Federal inspectors tasked with examining offshore oil rigs are overworked, undertrained, and often function at the mercy of rig operators, said a federal report issued this week. The report, by the Interior Department’s inspector general, detailed lapses among inspectors for the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement. Inspectors faced “pressure from operators” to overlook infractions, the report said, and their recommendations were sometimes “suppressed, ignored, manipulated, and/or distorted.” Agency head Michael R. Bromwich said the report failed to acknowledge recent reforms at the agency, which was reorganized after the BP oil spill.
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