GAO blasts offshore safety agency, again – WWLTV.com

For the second year in a row, the Government Accountability Office has issued a report blasting the federal offshore safety agency for failing in its basic oversight of oil and gas operations in the Gulf of Mexico.

David Hammer, WWL 12:26 PM. CDT March 22, 2017

For the second year in a row, the Government Accountability Office has issued a report blasting the federal offshore safety agency for failing in its basic oversight of oil and gas operations in the Gulf of Mexico.

In 2015, an exclusive WWL-TV investigation uncovered how the leadership of the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement had undermined its own environmental enforcement activities in the Gulf of Mexico. That led the GAO to investigate and report on major deficiencies at BSEE last year.

The latest GAO report, released this week, says BSEE continues to struggle. For example, it found BSEE leadership flubbed a new plan to inspect offshore oil and gas facilities based on which ones present the highest risks. They set up a risk-based inspection program in the Houma and Lafayette field offices, but ignored input from the Louisiana staff and instead directed them to inspect rigs that weren't even being used anymore.

The GAO has found a disconnect, and more importantly a distrust between BSEE headquarters and its region, said Rep. Blake Farenthold, R-Texas, the chairman of a House Oversight Committee subcommittee that handles the Department of the Interior.

The GAO report calls on the Interior Department, of which BSEE is a part, to fix the lack of trust between BSEE leadership in Washington and its field employees on the Gulf Coast. In comments Tuesday, Farenthold singled out interim BSEE Director Margaret Schneider, whose failure to hire environmental division staff was criticized in an internal report by New Orleans regional staff in 2015.

Not only is this an inefficient way to run an agency, its a waste of taxpayers hard-earned dollars, Farenthold said.

The top Democrat on the subcommittee, Rep. Stacey Plaskett of the U.S. Virgin Islands, echoed Farentholds concern, focusing on the need for protection for offshore workers.

Government agencies like BSEE must properly inspect drilling sites and stringently enforce the rules, she said. We cannot afford BSEE not to do its job and ensure that American workers lives are safe.

2017 WWL-TV

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GAO blasts offshore safety agency, again - WWLTV.com