Lessons of Deepwater Horizon still not learned

[Dead_Parrot]

Commission gives mixed ratings to political and industrial response to 2010 disaster.

Many of the problems that led to the 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill have not been addressed, say the members of a commission set up by US President Barack Obama to study the disaster. The group releases a report today on progress towards its 2011 recommendations for preventing future disasters and improving spill response.

The commission, which no longer formally exists, conducted visits and interviews under its own initiative ahead of the spill’s two-year anniversary on 20 April. “Once we announced we were doing it, people seemed eager to talk to us,” says Donald Boesch, president of the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science in Cambridge, and one of two scientists on the seven-member commission.

The US Congress fares worst in the new report, earning a 'D' rating for its failure to enact any meaningful legislation in response to the disaster. The Restore Act would allocate 80% of any fines that BP pays for the spill under the Clean Water Act to restoring the environment and economies of the states in the Gulf of Mexico, but the act has stalled in the House of Representatives.

The Obama administration did better, with a B, thanks in part to new drilling regulations. These also led to a B for safety and environmental protection and a B– for response and containment.

More: http://www.nature.com/news/lessons-of-deepwater-horizon-still-not-learned-1.10455