

(b) Florida - The distance from the nearest point of the Florida shoreline that experienced oiling from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill was 102.3 miles. The average of these two distances is 96.5 miles.

The distance from the farthest point of the Alabama shoreline that experienced oiling from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill was 103.7 miles. (a) Alabama - The distance from the nearest point of the Alabama shoreline that experienced oiling from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill was 89.2 miles. Boesch said, adding, “the industry is trying to save and reduce costs, and you have the government backing off on the safety responsibility.§ 1800.301 Distances from the Deepwater Horizon at the time of the explosion. “I’m a little nervous about the times we’re in,” Dr. But he also said that the Department of Interior had dismissed staff objections to make it easier to finish writing the rule. waters less safe.ĭonald Boesch, a commissioner on the Deepwater panel who is also president emeritus of University of Maryland’s Center for Environmental Science, said the Trump administration’s argument that industry had made substantial enough improvements to warrant some rollbacks had merit. He said none of the changes had made U.S. It also gave industry more leeway in determine the range of pressure in a well that is considered safe for drilling.Įrik Milito, president of the National Ocean Industries Association, which represents offshore drillers, said the new rules allowed industry more flexibility to meet safety requirements with emerging technology. The new rule reduced the frequency of safety testing for blowout preventers, which are the last-ditch defense against huge gushers.

In May, the Trump administration announced a rule that removed some of the safety requirements imposed by the Obama administration, which industry had complained were burdensome and costly. In one recent study scientists sampled 2,000 fish in the Gulf of Mexico and found all of them contaminated with oil.Īt the same time, commissioners said, offshore drilling safety measures put in place after the disaster have been weakened. The beaches are back as well, but beneath the surface the damage has not been repaired.

“The lessons we’ve learned and the changes we’ve made - from tougher standards to better oversight - are at the core of becoming a safer company.”īut in lengthy interviews this month, every member of the bipartisan panel, the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling, accused the Trump administration of putting American waters, coastlines and wildlife in harm’s way by weakening safety and environmental regulations while pushing to expand oil drilling in nearly all American waters. “In 2010, we promised to help the Gulf of Mexico recover, become a safer, better company, and report on our progress,” the company said in a statement. That view is not shared by oil industry leaders or members of the Trump administration, who said government oversight and prevention technology had improved significantly over the past decade, making the likelihood of another major spill remote.īP, which operated the Deepwater Horizon through a contractor, said the accident “forever changed” the company.
