Report finds Coast Guard unprepared for BP oil spill
An internal review by the U.S. Coast Guard found that its response to the colossal Deep Water Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico last year was hindered by its lack of preparation and reduced response capabilities; the 158 page review said that the government and private sector “demonstrated a serious deficiency in planning and preparedness for an uncontrolled release of oil from an offshore drilling operation”; in response to the review, R. J. Rapp Jr., the commandant of the Coast guard, said that his agency would pay greater attention to industry oil-spill response plans, begin preparing for future accidents, and conduct a study on the large use of chemical dispersants on the environment
An internal review by the U.S. Coast Guard found that its response to the colossal Deep Water Horizon oil spill last year was hindered by its lack of preparation and reduced response capabilities.
The report, an Incident Specific Preparedness Review, was drafted following the massive oil leak that discharged nearly five million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico and took nearly four months to stop.
The 158 page review said that the government and private sector “demonstrated a serious deficiency in planning and preparedness for an uncontrolled release of oil from an offshore drilling operation.”
The report also found that the Coast Guard’s capabilities to respond to environmental disasters had “atrophied over the past decade,” suggesting that this decrease in capabilities may have been the result of an increased focus on meeting new homeland security requirements.
The report revealed that the Coast Guard had “not reviewed or commented” on any industry oil spill response plans. As a result senior staff members involved with stopping the spill admitted that they were “unfamiliar” with these plans.
In addition, a lack of proper coordination between the various agencies and jurisdictions involved at the local, state, and federal level resulted in a disunity of effort and impeded the response.
John Dosh, the Escambia County emergency manager, said that locals were largely locked out of response efforts.
Dosh explained, “We sent folks over to Mobile to get involved in the Unified Command, but they weren’t allowed to integrate into the system. We wasted two to three days over there sitting on the side of the room.”
The confusion led to high-profile disagreements and poorly thought out response strategies.
The review also noted that the oil industry and the government had not maintained “investment in planning and preparedness” for oil spills, resulting in an overall decrease in accident response over the past ten years. As a result, the Coast Guard and oil companies were not prepared to contain a gushing oil well more than 5,000 feet under water.
In response to the incident review, R. J. Rapp Jr., the commandant of the Coast guard, said that his agency would pay greater attention to industry oil-spill response plans, begin preparing for future accidents, and conduct a study on the large use of chemical dispersants on the environment.
The report was careful to note that increasing preparedness for future oil responses would require proper funding.
“If the public and Congress expect significant improvements in this nation’s ability to respond to catastrophic oil spills, additional funding will be needed for improvements,” it said.
DHS has requested an additional $11.5 million for its 2012 budget to help the Coast Guard respond to major oil spills.
