Obama Administration moves back towards business as usual in the Gulf of Mexico.

WDCS has expressed its dismay at the announcement that the Obama Administration will now waive additional environmental reivews for 13 Gulf of Mexico oil drilling companies.  These projects were halted by a federal ban on deepwater drilling, following the catastrophic Deepwater Horizon oil spill last spring. 

While the companies cannot resume drilling immediately, the U.S. Department of Interior will not require them to revise or resubmit exploration plans or other doucments that were filed before the moratorium was put in place, as long as "the worst-case discharge" prediciton for the project is less than the estimate included in the companys Oil Spill Response Plan. 

WDCS-NA Senior Biologist, Regina Asmutis-Silvia said "It was predictably that the Administration would come under considerable pressure from this important industry to allow business to be resumed as soon as possible.  The full implications of this decision are unclear but we remain deeply concerned that the marine enviornement are coming in a poor second to financial concerns." She added, "the full impacts of the Deepwater Horizon event remain largely unkonw and its important that indepedent studies continue to fully evaluate the impacts of this massive spill."