WASHINGTON- In the wake of the growing environmental catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico, BP is being blamed for discounting the potential for a massive oil spill and underestimating its effects. But the federal agency tasked with oversight of offshore oil drilling may be even more responsible for understating the impact of a spill in the environmentally-sensitive area. In a 2007 environmental impact statement for the Western and Central Planning Area Sales, which includes the Macondo Prospect, the Interior Department's Minerals Management Service downplayed the potential for environmental damage. In the document which covers oil drilling leases from 2007-2012, MMS assesses the potential impact of oil spills and blowouts on wetlands, marine mammals, commercial fishing, economic impacts, and water quality, among other factors (emphasis mine): - "Offshore oil spills resulting from a proposed action are not expected to damage significantly any wetlands along the Gulf Coast... Overall, impacts to wetland habitats from an oil spill associated with activities related to a proposed action would be expected to be low and temporary." - "The effect of proposed-action-related oil spills on commercial fishing is expected to cause less than a 1 percent decrease in standing stocks of any population, commercial fishing efforts, landings, or value of those landings. Any affected commercial fishing activity would recover within 6 months. At the expected level of impact, the resultant influence on commercial fishing activities from a proposed action would be negligible and indistinguishable from variations due to natural causes." - "Since LWC [loss of well control] events and blowouts are rare events and of short duration, potential impacts to marine water quality are not expected to be significant." - "Accidental blowouts, oil spills, and spill-response activities resulting from a proposed action have the potential to impact marine mammals in the GOM. Exposure to hydrocarbons persisting in the sea following the dispersal of an oil slick is likely to result in sublethal impacts (e.g., decreased health, reproductive fitness, and longevity; and increased vulnerability to disease) to marine mammals." - "Non-market effects such as traffic congestion, strains on public services, shortages of commodities or services, and disruptions to the normal patterns of activities or expectations are also expected to occur in the short term. These negative, short-term social and economic consequences of an oil spill are expected to be modest in terms of projected cleanup expenditures and the number of people employed in cleanup and remediation activities." In response, the state of Louisiana, which is bearing the brunt of the damage caused by the recent disaster, lashed out at the agency for its faulty analysis:
