On Wednesday, the Interior Department has been sued for the 'fast track' permitting of potentially dangerous oil and natural gas wells in offshore waters. The suit was filed by an environmental group and came on the 6th anniversary of the nation's largest oil spill.
According to Whec News, California-based Center for Biological Diversity filed the lawsuit in Washington, DC, seeking to force the regulators in conducting more in-depth reviews for drilling plans before handing out permits to the agency. The group's advocacy on the catastrophic oil spill crisis started after a deep well has blown out in 2010. Eleven workers were killed during the drill rig while millions of gallons of oil were discharged in the Gulf of Mexico.
ABC News wrote that Kristen Monsell, an attorney from the group, said that the disaster should be a call for people into what the offshore drilling can do in terms of danger. "Here we are on the anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon and nothing has really changed," Monsell stated.
Meanwhile, spokesman Gregory Julian claimed the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement is seeing the drilling and reviews the permit. The lawsuit aims to argue about 'categorical exclusions' that allow regulators to issue permit without in-depth environmental views.
However, as CNBC published, the suit contends that they are still granted for many potentially dangerous drilling activities, allowing officials to 'rubber stamp drilling permits with no meaningful environmental review.' The suit adds that there is another measure being done without proper environmental reviews such as the hydraulic fracturing.
David Uhlmann, a University of Michigan professor, says the suit is raising legitimate concerns about the adequacy of environmental views since it comes exactly six years after the Center for Biological Diversity asked the Interior Department to re-asses the regulations for environmental review. Uhlmann added that the department 'appears to be dragging its feet' on this 'rule-making request.' Nonetheless, he said that challenges to agency procedures are uphill battles for environmental groups.
