OIL/ENERGY POLICY AND PERMITTING
Offshore drilling agency about to split in two
"A new Office of Natural Resources Revenue - responsible for collecting royalties for energy produced on the outer continental shelf - was established within the Interior Department last October. And on Oct. 1, Bureau of Ocean Energy, Management, Regulation and Enforcement officially will be carved into two agencies: the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management."
GULF OIL DISASTER AFTERMATH
Tropical Storm Lee surge reveals tar mats on Fourchon Beach
"Surge from Tropical Storm Lee uncovered numerous tar mats, dozens of tar balls and abandoned strings of oil snare pom-poms along a stretch of Fourchon Beach [LA] owned by the Wisner Donation Trust, according to the property's manager. "The beach got hit hard by surge, as it always does," said Cathy Norman, secretary-treasurer and land manager for the trust. "With all the sand removed, many things were uncovered, including these huge tar mat areas. "In some locations, the mats fell apart and tar balls blew up the beach and into the back marsh," Norman said. "The surge also uncovered oil snare and pieces of equipment that got buried during the BP oil spill response, including all these stakes that were used to hang the snare in the water to catch oil.""
"BP contractors were scooping tar balls off Alabama Gulf Coast beaches on Wednesday after similar reports. The material will be tested to determine whether it is from the BP Macondo well that erupted in the Gulf of Mexico last year."
