Yesterday, there was a diary that said that the government couldn't have direct involvement in the oil spill.
Update 5 9:37 PM CDT With kudos to Patriot News Daily Clearinghouse for posting the link on its diary (which is well-written and a good addition to the information I've posted), we see this info via Thad Allen, who's in charge of the federal government response. It appears that the government isn't just posturing. It's legally not permitted to clean up. Congress "fixed" the law after the Exxon Valdez spill. The government is overseeing the cleanup and response, but the official responsible for the oversight said he understands the discontent.
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As simple as it may seem, the law prevents the government from just taking over, Allen said. After the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska, Congress dictated that oil companies be responsible for dealing with major accidents — including paying for all cleanup — with oversight by federal agencies.
Not so. This line of argument is false, as shown below the jumpby those knowledgeableof the Oil Pollution Act of 1990.
Here's more from Andrew Revkin at the New York Times, on the Dot Earth Blog about how the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 actually does allow the federal government to step in and take control of the situation:
But there’s no doubt, at least in the language of relevant federal law; President Obama not only has the authority, but the obligation — however politically risky that might be — to take ownership of efforts to stanch the flow.
And the time is nigh to do so, given that BP has demonstrated, through delays in the release of information and repeated statements downplaying the gravity of the situation, that it cannot be trusted to carry out operations with the public interest at the fore. To my mind, if the " top kill" procedure being prepared for midweek fails, Obama must step forward far more forcefully and publicly engage an oil-well SWAT team drawing on the country’s leading lights in hydraulics, deep-ocean engineering and geology, from the Pentagon outward.
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Here’s the legal reality. At the Natural Resources Defense Council Switchboard blog, a staff attorney, David Pettit, has posted language in the Clean Water Act, which was amended through the Oil Pollution Act of 1990, that appears clearly to vest the president with both the authority and the obligation to take the reins in a major oil spill where private actions have failed:
(A) If a discharge, or a substantial threat of a discharge, of oil or a hazardous substance from a vessel, offshore facility, or onshore facility is of such a size or character as to be a substantial threat to the public health or welfare of the United States (including but not limited to fish, shellfish, wildlife, other natural resources, and the public and private beaches and shorelines of the United States), the President shall direct all Federal, State, and private actions to remove the discharge or to mitigate or prevent the threat of the discharge. (the rest of the Switchboard post)
You really should read David Pettit's post at the Switchboard blog for more on how the federal government does have the authority to seize private, state, federal, and local resources in dealing with the oil spill:
OPA, among other things, amended Section 311 of the federal Clean Water Act. Section 311 now provides in part that:
(A) If a discharge, or a substantial threat of a discharge, of oil or a hazardous substance from a vessel, offshore facility, or onshore facility is of such a size or character as to be a substantial threat to the public health or welfare of the United States (including but not limited to fish, shellfish, wildlife, other natural resources, and the public and private beaches and shorelines of the United States), the President shall direct all Federal, State, and private actions to remove the discharge or to mitigate or prevent the threat of the discharge.
(B) In carrying out this paragraph, the President may, without regard to any other provision of law governing contracting procedures or employment of personnel by the Federal Government--
(i) remove or arrange for the removal of the discharge, or mitigate or prevent the substantial threat of the discharge; and
(ii) remove and, if necessary, destroy a vessel discharging, or threatening to discharge, by whatever means are available.
The details of how the federal government is to carry out the duties required under OPA are specified in the National Contingency Plan, which was created by the U.S. EPA; see 40 Code of Federal Regulations Part 300. The head of the Homeland Security Department, now Janet Napolitano, appoints a federal Incident Commander to carry out the government’s duties under OPA. On May 1, 2010, Secretary Napolitano named Admiral Thad Allen of the U.S. Coast Guard the Incident Commander for the Deepwater Horizon incident. Under 40 C.F.R. Sections 300.322(b) and 323, his duties include the following:
If the investigation by the OSC [On Scene Commander, here Admiral Allen] shows that the discharge poses or may present a substantial threat to public health or welfare of the United States, the OSC shall direct all federal, state, or private actions to remove the discharge or to mitigate or prevent the threat of such a discharge, as appropriate. In directing the response in such cases, the OSC may act without regard to any other provision of law governing contracting procedures or employment of personnel by the federal government to:
(1) Remove or arrange for the removal of the discharge;
(2) Mitigate or prevent the substantial threat of the discharge; and
(3) Remove and, if necessary, destroy a vessel discharging, or threatening to discharge, by whatever means are available.
(c) In the case of a substantial threat to public health or welfare of the United States, the OSC shall: . . . (3) Take whatever additional response actions are deemed appropriate.
There you have it. If Admiral Allen says "jump," he can make BP say "how high, sir?" The Coast Guard could take over every aspect of the response to the Deepwater Horizon incident -- if it wants to. At the end of the day, the Coast Guard has the legal authority to do so and has boats with guns; BP does not.
And by the way, the Incident Commander’s powers extend to forcing BP to make information public.
