The U.S. Coast Guard has released its "Incident Specific Preparedness Review" for the Deepwater Horizon oil spill of 2010. Fox is reporting that this report suggests the Administration slowed some of the flow of information from the responders.
The Commandant of the Coast Guard's approval memorandum states:
On February I, 20II, I received the ISPR team's final report. I received this report acknowledging that it reflects the desired independent observations of the ISPR team regarding the response and associated recommendations. While the report does not necessarily reflect the views of the Coast Guard, the ISPR's processes of critical analysis, review, and outside perspective will be a useful tool to me in helping the Coast Guard continuously improve coastal oil spill response for the American people. The report identifies a number of areas, ranging from spill response doctrine, to mobilizing assets in crisis, to engaging with key stakeholders and the public, where the Coast Guard could have done better over the course of this unprecedented event, and we will.
Along with the President's National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling's findings and several other Deepwater Horizon reports, the ISPR significantly adds to a body of important perspectives and opinions that the Coast Guard will take onboard and carefully evaluate to identify further opportunities for positive, effective preparedness improvements. I have already directed several actions to address areas where planning and preparedness will be improved, including directing Captains of the Port to review Oil Spill Response Plans for offshore facilities, requiring Area Committees to include Worst Case Discharge scenarios for offshore facilities in their respective Area Contingency Plans. working with the National Response Team to review large volume and novel dispersant use, reviewing response data management procedures and tools, and establishing a Coast Guard, FEMA, and EPA workgroup to develop recommendations to harmonize the NCP and National Response Framework governance constructs. These are just a few of the actions the Coast Guard is pursuing. There is much more work to be done and we will work diligently with our government partners and industry to implement meaningful improvements for future oil spill planning, preparedness, organization, and response.
The full report can be downloaded here.
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