Bud's Offshore Energy (BOE)

Good report; worth reading.  Some of the positive points are unlikely to get much attention, so we’ll mention them here:

1. The National Incident Management System/Incident Command System worked as intended
2. Personnel provided by the Responsible Party (RP) and Coast Guard personnel worked effectively together, and there was “unity of effort” throughout the response organization.
3. The team found no evidence of collusion between the Coast Guard and RP.
4. The response generally benefited from the ability of the Government and the private sector to rapidly assess and adapt to new or unusual contingencies and develop innovative solutions for problems not previously experienced.
5. The knowledge acquired and capabilities learned from this experience are unprecedented, and should become a basis for significant improvements in planning, preparedness, and response for industry, Government, and the response community.

The “Political Demands” section beginning on page 75 includes relatively candid observations on the challenges associated with the management of such a high profile response.