And why am I urging that the federal government step in? BP has constantly lied about their estimates, they have dithered, delayed, held workers for over 48 hours to force them to sign contracts (that would forbid them from suing BP), hasn't provided necessary equipment to state officials, thumbed their nose at the EPA regarding dispersants, and BP is in control of all the data-gathering and collecting, sending it to a laboratory that they've employed before in the past. Oh, and BP also has fucked up booming.
Here's more from Mac McClelland, a Mother Jones journalist, who is embedded with BP, and you really should read her report on the situation as well:
Inside, a couple of Times-Picayune reporters circle BP representative Barbara Martin, who tells them that if they want passage to Elmer they have to get it from another BP flack, Irvin Lipp; Grand Isle beach is closed too, she adds. When we inform the Times-Pic reporters otherwise, she asks Dr. Hazlett if he's a reporter; he says, "No." She says, "Good." She doesn't ask me. We tell her that deputies were just yelling at us, and she seems truly upset. For one, she's married to a Jefferson Parish sheriff's deputy. For another, "We don't need more of a black eye than we already have."
When I tell Barbara I am a reporter, she stalks off and says she's not talking to me, then comes back and hugs me and says she was just playing. I tell her I don't understand why I can't see Elmer's Island unless I'm escorted by BP. She tells me BP's in charge because "it's BP's oil."
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When I tell Chief Aubrey Chaisson that I would like to get a comment on Barbara's intimations—and my experience so far—that BP is running the show, he says he'll meet me in a parking lot. He pulls in, rolls down the window of his maroon Monte Carlo, and tells me that I can't trust the government or big corporations. When everyone saw the oil coming in as clear as day several days before that, BP insisted it was red tide—bacteria. Chaisson says he's half-Indian and grew up here and just wants to protect the land. When I tell him BP says the inland side of the island is still clean, he spits. "They're fucking liars. There's oil over there. It's already all up through the pass." The spill workers staying at my motel later tell me they've been specifically instructed by BP not to talk to any media, but they're pissed because BP tried to tell them that the crude they were swimming around in to move oil containment boom was red tide, dishwashing-liquid runoff, or mud.
Here are some of Mac McClelland's recent tweets, some of which are very eye-opening about the kind of 'control' BP has at the local Louisiana beach:
Bp spokes. just told 2 reporters not allowed anywhere on beach. Lie. Tons of tourists on it, specifically told they could stay by police. 11:15 PM May 21st via txt
Wtf. They're saying have to go through bp "liaison" to talk to anyone in this town. 11:23 PM May 21st via txt
#bp #oilspill Can't talk to anyone but bp. Only ones @ community center. Say they're in charge "bc it's bp's oil." 1:18 AM May 22nd via txt
Finally tracked down a media number for grand isle police. Guess whose fucking voicemail answers. BP. 1:53 AM May 22nd via txt
#bp rep telling sheriff's deps to let us through the blockade. http://twitpic.com/... 12:10 AM May 23rd via Twitpic
#BP #oilspill workers just rolled up into the motel room next to me; say they've been told never to talk to media. 5:22 AM May 23rd via TweetDeck
These #BP #oilspill workers are local; all week, BP told them the stuff rolling up on the beach was mud, dish-liquid runoff, red tide. 5:26 AM May 23rd via TweetDeck
That's it. Grand Isle is totally enveloped in gas fumes. The smell is completely nauseating and inescapable. about 24 hours ago via txt
Oh, and here are latest news about BP's continued defiance of the Environmental Protection Agency on the dispersants. According to an anonymous official, EPA wasn't pleased with BP's thumbing its nose at them:
An official with the environmental agency, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that the E.P.A. was "not satisfied with the response it received from BP" and had demanded several meetings with the company since then, including one at which BP scientists were instructed to brief their counterparts in the federal government about some of what was included in their letter.
Last week, after receiving the initial E.P.A. order, BP contacted a number of dispersant manufacturers, including the U.S. Polychemical Corporation — which makes a product called Dispersit SPC 1000 — asking about product composition and how quickly the mix could be produced. In the end, BP did not place an order, an official at U.S. Polychemical said.
The Corexit dispersants were removed from a list of approved dispersants in Britain a decade ago because one type of test used in that country found them to be dangerous to animals like limphets near rocky shores.
It's time for the federal government to put the boot on BP's neck. I know there are those that claim that the government is not equipped to do this, but please take note of the law that allows the President to direct not just federal and state actions, but private actions as well:
.....the President shall direct all Federal, State, and private actions to remove the discharge or to mitigate or prevent the threat of the discharge.
So the federal government, and yes, the Coast Guard can direct BP to use its resources in taking care of the oil spill. The Coast Guard also has the legal authority to compel BP to make public ALL DATA on the oil spill itself. We need full access to that BP data, and we're still not getting it.
By letting BP remain control, they're in control of booming, the data collection which is sent to a laboratory they employ, they can harass the clean-up workers and tell them lies, and BP can continue to thumb its nose at those who request access to data.
So, yeah, the government indeed can take over the oil spill.