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A federal judge in New Orleans has blocked a six-month moratorium on new deepwater drilling projects that was imposed in response to the massive Gulf oil spill.
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Feldman says in his ruling that the Interior Department failed to provide adequate reasoning for the moratorium. He says it seems to assume that because one rig failed, all companies and rigs doing deepwater drilling pose an imminent danger.
Judge block Gulf offshore drilling moratorium - San Jose Mercury News
Let's not confuse our thoughts on the policy issues with the merits of the legal arguments.
Judge block Gulf offshore drilling moratorium - San Jose Mercury News
Let's not confuse our thoughts on the policy issues with the merits of the legal arguments.
I would have liked to have seen a permanent stoppage that would be lifted on a per-rig basis if the owners of a rig could demonstrate that adequate safety measures were in place and proper procedures were being followed. If you cant show that you are operating your rig safely, the rig doesn't get turned on.
I would like to ask a couple of questions here.
1) These offshore drilling spots are known as leases. Does that mean BP owns them? No, it doesn't.
2) Are the leases owned by the Federal government?
3) If the leases are owned by the Federal government, then wouldn't telling the owner of the leases whether or not the leases are allowed to be drilled constitute acting against the interests of the owner of the property?
4) Finally, isn't it Republicans who have made it a huge point that ordering the owner of a property to do something he doesn't want to do with it is anti American?
I am so confused here. :mrgreen:
We've been drilling in the Gulf for how many Decades?
One rig goes to hell and the sky is falling.
I would have liked to have seen a permanent stoppage that would be lifted on a per-rig basis if the owners of a rig could demonstrate that adequate safety measures were in place and proper procedures were being followed. If you cant show that you are operating your rig safely, the rig doesn't get turned on.
Is there a problem with ensuring that all rigs currently in the water are operating within safety guidelines?We've been drilling in the Gulf for how many Decades?
One rig goes to hell and the sky is falling.
I would like to ask a couple of questions here.
1) These offshore drilling spots are known as leases. Does that mean BP owns them? No, it doesn't.
2) Are the leases owned by the Federal government?
3) If the leases are owned by the Federal government, then wouldn't telling the owner of the leases whether or not the leases are allowed to be drilled constitute acting against the interests of the owner of the property?
4) Finally, isn't it Republicans who have made it a huge point that ordering the owner of a property to do something he doesn't want to do with it is anti American?
I am so confused here. :mrgreen:
Is there a problem with ensuring that all rigs currently in the water are operating within safety guidelines?
Can I see a source on that?This has already been done. Immediately after the oil rig explosion, a review was done of all other deepwater drilling platforms, and they were all found to be in complete compliance, except for two, which had "minor" problems, but from what I understand, those problems would have no impact on the rigs ability to operate in a safe manner.
I would assume that is how things are done.
I can't beleive with as many regulators that are out in the gulf that they don't do inspections all the time to etither collect the fines or to allow the drilling to continue.
If a new rig is allowed to start operation without any kind of inspection from the expert regulators, I would say any failure of that rig is on the regulators.
Rigs are not allowed to begin operation until they pass an MMS inspection. These are sometimes known as "walk-throughs" and must precede any drilling or production by the rig. There are other names for these initial inspections but their proper names slip my mind at this time.
The MMS is constantly inspecting all rigs offshore. The inspection process never stops. So if a rig begins operation without any kind of inspection it is on that rig operator, not the regulators. Again, you can't blame the cops if you speed. YOU are responsible for doing the right thing. And yes, they do collect fines from violations. Enough violations and they will be shut in. My father has personally had to do this a few times.
Not actually trueReports show that the inspections preceding the explosion showed nothing of concern. **** happens. Period.
Can I see a source on that?
At the request of Department of the Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, Minerals Management Service continues its re-inspection of all deepwater oil and gas facilities on the outer Continental Shelf. MMS has completed its inspection of deepwater drilling rigs in the Gulf of Mexico and no major violations were found.
Just because you "own" the area does not mean you can ignore your contractual obligations as you see fit. The government has signed contracts and agreements that these companies can operate in these areas, and they are bound by law to uphold those contracts.
The Deepwater Horizon's record was so exemplary, according to MMS officials, that the rig was never on inspectors' informal "watch list" for problem rigs.
Thats good, but I'm talking about an across-the-board shut down of every rig on every well in US territorial waters until every last one can be determined to be safe.Sure...
From a Department of Interior press release... (you will see the release posted on the main page)
Rights are based on property. Say I am in my back yard and change the oil in my car, and I just throw the old oil onto the ground. Then along comes a rain and washes that oil over into my neighbor's yards, and his plants die, I am liable, and I am in breach of my contract as a citizen (I have broken the law).
Same with BP - They run a reckless operation, and spilled oil from their lease washes up on OTHER PEOPLE'S PROPERTY, then they have violated their agreement also, and are not entitled to keep the lease. Everybody has rights, as long as those rights do not infringe on the rights of others. BP only has rights up to the point they violate the rights of others. BP does not have the right to violate the property or rights of others.
Now let's use a little logic here. Since BP screwed up deep water drilling, it is only natural that the OWNER of the properties in the Gulf, namely the Federal government, has the right to make sure that this does not happen again. That is where the moratorium for 6 months comes in. It is the same thing as being a landlord who has a bad tenant in an upstairs apartment, who continually overflows his bath tub, causing damage to the apartment below him. In this case (At least in Texas), the landlord has the right to seek an emergency eviction order, so that he can get rid of the tenant in the upstairs apartment, in the interest of the well being of the tenant in the lower apartment.
By the same token, the owner of the leases, that is, the Federal government, is within its rights to order that drilling in deep water be stopped because of the possible danger it poses to properties on the coasts, until such time that the danger can be rectified, and also has the power to force BP to pay for the damages that BP caused to the property of others.
Thats good, but I'm talking about an across-the-board shut down of every rig on every well in US territorial waters until every last one can be determined to be safe.
The report is somewhat unsettling because there are indications that the Horizon had a history of safety problems prior to this event.
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