Bud's Offshore Energy (BOE)

Dept. of Justice announcement

In addition to the penalty and reimbursement elements of the plea agreement, there are two Amplify commitments that may be of particular interest to BOE readers:

1. New leak detection system for the pipeline: More information on the leak detection improvements for this low pressure oil pipeline would be helpful.
2. Notification to regulators of all leak detection alarms:
   • Which regulators? DOT? BSEE? State? All?
   • Real time reporting or periodic compilations? With real time reporting for every alarm, the distinction between the pipeline operator and regulator(s) would be blurred and new organizational and competence risks would be added. The probability of communications errors and delayed decisions would increase, and the operator would no longer be accountable for bad decisions.

Also, given that the investigating agencies have still not issued their report on the October 2021 spill and no action has yet been taken against the shipping companies that caused the pipeline rupture, the congratulatory Coast Guard, EPA, FBI, and DOT quotes in the announcement seem rather premature and self-serving.

Two final thoughts:

• When will there be an independent review of the complex, inconsistent multi-agency regulatory regime for offshore pipelines?
• BSEE, the Federal bureau that inspects the Beta Unit facilities and approves the spill response plan, was apparently not part of the Unified Command and is not mentioned in the DOJ release. Why?

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