform operations in a safe manner and the failure to conduct accurate pressure-integrity tests.

BP spokesman Scott Dean said the violation make clear “contractors, like operators, are responsible” for their actions and “accountable to the U.S. government and the American public for their conduct.”

BP also used the findings to chide its partners in developing the Macondo well, which was being drilled by the Deepwater Horizon rig.

“We continue to encourage other parties, including Transocean and Halliburton, to acknowledge their responsibilities in the accident,” Dean added.

A Transocean representative said the company “intends to appeal its citations.”

Source: RigZone

Drilling will commence summer 2012 in the Chuckchi Sea, where Alaska and Russia meet. Environmental groups fume. Shell pleased. Rare species at risk.

Here is a round up:

• Approves former President Bush’s stalled plans to drill in Arctic
• Earth Justice sues
• Native Alaskans are pissed: “We have a right to life, to physical integrity, to security, and the right to enjoy the benefits of our culture. For this, we will fight, and this is why we have gone to court today. Our culture can never be bought or repaired with money. It is priceless,” Caroline Cannon, president of the Native Village of Point Hope, said in a press release.
• Shell Oil is pleased
• Crude prices drop
• Pew Center blasts Obama for politics over science stance, issues white paper
• University of Texas receives $5.6 million grant to study “safe oil extraction” without disturbing wildlife/ecosystems
• Home to thousands of rare species including bowhead, beluga, narwhals, and grey whales; ice, bearded, ribbon, and spotted seals; polar bears; puffins, auklets, sea ducks, and penguins; and cod, sharks, and eels.
• NASA reports sea-ice 2nd lowest levels ever recorded in the Chuckchi/Arctic
• National Snow & Ice Data Center: 40% lower than average ice extent - a loss the size of California, Alaska, Oregon, and Washington states combined

HISTORICAL MILESTONES:

• Rhode Island issued a Request for Proposals in 2008 for the development of offshore wind facilities to supply 15 percent or more of the state’s electricity needs.  
• BOEMRE established an intergovernmental renewable energy task force with Rhode Island in November 2009 to facilitate coordination among affected federal agencies and state, local and tribal governments.
• Rhode Island and Massachusetts developed a partnership that resulted in a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed by the Governors of both states in July 2010. …Sets a framework for the two states to collaborate on issues concerning offshore wind development in the AMI.
• The Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council approved its two-year ocean SAMP effort in October 2010. On July 22, 2011, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) approved the incorporation of the ocean SAMP into the state’s federally approved coastal management program. 
• There have been three joint meetings with both the BOEMRE Rhode Island and BOEMRE Massachusetts Renewable Energy Task Forces to develop shared understandings among their intergovernmental stakeholders. 
• BOEMRE has participated in nine public information sessions hosted by the states in Rhode Island and Massachusetts since February 2011. 
• BOEMRE has initiated government-to-government consultations with three federally-recognized tribes in Rhode Island and Massachusetts on wind energy development on the OCS. 
• BOEMRE has discussed the leasing process with interested and affected stakeholders including the Rhode Island and Massachusetts fishing industries. Rhode Island formed a Fishery Advisory Board, which includes both Rhode Island and Massachusetts fishermen. 
• Massachusetts established a Fisheries Working Group on Offshore Renewable Energy and a Habitat Working Group on Offshore Renewable Energy to enable the fishing industry to inform the federal leasing process about commercial fishing interests.

Remember yesterday I pointed to the NYTimes article about the biologist who was suspended over misreporting drowning polar bears? Climate deniers got all hot and frothy about it. 

Well, it turns out the decision “has nothing to do with his scientific work.” Andrew Revkin of the NYTimes DOTEarth blog points to a letter that Monnett’s boss wrote and published in the AlaskaDispatch:

Decision to place federal Arctic biologist on leave “has nothing to do with his scientific work” @AlaskaDispatch, citing leaked memo:

Read More

Note the agency he works for oversees oil drilling. Still, it looks like he’s accused of lying about the number of bears drowned. More soon.

NYTimes