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Posts Tagged ‘USGS’

RIP Charles E. Smith – Offshore Safety Leader

Posted in Offshore Energy - General, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , on December 12, 2021| 1 Comment »

Charles Smith

I’m very sad to report the passing of a leading offshore safety researcher and long-time colleague, Dr. Charles Smith. Charles was a pioneering structural engineer who joined the US Geological Survey’s Conservation Division (then the offshore safety regulator) in ~1977 to establish the Technology Assessment and Research (TAR) Program.  With the thinnest of budgets, Charles formed partnerships that addressed the gamut of offshore safety issues. Some of his accomplishments:

  • Working with the Offshore Technology Research Center (Texas A&M) and others, Charles sponsored projects that led to the successful investigation of deepwater production concepts including TLPs, Spars, FPSOs, and semisubmersibles.  These designs are now the mainstays of deepwater development worldwide.
  • Organized well control projects that included the establishment of the deepwater well control research facility at Louisiana State University. 
  • Established the first ever offshore earthquake measurement network in the Pacific Region. The measurement system at Platform Grace in the Santa Barbara Channel successfully recorded 5 earthquakes and the structural responses at multiple locations on the platform.
  • Conducted research that led to new hurricane design standards for offshore structures and topsides equipment.
  • Working with colleagues at Berkeley and Stanford, conducted groundbreaking research on human and organizational factors affecting offshore safety. This was the basis for important safety culture studies that followed.
  • Studied pipeline risks and corrosion management for structures and pipelines.
  • Studied decommissioning options and their comparative environmental effects. 
  • Assessed arctic development options including gravel and ice islands and monopod concepts.
  • Conducted structural reviews leading to the renovation of the Ohmsett spill response test facility.
  • Participated on organizing committees for the International Conference on Ocean, Offshore, and Arctic Engineering (OMAE).
  • Along with representatives from Norway, the UK, Brazil. Canada, Mexico, Australia, and New Zealand, founded the International Committee on Regulatory Authority Research and Development (ICRARD).

Charles was the only offshore regulatory engineer to be selected as one of 10 finalists for the prestigious NSPE Federal Engineer of the Year award. (Keep in mind that the US government employs more than 130,000 engineers.) In 2009, the year of his retirement from Minerals Management Service, he was inducted into the Offshore Energy Center’s Hall of Fame (Galveston, TX) as as a Technology Pioneer for Health, Safety, and the Environment.   

After retirement Charles moved to Newfoundland and continued working on offshore safety issues with Memorial University, Canadian regulators, and industry representatives.  He and his wife Elaine built a lovely home overlooking the water in Bay Roberts. He was proud to be a citizen of both the US and Canada, and both countries were beneficiaries of his long and enormously successful career. Here is his obituary.

IMG_1766.JPG
Charles and his wife Elaine with my wife and me and John Gregory and his wife at the Offshore Energy Center Hall of Fame induction gala (Houston, 2009). Bud

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“Boats see boats; boats don’t see platforms”

Posted in accidents, Gulf of Mexico, offshore, Offshore Energy - General, tagged , , , , on September 30, 2021| Leave a Comment »

This comment by the late John Borne, an outstanding USGS and MMS engineer/philosopher, reflects on the persistent vessel allision incidents over the years. The reporting of these incidents was spotty, but some could not be denied. Pictured below is the State Command arriving in Morgan City (~1973?) topped by a platform deck. Fortunately, the platform was unmanned and there were no injuries to vessel personnel. You could say this was the first floating production platform 😃

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Poster Child for Outdated Regulations

Posted in Regulation, tagged , , , on September 29, 2021| Leave a Comment »

US Coast Guard Subchapter N (current language as of 9/29/2021)

33 CFR §140.4   Relationship to other law.

(b) Any apparent conflict between the application of any requirement of this subchapter and any regulation or order of the U.S. Geological Survey should immediately be brought to the attention of the Officer in Charge, Marine Inspection.

I was proud to have worked for the Conservation Division of the U.S Geological Survey (USGS) when the US offshore program was at its peak in terms of scope and activity. I therefore like the nostalgia value of this provision. That said, USGS has not been the offshore safety regulator since 1982. While updating regulations can be extraordinarily difficult, simple administrative fixes are not. Such corrections are a good way to give old, outdated rules a fresh look. 😃

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Back to the Future!

Posted in Regulation, tagged , , , , , on November 1, 2010| Leave a Comment »

 

Hyannis Halloween - 1981

 

Note the sign (above) on our office at Barnstable Municipal Airport in Hyannis. Prior to 1982 when the Minerals Management Service was formed, the OCS regulatory program was part of the US Geological Survey (Conservation Division) and the leasing program was in the Bureau of Land Management. After a 28-year marriage, these functions are again being separated.

As one who worked in the OCS program for 10 years prior to the formation of MMS, I think the the pre-1982 framework is conceptually preferable. However, unless the separation is carefully executed, disruptive conflicts between the two organizations are guaranteed.  Such conflicts were common in the pre-MMS days, and the Department of the Interior had to set up a special office to coordinate activities and manage disputes.

In addition to being independent, the new regulatory authority must be fully responsible (without interference) for all regulatory actions from plan approval through abandonment.  Without such independence and authority, the separation will only add to the regulatory confusion that has handicapped the OCS program throughout its history.

Technical and scientific personnel in the OCS regulatory program must be freed from non-productive and time-consuming internal disputes and coordination responsibilities so they can concentrate on performance measurement, risk assessment, safety leadership, standards, and technical studies.

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