If BP seemed unprepared for the oil-rig explosion that’s devastating the Gulf of Mexico, perhaps it’s because the federal government never required it to be otherwise? BP never filed a plan for how it would handle an oil spill from an uncontrolled blowout at the oil rig that exploded on April 20. It wasn’t breaking any laws: The Mineral Management Service, which The Associated Press calls “an arm of the Interior Department known for its cozy relationship with major oil companies,” changed the rules two years ago to exempt certain Gulf projects from having to comply. BP argued that it was “not required” to file “a scenario for a potential blowout” because the blowout rule was lifted for rigs that did not fall into one of five categories in April 2008.
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