U.S. regulators, lax rules deserve a share of the blame for Deepwater Horizon disaster

If the Deepwater Horizon blowout had happened in Norway or Brazil, the resulting environmental tragedy might have been averted. These two major oil-producing nations require oil rigs to have acoustic triggers, last-resort remote-controlled mechanisms that can shut down an oil leak even if the oil rig itself is damaged. The U.S. doesn’t. And because it doesn't require the device, BP didn't have one in place.

BP relied on other two mechanisms to shut off oil leaking from its Deepwater Horizon oil rig but neither worked. It sure would have been nice to have had a third option. At a cost of only half a million dollars, the acoustic trigger seems like a smart safety investment for a multi-billion dollar company that is now faced with paying as much as $8 billion to clean up the environmental catastrophe caused when its Deepwater rig exploded.

But BP is not entirely to blame. U.S. government regulators are also at fault for the mess facing the Gulf states. It’s their job to protect the American public by overseeing the oil industry, but instead regulators have allowed this extremely powerful industry to make decisions for it.

Here’s just one example: In 2000, an oil accident prompted the U.S. Minerals Management Service, the regulatory agency that oversees oil rig safety, to consider requiring acoustic switches on American oil rigs, calling them "an essential component of a deepwater drilling system." Norway has required the switches since 1993, and they have been used successfully.

Enter the Bush administration. Its regulators backed down from the new requirement after the oil industry argued against it:

By 2003, U.S. regulators decided remote-controlled safeguards needed more study. A report commissioned by the Minerals Management Service said "acoustic systems are not recommended because they tend to be very costly."

How could the monumentally profitable oil industry argue with a straight face that cost is a factor? Cost of clean up is far, far greater.

Today, British Petroleum announced a first quarter profit of $5.6 billion. But unfortunately for BP's investors, disaster response will eat up that money.

The Project on Government Oversight, a watchdog group, has identified numerous areas where oversight of the oil industry is poor. These areas include: weak application of fines for safety violations, bending to industry pressure not to pursue oil and gas royalties, slowness in developing new safety practices, and the revolving door between regulator and industry.

Last fall, the Minerals Management Service proposed a set of stronger, mandatory oil rig safety rules, but the oil and gas industry quickly pressured it not to adopt changes. BP was one of several oil companies and trade groups opposing mandatory rules, saying in a letter to the government:

We believe the industry's current safety and environmental statistics demonstrate that the voluntary programs..have been and continue to be very successful.

Today, Darrell Issa (R-CA), the ranking member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, urged a probe into MMS safety regulations:

In a letter sent Monday to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, Issa said that oil company BP believes a critical fail safe device may have failed.

"These events call into question numerous issues associated with the department's safety regulations and whether it's improperly granted certifications to BP," Issa wrote.

"The American people also have a right to know whether the federal government possessed and implemented an appropriate emergency response plan to mitigate this disaster," Issa said.

Americans rely on regulators to protect them and the public interest Better oversight of Gulf oil rigs might have prevented the Deepwater disaster, which will negatively affect the region’s economy and delicate marine ecosystems for years to come. Relying on oil companies to self-regulate is a terrible idea. The honor system has already failed us too many times.

Federal regulators must be strong and independent. We can’t allow companies to take unnecessary risks and then leave taxpayers to pay for the consequences when things go awry. Didn’t the financial meltdown teach us anything?