WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama will establish an independent commission to investigate the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, an administration official said Monday, as the federal government came under increasing scrutiny for regulatory failures that might have contributed to the April 20 explosion on the Deepwater Horizon rig.
The panel will be similar to others that investigated the space shuttle Challenger explosion and the nuclear accident at Three Mile Island, and would exclude current and former federal officials. It will be announced “in the coming days,” according to the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
The news came as the Interior Department’s top official overseeing offshore oil and gas drilling, Chris Oynes, announced he would step down May 31.
Several lawmakers, including Rep. Lois Capps, D-Calif., and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., had been pushing for an independent commission and had introduced legislation to pressure the White House.
Lawmakers also questioned the Minerals Management Service’s oversight of oil and gas drilling, and the Interior Department was sued in two separate courts on the issue.
Two environmental groups, Defenders of Wildlife and the Southern Environmental Law Center, filed suit in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Alabama to try to bar MMS from continuing to exempt new exploratory drilling operations in the Gulf of Mexico from the sort of detailed analysis required under the National Environmental Policy Act. The groups cited documents showing that MMS provided “categorical exclusions” to more than 20 new structures and exploratory wells in the Gulf of Mexico since the Deepwater Horizon explosion.
“It’s unconscionable that after the Deepwater Horizon blew and began spewing oil into the Gulf of Mexico, MMS continues to approve new drilling at even deeper depths without environmental review,” said Catherine Wannamaker, a senior attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center. “Through our lawsuit today, we’re seeking an immediate halt to new exploratory drilling in the Gulf of Mexico proceeding without environmental review.”
In a separate move, former BP contractor Kenneth Abbott and his attorneys filed an injunction in federal court in Houston to try to force Interior to shut down BP’s Atlantis rig, which he said has lacked hundreds of complete engineering documents since it started operation in 2007. BP denied the charge.
Interior officials said they did not encourage Oynes — who served in the government for 35 years — to retire, even though he has come under fire from former MMS officials for being too close to the industry officials he regulates.
