Feds Approve New Gulf Oil Well Off Louisiana

Updated at 2:27 p.m. EDT

Federal regulators approved Wednesday the first new Gulf of Mexico oil well since President Barack Obama lifted a brief ban on drilling in shallow water, even while deepwater projects remain frozen after the massive BP spill.

The Minerals Management Service granted a new drilling permit sought by Bandon Oil and Gas for a site about 50 miles off the coast of Louisiana and 115 feet below the ocean's surface. It's south of Rockefeller State Wildlife Refuge and Game Preserve, far to the west of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig that triggered the BP spill.

Special Section: Disaster in the Gulf

Obama last week extended a moratorium on wells in deep water like the BP one that blew out a mile below the surface in April and is gushing millions of gallons of oil. But at the same time, the president quietly allowed a three-week-old ban on drilling in shallow water to expire.

"I'm outraged," said Kieran Suckling, executive director for the Tucson, Ariz.,-based Center for Biological Diversity, after a reporter told him of the new permit. "How is it that shallow water drilling suddenly became safe again?"

Bandon Oil and Gas first sought the permit in April shortly after the Deepwater Horizon exploded and sank. The permit was approved Wednesday morning, according to MMS records.

Suckling said the administration was misleading the public by quietly resuming work in shallow waters while acting as if it was taking a tough look at deepwater work.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said in a news release Sunday that the extended moratorium on deepwater drilling was needed to provide time to implement new safety requirements.

"With the BP oil spill still growing in the Gulf, and investigations and reviews still under way, a six month pause in drilling is needed, appropriate, and prudent," Salazar said. He said the term "deepwater" referred to drilling at depths of 500 feet or greater.

BP's latest effort to contain the nation's worst oil spill hit a snag Wednesday when a diamond-edged saw became stuck in a thick pipe on a blown-out well at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico.

[ahrats]

IN 1979 off Mexico a shallow oil well had a similar failure, pipe actually failed before the blow-out valve, and took 6 months to drill tap wells to plug the leak, the spill only affected Mexico beaches. Shallow or deep the oil companies do not care how much they destroy just as long as they can pass the cost on to the consumer, who do you really think will pay for the clean-up of this disaster, BP will pass the cost to the comsumer of their products.

[democracy3]

They are unlikely to HAVE many consumers after this fiasco.

[ahrats]

So MMS rules not the President, I'LL bet these are the same jerks who oked the deep water drilling/disaster. Has anything changed, does this new drilling have a prevetive measure should the blow-out valve fail, are they going to just party with the owners and do limited inspections and let the owner fill-out all the paper work? So now the fishing to the west of Lousiana will become vunerable. Is MMS going to make all new offshore wells already have a tap well should the blow-out valve fail, which probably does not work, so the well can be easily plugged through the tap well, I doubt it, it would make the cost of drilling twice as much, it easier just to destroy more of the Gulf.

[ahrats]

So MMS rules not the President, I'LL bet these are the same jerks who oked the deep water drilling/disaster. Has anything changed, does this new drilling have a prevetive measure should the blow-out valve fail, are they going to just party with the owners and do limited inspections and let the owner fill-out all the paper work? So now the fishing to the west of Lousiana will become vunerable. Is MMS going to make all new offshore wells already have a tap well should the blow-out valve fail, which probably does not work, so the well can be easily plugged through the tap well, I doubt it, it would make the cost of drilling twice as much, it easier just to destroy more of the Gulf.

[wolves158]

IF YOU CAN WRITE A COMMENT HERE...HOW ABOUT WRITING TO YOUR CONGRESS PEOPLE AND obama. try going to congress.org and sending your opinions and what YOU, AS A TAXPAYER AND A VOTER WANT DONE. AS LONG AS NO-ONE TELLS CONGRESS WHAT TO DO, THEY WILL DO WHAT THEIR SPECIAL INTERESTS WANT.
TELL YOUR FAMILY MENMBERS TO DO THE SAME... LET'S TAKE BACK OUR GOVERNMENT N O W

[alphaa10000]

CORPORATE AMERICA-- TAKE BACK YOUR LOBBYISTS

wolves158 said, "LET'S TAKE BACK OUR GOVERNMENT N O W"
---

The idea of democracy appeals to everybody, and most of us are frustrated when reforms go nowhere.

But the problem is not Obama, who campaigned for reform, nor every member of the congress, many of them devoted to reform.

The problem with our democracy is simpler, and has been with us since the founding of this country-- the problem of corporate lobby influence on congress.

The wealthy get their laws, but the rest of us pay for them.

At this moment, no fewer than five lobbyists are working over each member of congress (535) to make sure reform of Wall Street goes nowhere.

This should set off alarms everywhere, because a DEregulated Wall Street is the "casino" (John McCain's word) that brought us the second-worst financial disaster in US history.

A DEregulated Wall Street is what happens when lobbies get their way in Washington.

Again, each lobbyist has a mission-- to prevent congress from reforming Wall Street. Each lobbyist from Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, or Citibank believes ours is the best congress money can buy-- and has a fat stack of checks in his briefcase to confirm his belief.

