Reply #31: Inspector General to Slam MMS on Spill: Report

[Octafish]

Which is worse? A corrupt government agency, a corrupt corporation or a corrupt natural environment?

Inspector General to Slam MMS on Spill: Report

Posted By: Barbara Stcherbatcheff | Writer, CNBC
CNBC.com | 17 Jun 2010 | 08:44 AM ET

The Minerals Management Service, the agency in charge of regulating offshore drilling in the US, has investigated the Gulf of Mexico oil spill in a “completely backwards” manner, according to remarks expected to be made Thursday to a Congressional panel by Mary L. Kendall, the acting inspector general of Interior, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The Minerals Management agency has come under fire in recent weeks for the handling of the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig on the 20th of April.

In prepared remarks obtained by the Journal, Kendall cites a series of reports over the years by her office that document how MMS employees have at times accepted gifts from, socialized with, and even had sexual relations with oil and gas industry representatives.

Criticisms include a laundry list of professional lapses: employing only 60 staff to cover nearly 4,000 facilities in the Gulf of Mexico, a five-paragraph guide on how to deal with accident investigations, and training manuals that that "appear to be considerably out of date", according to Kendall, which were developed between 1984 and 1991.

SNIP...

Sens. Bill Nelson (D - Fla.) and Robert Menendez (D - N.J.) would make it a felony for offshore oil drilling regulators to work for the industry within two years of leaving their government job, and prohibit regulators from owning stock or other interests in the oil and gas industry, the paper reported.

SOURCE...

http://www.cnbc.com/id/37750618

America, we've hit the trifecta.