Does the EPA really have any control over BP?
I heard this story this morning on CNN and it got me thinking. In short, the EPA has asked BP to change what they are using to disperse the oil and BP is refusing. How is it that BP can blatantly defy these orders?
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Because they are the experts here and make the rules. The dispersant BP is using is a known entity to them the other choices could very well be more toxic or detrimental to the cause than what they are currently using. The EPA is waving their hands over this issue more than likely due to pressures from environmentalists who really have no clue what to do either. Nobody really knows what is best overall in the long run as this the truly law of unintended consequences at play at it’s worst.
Obviously not. BP seems to be ignoring them.
I wrote this answer somewhere else on Fluther, but here, it seems to fit your question much better. BP is running the show, because of a Federal Law enacted in 1989, with the incident with Exxon’s Valdez oil spill. Congress passed a law that the responsible party would be liable for stoppage, cleanup and payments for any oil spill associated with their company. its not the Feds that are holding back, its that law passed by Congress. eventually, the taxpayers will have to bare the burden of the cleanup, since it appears BP does not know what it is doing. in the meantime, the animals and property are suffering on the Louisiana coast and this is disheartening. the Feds taking over would be the government taking over a business and i am sure this is imminent in the head of Obama. either way, this is a catch twenty-two situation. i am not so sure the Federal Government has the manpower, machinery or expertise to even do a better job than BP.
In any event, the Federal Law of 1989 is the main holdback of federal intervention, at this time.
the biggest way we as people can take action against companies like BP is to:
VOTE WITH OUR DOLLAR
in any and every industry
The EPA request in question was to either stop using the dispersant or come up with a list of alternatives they had looked into and rejected. BP did the latter, and probably only did a cursory job.
The MMS (Minerals Management Service) under the Dept. of the Interior is the direct oversight agency for BP’s activity. Here:
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/17390/111965
that’s a complete look at the regulatory incompetence and corruption that led up to the spill.
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