Oil Companies 'SUPPRESSING SCIENCE':

Oil Companies 'SUPPRESSING SCIENCE':

Early efforts to stop the Gulf spill focused on the blowout preventer, which would have almost certainly stopped the oil gusher had it functioned properly. It did not. MMS was warned in a 2004 study that a "vital piece" of blowout preventers -- the shear rams, which use hydrolic pressure to cut and seal a pipe in order to stop the flow of oil -- may not function under the extreme water pressure of deepwater operations, the Wall Street Journal reported earlier this month. "This grim snapshot illustrates the lack of preparedness in the industry to shear and seal a well with the last line of defense against a blowout," the authors of the MMS-commissioned study concluded. Nevertheless, MMS did not issue any new regulations on blowout preventers, nor did it mandate that blowout preventers contain two sets of redundant shear rams, as is common in other countries. Moreover, MMS "gave permission to BP and dozens of other oil companies to drill in the Gulf of Mexico without first getting required permits from another agency that assesses threats to endangered species -- and despite strong warnings from that agency about the impact the drilling was likely to have on the gulf," a New York Times investigation found. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), tasked with safeguarding endangered species, warned on multiple occasions that drilling in the gulf could harm such animals and told MMS that it was granting permits in violation of federal law. A spokesperson for Interior said, "Under the previous administration, there was a pattern of suppressing science in decisions, and we are working very hard to change the culture and empower scientists in the Department of the Interior." The White House and Interior Department have now announced "an accelerated review of all actions taken by the minerals agency" under relevant environmental law.