Bleeding Gulf Is Evidence of Corruption in Oil Drilling Oversight

Earthjustice asserts that the Minerals Management Service (MMS) was corrupted by its proximity to the oil industry, leading to lax oversight and the approval of inadequate spill response plans for BP in the Gulf of Mexico. The organization warns that similar failures threaten the Arctic Ocean, where Shell Oil is poised to drill in the Chukchi and Beaufort seas. Earthjustice argues that an Arctic spill would be harder to contain than the Gulf spill due to icy waters and a lack of infrastructure. The document calls for the Obama administration to stop Arctic drilling until better response plans and scientific data are available, and advocates for a transition toward clean renewable energy and conservation.

• The Minerals Management Service (MMS) is accused of being corrupted by its closeness to the oil industry and political leaders, which resulted in the agency allowing British Petroleum (BP) to drill under high-risk conditions without a sufficient plan to prevent a catastrophic spill.
• In 2008, the MMS issued a notice to oil companies in the Gulf of Mexico stating they did not need to submit worst-case oil spill scenarios or response plans; Earthjustice has filed a lawsuit challenging these exemptions, which may affect up to 60 drilling plans.
• Shell Oil's plans to drill in the Chukchi and Beaufort seas of the Arctic Ocean are viewed as high-risk because the MMS did not require a plan for when the company's response rig is disabled, and no analysis was conducted on the effects of a spill on wildlife or Alaska Natives.
• An oil spill in the Arctic Ocean would be significantly more difficult to stop, contain, and clean up than the spill in the Gulf of Mexico due to the region's icy waters and lack of significant infrastructure.

APA

Earthjustice (2010). Bleeding Gulf Is Evidence of Corruption in Oil Drilling Oversight. https://earthjustice.org/article/bleeding-gulf-evidence-corruption-oil-drilling-oversight

Chicago

Earthjustice. Bleeding Gulf Is Evidence of Corruption in Oil Drilling Oversight. 2010. https://earthjustice.org/article/bleeding-gulf-evidence-corruption-oil-drilling-oversight.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=Earthjustice |title=Bleeding Gulf Is Evidence of Corruption in Oil Drilling Oversight |date=19 May 2010 |url=https://earthjustice.org/article/bleeding-gulf-evidence-corruption-oil-drilling-oversight |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{earthjustice2010bleeding, author = {{Earthjustice}}, title = {{Bleeding Gulf Is Evidence of Corruption in Oil Drilling Oversight}}, publisher = {Earthjustice}, year = {2010}, month = may, url = {https://earthjustice.org/article/bleeding-gulf-evidence-corruption-oil-drilling-oversight}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }