As oil continues to leak into the Gulf of Mexico, the Investigation Fund of the Nation Institute reminds us that smaller spills continue to dump tens of thousands of gallons of oil around the country. It points to spills in Texas and Colorado waterways that state regulators don't have the resources to investigate and resolve:
A major investigation by ProPublica earlier this year showed the extent of the problem. Looking at 22 states that have expanded gas drilling recently, Abrahm Lustgarten found "that the nation's capacity to enforce its environmental protections is weakening." The story shows that many state agencies, which regulate and oversee much of the country’s oil and gas drilling, simply do not have the resources to do their jobs. In order to visit each of West Virginia's 55,222 gas wells once a year, the state's inspectors would have to visit nine wells per day each, working 365 days a year. The result of this gap in resources and need are spills in Colorado, Pennsylvania and other states.
It's frustrating enough to see the lack of action and outrage around the Gulf disaster, which is quickly shaping up to be one of the worst in history. But it's even worse to know that our inabilities to handle smaller-scale problems, no less devastating to the local environment, go unresolved and unnoticed. No wonder oil companies don't react quickly; it is not clear what the consequences are when they don't.
-- Monica Potts
