Louisiana MMS: 'A Culture of Corruption'

Buried on page A-16 of today's Times is an investigative news item by Ian Urbina claiming that an inspector general's report into misconduct by Minerals Management Service (MMS) had been transmitted to the Secretary of the Interior, Ken Salazar. The report focuses on employees at the Lake Charles, Louisiana, MMS regional office -- the one which would have had the most direct conduct with BP oil industry officials and the Deepwater Horizon well.

As Urbina wrote, the report initially was "provided to The New York Times by a person familiar with the investigation who is not authorized to speak to reporters." And, it's a humdinger. What it describes is a culture of corruption, favoritism for the oil industry, and thorough incompetence.

As introductory materials in the report explain, "all of the conduct chronicled in this report occurred prior to 2007." The investigation had its origins in a whistle-blower's letter sent to the U.S. Attorney's office in Louisiana. The U.S.A. referred the matter to the I.G. for investigation.

Times reporter Ian Urbina describes one of the many deeply disturbing findings: "Federal regulators responsible for oversight of drilling in the Gulf of Mexico allowed industry officials several years ago to fill in their own inspection reports in pencil — and then turned them over to the regulators, who traced over them in pen before submitting the reports to the agency." (emphasis added)

Other activities of MMS personnel at Lake Charles included:

• Inspectors accepting "meals, tickets to sporting events and gifts" from "at least one oil company while they were overseeing the industry."
• In mid-2008, "a minerals agency employee conducted four inspections on drilling platforms when he was also negotiating a job with the drilling company, a cover letter to the report said."
• An MMS inspector from the Lake Charles office "admitted to investigators that he had used crystal methamphetamine, an illegal drug..." and is believed to have been under the influence of drugs while conducting an oil rig inspection.
• Employees from the Lake Charles office "repeatedly accepted gifts, including hunting and fishing trips from the Island Operating Company, an oil and gas company working on oil platforms... ."
• At least two Lake Charles MMS employees "admitted... using illegal drugs during their employment."
• Seven or more inspectors who are "cited in the report as having been involved in inappropriate or illegal activities were still employed by the agency when the report was completed in March."

The full IG report now has gone viral. It's available on Scribd and ABC-News and probably elsewhere.
minor edit 5-25 pm

Closing the Atchison Book

The Detroit News today reports that "autopsy results released Monday by the Washtenaw County Medical Examiner" give cause of death for John David Roy Atchison as "asphyxiation" caused when Atchison committed suicide by tying a bed sheet to a shower head.

As in the last few weeks of his life, so also in the circumstances of his death the Gulf Breeze federal prosecutor left too many questions unanswered.

Federal prison officials have not said how Atchison, an inmate on suicide watch due to an earlier suicide attempt, managed to hang himself, and they have declined to say whether Atchison died in a cell equipped with a shower or in a separate shower facility.

If they put him in a cell with a shower, that was totally foolish," said Daniel Manville, a Ferndale lawyer specializing in prisoner rights lawsuits and visiting professor at the University of Denver's Sturm College of Law.

"If they allowed him to walk from a cell to a shower, with sheets, you really have to start wondering. You have to ask serious questions about where was the failure in the system. There had to be in this case based upon what we know."
* * *
A prison spokeswoman initially said Atchison was found in his cell, but a second spokeswoman later said officials could not say exactly where he was found.

Most folk in Gulf Breeze express sincere and deeply-felt sympathy for Atchison family members who are still trying, no doubt, to come to grips with all that has happened. But there is also a palpable community desire to close the book on the Roy Atchison story and to focus on the future.

Today, with so many unanswered questions -- not to mention continuing investigations both here and in Michigan -- that seems impossible to imagine. Some day? Perhaps.

Most likely only time will bring peace to those most deeply affected. There always will be unanswered questions. The book will have no ending we can know.

CORRECTED 10-09 PM