MENENDEZ FINDS THAT MMS’S OIL SPILL RESPONSE RESEARCH TANK IS INOPERABLE
http://menendez.senate.gov/newsroom/press/release/?id=3b988f07-6cfa-42db-a417-4a9669c3fe71MENENDEZ FINDS THAT MMS’S OIL SPILL RESPONSE RESEARCH TANK IS INOPERABLE
The Minerals Management Service's Oil and Hazardous Materials Simulated Environmental Test Tank (OHMSETT) is touted on its website as "The National Oil Spill Response Research & Renewable Energy Test Facility" (click here: http://www.ohmsett.com/). Interior Secretary Ken Salazar mentioned the Leonardo, NJ facility during testimony before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on June 9. However, when U.S. Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) contacted the facility to arrange a tour, his staff was told that the tank had previously developed a leak and wouldn't be operable again until sometime in July.
Comment Below:
After months of oil pollution from BP's continuous oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico the world finds that the primary testing tank for testing oil spills at ocean depths of more than a mile has been inoperative for some time. It strongly suggests that testing has been a low priority for some time. The MMS is supposed to be America's watchdog to make sure deep drilling will not lead to catastrophic spills. The oil industry provides the funding for the tank.
The technology that BP is using to stop the leaks is from the 1950's, although the robots and the cameras are newer. It seems that the oil industry should fund heavy research not only to prevent a spill, but to stop and clean up a spill rapidly in the future.
Shame on BP, the oil industry, and the MMS.
posted by God Bless America - Bob @ 4:51 PM
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