The Daily Glob

"Interior Inspector General: White House Skewed Drilling-Ban Report"

"The White House rewrote crucial sections of an Interior Department report to suggest an independent group of scientists and engineers supported a six-month ban on offshore oil drilling, the Interior inspector general says in a new report.

In the wee hours of the morning of May 27, a staff member to White House energy adviser Carol Browner sent two edited versions of the department report's executive summary back to Interior. The language had been changed to insinuate the seven-member panel of outside experts – who reviewed a draft of various safety recommendations – endorsed the moratorium, according to the IG report obtained by POLITICO.

"The White House edit of the original DOI draft executive summary led to the implication that the moratorium recommendation had been peer-reviewed by the experts," the IG report states, without judgment on whether the change was an intentional attempt to mislead the public."

Dan Berman reports for Politico November 10, 2010.

SEE ALSO:

"Govt's Handling of Science on Oil Spill Questioned" (AP)

"White House Changed Report, Implying Experts Supported Deepwater Drilling Moratorium -- IG" (Greenwire)

"White House Editing Caused Drilling Ban Dispute" (Green/New York Times)

"BP Oil Spill: White House Rewrote Drilling Ban Report" (Guardian)

"Senior Republican: Questions 'Need To Be Answered' Following Interior Drilling Report" (E2 Wire/The Hill)

Text of Nov. 9 Interior IG Report

"Experts, Rivals Blast BP Practices"

"Monday was a relatively good day for BP in the glare of oil spill inquiries. Tuesday was a bad day.

Drilling experts and corporate rivals testifying before a presidential oil spill commission blasted BP Tuesday for decisions about the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig that might have removed obstacles to the April 20 blowout that led to the massive Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

"Shell Presses for Drilling in Arctic"

"HOUSTON — Eager to win approval for its stalled plan to drill for oil in the Alaskan Arctic, Royal Dutch Shell is beginning a public lobbying campaign, including national advertising, on Monday. As part of the effort, the giant oil company is promising to make unprecedented preparations to prevent the kind of disaster that polluted the Gulf of Mexico earlier this year.

"'Shadow' of Oil Spill Seen in Gulf of Mexico Plankton"

"It is possible to trace oil from the BP spill as it moved through the first several levels of the Gulf’s food chain, starting with the microbes that broke the oil down, according to a scientific paper released today.

That paper, 'Oil carbon entered the coastal planktonic food web during the Deepwater Horizon oil spill,' suggests that a faint 'shadow' of the oil can be seen in the Gulf’s smallest creatures — plankton and copepods. Those tiny animals ate the microbes that ate the oil.

What’s present in the creatures is not oil. Instead, it is a unique form of carbon typically associated with oil and not otherwise seen in the Gulf creatures, researchers found. Carbon is the primary building block of all life, so it is present in bacteria, copepods, fish and all other creatures."

Ben Raines reports for the Mobile Press-Register November 8, 2010.

Scientists Find Dead and Dying Coral Near BP Spill Site

"A brown substance is killing coral organisms in colonies located 4,600 feet deep about seven miles southwest of the failed BP Macondo oil well, according to scientists who returned Thursday from a three-week cruise studying coral reefs in the northern Gulf of Mexico.

The finding is the first case in which researchers have found evidence that living organisms in the deepwater area near the well site might have been killed by oil from the spill.

"Criticism Runs Deep for Spill Commission Findings"

"NEW ORLEANS -- Critics of a presidential commission's preliminary findings that largely supported BP's internal probe of the Gulf oil spill questioned Monday how anyone could suggest money wasn't put ahead of safety in the days before the disaster.

'Why cut corners if it is not for money?' said Billy Nungesser, the president of oil-soaked Plaquemines Parish, La.

Nungesser also challenged the statement from the commission's chief investigator, who said he agreed with about 90 percent of what BP said in its internal report released in early September.

'I really feel for the families of these 11 victims,' Nungesser said. 'Here they are hoping and praying that their loved ones lost would set some fundamental change and protection so things would be different. If we are gonna not be honest with everybody, including the American public, about what happened and why — then these people died in vain.'

Daniel Becnel, a Louisiana lawyer suing BP and others over the oil spill, said the commission's findings about money not being a factor are 'absolutely absurd.'

'The reason is it so absurd is because BP is known to paste over safety, especially if it involved money and downtime,' Becnel said. 'They couldn't afford any more downtime on that rig.'"

Harry R. Weber reports for the Associated Press November 8, 2010.

"Criticism Runs Deep for Spill Commission Findings"

SEE ALSO:

"Oil Spill Panel: BP Didn't Sacrifice Safety for Costs" (AP)

"Factbox: Oil Spill Commission Findings" (Reuters)

"Well Acts ‘Plain Wrong’ or ‘Difficult to Explain,’ Reilly Says" (Bloomberg)