Why Didn't The Feds Do What They Said They Would?

In 1994, a Federal response plan, based on the mandates of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990, was developed to insure that any oil spills were adequately contained and mopped up in the Gulf and elsewhere. The plan called for the use of In-Situ Burning of the spilled oil; using a containment device known as a fire boom. Yet, now 16 years after the response plan was developed and, only up until a couple of days ago, the U.S. Coast Guard was still without that crucial equipment, that if employed immediately after the spill, could have minimized or even eliminated the impending environmental oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico (Click to See Full Story: Despite plan, not a single fire boom on hand on Gulf Coast at time of oil spill).

Like everything the government does, the Coast Guard spent more time investigating and testing than implementing. In fact, the last test that the Coast Guard did on In-Situ Burning was almost 10 years ago in September of 2000. And, it was successful. Yet, the equipment, as mandated by the response plan and the 1990 law, was never purchased. While all blame seems to be aimed at British Petroleum, I think it will come out in our courts that our own federal government was equally at fault for not protecting the ecology in the Gulf area. This fact may actually mitigate some of the charges and lawsuits against British Petroleum.

Here's a video on how the In-Situ Burning technique and the use of a fire boom system can effectively abate the ravages of a sea oil spill:



It literally took a week for the Coast Guard to get their hands on the only available fire boom in the country from Elastec American Marine in Illinois. In reality, this spill needed at least 8 of them. But, all they had was the one. And, so, we wait for the spill to reach the beaches and nature reserves all along the Gulf coast and, possibly, the Eastern seaboard.