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House Democrats cite lax oversight of oil, natural gas drilling on public land

Washington Post -- Federal policing of oil and natural gas drilling on public lands is lax and inconsistent, with only 6 percent of violations resulting in monetary fines over 13 years, House Democrats said in a report Wednesday.

Fines over that time totaled less than $275,000, an amount that the Democratic staff of the House Natural Resources Committee characterized as little more than “pocket change” for oil and gas companies. The report said federal regulators issued no fines in the period studied, February 1998 to February 2011, in eight of the drilling states.

The report released Wednesday, said the government does little to ensure accountability or protect the environment, even as drilling on federal land has increased in recent years. The increase is driven in part by hydraulic fracturing, ...

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Submitted Feb 09, 2012 By: BurntOrange

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VomVom Champion Author Calgary Posts:2,465 Points:1,294,500 Joined:May 2007	Message Posted: Feb 9, 2012 8:10:28 PM Ignore VomVom Report Abuse GT3186 and drpepperTX are right on and joseph000 makes absolutely no sense. You can regulate and stipulate all the fines your want. Why stop at 10%? Make it 100%!! If the risks are too high and there is no reasonable rate of return, the oil & gas producers will just go elsewhere to do business. With no drilling, there is no production. With no production, there is going to be a shortage. That means high prices. Then those control freaks and big oil haters like joseph000, Man from Mars and Teas42 will whine and complain about high gas prices. There has to be a reasonable balance. Yes, gross negligence must be punished. But the biggest problem today is that the states and the feds take in billions & billions in royalties and well license fees yet they are not doing their job to prevent the fly by night operators from screwing things up for everybody. It is about time they do!
glorioussnookie Champion Author Tennessee Posts:3,418 Points:596,655 Joined:Feb 2010	Message Posted: Feb 9, 2012 4:51:37 PM Ignore glorioussnookie Report Abuse joseph000 made a very good point with his comment!
db60 All-Star Author Indiana Posts:982 Points:211,255 Joined:Oct 2011	Message Posted: Feb 9, 2012 1:50:00 PM Ignore db60 Report Abuse Good post.
drpepperTX Champion Author Texas Posts:4,977 Points:395,320 Joined:Apr 2011	Message Posted: Feb 9, 2012 10:26:08 AM Ignore drpepperTX Report Abuse Sadly that is exactly the way these Utopians think GT3186. They have no concept of fines and taxes being issued or levied in any way other than punitive. Their thought process has been warped and conditioned to hate success in a country that used to honor those that accomplished and actually contributed to society and our economy. Class warfare, pure and simple. You cannot build a man up by tearing down another.
GT3186 Champion Author Salem Posts:1,270 Points:270,805 Joined:Aug 2011	Message Posted: Feb 9, 2012 9:55:23 AM Ignore GT3186 Report Abuse So, if a speeding ticket costs me $300, a millionaire should have to pay $30,000 for the same ticket? Also, if a city inspector notes a code violation on my property, it should have a mandatory fine, rather than a warning to correct the violation? Come, on... Some of you folks really need to get off these "evil big oil" and "soak the rich" band wagons!
joseph000 Champion Author Houston Posts:1,063 Points:205,665 Joined:May 2011	Message Posted: Feb 9, 2012 8:58:06 AM Ignore joseph000 Report Abuse No fine for a drilling company violation should be no less than 10% of their annual income, if the fine doesn't hurt, they won't care. If there are real fines, and plenty of inspectors to keep an eye on drillers, such that on any day they might have a surprise inspection, then they will act far more responsibly. We need to make it cheaper to obey the law than buy their way out of compliance.
uglytom Champion Author Florida Posts:6,210 Points:1,293,790 Joined:Jul 2007	Message Posted: Feb 9, 2012 8:48:50 AM Ignore uglytom Report Abuse Good thinking!
bigmoo63 All-Star Author Kalamazoo Posts:885 Points:56,680 Joined:Nov 2009	Message Posted: Feb 9, 2012 8:46:22 AM Ignore bigmoo63 Report Abuse Token effort. If it wasnt an election year, nothing would be said. Lot of grandstanding and just wastes of energy. And I'm talking about us reading about it.
dgerst Champion Author South Carolina Posts:1,041 Points:225,265 Joined:Aug 2008	Message Posted: Feb 9, 2012 8:29:43 AM Ignore dgerst Report Abuse Its about time.
johntxx All-Star Author Texas Posts:708 Points:257,950 Joined:Aug 2011	Message Posted: Feb 9, 2012 8:18:45 AM Ignore johntxx Report Abuse "The Obama administration is considering new rules for fracking at oil and gas wells on federal land." Why now after being in office over 3 years? Oh, this is an election year! Hopefully, if the majority of Americans have a brain, this is his last year to derogate the USA. [Edited by: johntxx at 2/9/2012 8:20:53 AM EST]
APlus Champion Author San Antonio Posts:2,539 Points:694,755 Joined:Apr 2007	Message Posted: Feb 9, 2012 8:16:30 AM Ignore APlus Report Abuse Lax oversight on all mother earth!
Cakes77 Champion Author Harrisburg Posts:3,499 Points:1,332,255 Joined:Aug 2006	Message Posted: Feb 9, 2012 8:04:18 AM Ignore Cakes77 Report Abuse Those fines are puny.