Federal regulators fritter while oceans burn

Des Moines Register Op Ed Piece.

July 10, 2010
Guest column: Federal regulators fritter while oceans burn
By STEFFEN SCHMIDT

Mines explode, people die and federal and state regulators have repeatedly issued warnings and fines.

But even with people dying, nothing further is done.

Hurricanes hit and people die. FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, has become a national joke.

Oil wells explode, at least eleven people die, and the federal government is helpless as a child in responding. Business in the Gulf states is severely affected. Wildlife and the ecosystem are probably irreparably damaged.

We discover that the Minerals Management Service, the federal regulatory agency, exercised no oversight of the oil industry and accepted emergency response plans from BP without questioning a single part of the 580-page plan, even though it referred to walruses in the Gulf of Mexico (there are none there). The agency made news before the BP disaster for its "sex, drugs, free Sugar Bowl tickets, and massive royalty give-aways."

My research, and the work of others who are only now starting to pay attention, will show that the Gulf of Mexico has been a Wild West frontier with no law, no sheriff and no jail. Companies operating in this remote environment are not supervised, are not held accountable, have accidents as well as serious spills constantly with no consequences and no reporting. Many of them operate with foreign crews on foreign registry vessels. The workers are intimidated and threatened not to document or report anything.

Many come from countries where the words "law," "legal rights," "transparency," and "the environment" are unknown.

This is basically a no-man's land that has been abandoned to profiteers large and small, giant oil companies and small firms that service the industry by both states and the federal government.

"Don't get in the way of business" may be a nice slogan, but fishermen, resort owners, governors and local government officials who will see tax and tourism revenues collapse, and the families of injured and dead workers, are paying a huge price for that indifference.

Criminal negligence is "the failure to use reasonable care to avoid consequences that threaten or harm the safety of the public and that are the foreseeable outcome of acting in a particular manner." Much of what's been going on qualifies as criminal negligence, especially when people die. If there are no consequences - not just fines, which are the price of doing business, but serious jail time - nothing will change. If there were no serious consequences for murder, just a token fine, murder would be out of
control.

Recently there was an audit of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Asset Forfeiture Fund composed of the fines and other forfeitures turned over by fishermen charged with violating federal fishing laws. The audit showed that "agents had spent some $49 million via more than 82,000 transactions, with absolutely no oversight" and "the agency owns significantly more vehicles (200) than it
has officers (172). The fund was routinely tapped for overseas travel. Plus, the agency bought a $300,000 "undercover" vessel described by its manufacturer as "luxurious" - complete with a "beautifully appointed cabin." (July 3. 2010, Gloucester Times.)

So even when there are agencies charged with regulation and enforcing laws, they become
unsupervised, rogue entities that undermine their mission and damage the public trust in government.

We stand at a fork in the road. One leads down the well-worn path of indifference, neglect, corruption and mismanagement by government oversight and regulatory agencies. The second leads to a renewal of civic-minded, responsible, honest and transparent conduct. It also leads to consequential supervision of activities by business and industry.

Steffen Schmidt is University Professor of Political Science at Iowa State University and researches coastal zone management issues at Nova Southeastern University Oceanographic Center. Contact:
sws@iastate.edu.
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