Earlier today, the Washington Post reported that an email written by the head of the MMS’ supervisor of field operations for the Gulf of Mexico stated that “until further notice we have been informed not to approve or allow any drilling no matter the water depth.”
However, the Interior Department now denies that it has extended a drilling freeze to shallow waters of the Gulf of Mexico, telling the Washington Post that “shallow water drilling may continue as long as oil and gas operations satisfy the environmental and safety requirements Secretary Salazar outlined in his report to the President and have exploration plans that meet those requirements. There is no moratorium on shallow water drilling.”
But Richard Charter, senior policy advisor at Defenders, said the risks involved with offshore oil and gas drilling have very little to do with the depth of the water. In a interview with WBAI Evening News, he recalls the recent drilling disaster in Australia’s Timor Sea, in which a rig blowout led to an oil spill that gushed unchecked for 10 weeks last fall. That drilling rig was operating “in very shallow water, only a few hundred feet.”
Listen to the full show from June 2, 2010 (segment begins at 6:00; hear Richard at 7:20).
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