If you really want to "take back" democracy instead of merely complaining, the solution is here--

http://www.callaconvention.org/

[CorexitKILLS]

I DEMAND TO KNOW WHY THE CHEMICAL SUBSTANCE FOR EFFICIENTLY REMOVING CRUDE OIL "MPU - micronized polyurithane powder" IS NOT BEING USED TO SAVE THE GULF IN CLEANING UP THIS OIL SPILL CATASTROPHE. (watch this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFNOnI3M_1M)

PLEASE, someone...anyone, TELL ME WHY OUR GOVERNMENT IS NOT USING THIS EFFICIENT POWDER AND OUR GOV IS STILL ALLOWING BP TO USE THE HIGHLY TOXIC DISPERSANT CALLED Corexit9500!?!?! WHY are they doing this? What is the ulterior motive?? And now I'm reading more news about how the feds, MMS, and YOU Mr. Obama have "granted a new drilling permit sought by Bandon Oil and Gas for a site about 50 miles off the coast of LA and 115 feet below the ocean's surface." Just GREAT! More ecological and environmental destruction! PERFECT because that's exactly what we need! {/drippingsarcasm}

I am appalled, disgusted, and deeply disappointed and I would be VERY surprised if any one with serious information from the gov actually responded. But does anyone working in the government close to BP or oil companies actually CARE ABOUT THE AVERAGE AMERICAN?? I have serious doubts and I am losing faith in humanity.

**VERY IMPORTANT** -- EVERY ONE NEEDS TO WATCH THIS RACHEL MADDOW VIDEO NOW!!!! "The more spills change_ the more they stay the same"

*SAME EXACT PROBLEMS - SAME EXACT QUOTES BEING SAID FROM 30 years ago!!*

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHmhxpQEGPo

[alphaa10000]

REGULATORY POLITICS AND CHEMISTRY

What many do not understand is Interior Secretary Salazar must work within the existing regulatory framework, before he can change it. Federal rulemaking is a deliberate, slow process-- and reform, even slower.

In past decades, that regulatory system has been a delicate minuette between Washington and industry, as industry lobbies have fought to slow or prevent any change.

As a result, the system has many shortcomings and reform is long overdue-- the latest Interior OIG (Kendall) report says most regulatory deficits occurred well before 2007.

Not surprisingly, at BP old industry attitudes remained-- only months before the gulf disaster, BP let it be known in Washington it did not favor "extensive, proscriptive regulation".

That is the irony-- the BP blowout happened under Obama, under largely the same rules in place under Bush. The difference? The Bush record of problems with Deepwater Horizon spans eight years-- and BP was still drilling when Obama was elected. The Mercado well was re-permitted only two months after Obama took the oath of office, and far too soon to expect any reforms at Interior to be in place.

So, while agency-wide reform has been underway at Interior for the past year, it does not change instantly. And the drilling offshore continues, because it is not illegal.

While many (including me) are not happy to see this permit issued so soon after BP, we operate under a system, and must change the system, itself, with stringent reforms for offshore inspection.

Your idea for MPU (micronized polyurethane) as a substitute for an oil dispersant is interesting and should be reviewed by Interior. So, why not call Interior and pose the question directly-- call Salazar's legislative director, who can put you in touch with the right people.

The YouTube link you provided does discuss MPU, so here is the corrected link to a YouTube item on MPU--

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFNOnI3M_1M.

[alphaa10000]

correction--
The YouTube link you provided does NOT discuss MPU, so here is the corrected link to a YouTube item on MPU--

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFNOnI3M_1M.

[dwilson59]

One good point at 115 feet if they do have a blow out then a diver can go down and fix it

[democracy3]

Big difference between 115 ft and 5,000 ft.

[kaylag04]

Without new wells, where will we get the plastic, to make the booms, to skim the oil, that leaks from the wells?

[alphaa10000]

THE PRICE OF PROGRESS ?

kaylag04 said, "Without new wells, where will we get the plastic, to make the booms, to skim the oil, that leaks from the wells?"
---

That argument presumes a well blowout is the inevitable price of drilling for oil to make plastic. Most Americans (and oil engineers) believe in truly effective safety measures.

But your facetious point raises a serious question. If a blowout is the inevitable price, maybe we need to cut back on petrochemical-based technology.

Before you gasp, consider this-- at one time, we were running out of whales for whale-oil lamps, and lighting street corners with natural gas-fired streetlamps.

Then, someone invested effort in a new-fangled device called an "incandescent" light bulb.

[democracy3]

by alphaa10000 June 3, 2010 5:38 AM EDT
THE PRICE OF PROGRESS ?

kaylag04 said, "Without new wells, where will we get the plastic, to make the booms, to skim the oil, that leaks from the wells?"
---

That argument presumes a well blowout is the inevitable price of drilling for oil to make plastic. Most Americans (and oil engineers) believe in truly effective safety measures.
*****

Agreed, and if BP had USED those safety measures, we wouldn't be seeing this catastrophe in the Gulf.

[zootropolis]

i never saw it coming who would have guessed

[jgg000101]

and on the other blog they're ripping apart sarah palin for saying "drill baby drill". I wonder when those people will come over here and rip apart obama for actually drilling in a disaster area.

[rightbehind]

Well I never would have guessed this. Instead of upping the MPG standards or moving to bio fuels they have decided to punch another hole in the planet. Turns out the change was just a different face with more of the same policies.