A coalition of environmental advocacy groups will petition the Biden administration to propose rules that require stricter enforcement for cleaning up leftover infrastructure for offshore drilling, reports The Hill.
The effort follows a report from the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office, which found that more than 2,700 idle oil wells and 500 platforms in the Gulf of Mexico had not been cleaned up. It also found that cleanup deadlines had been missed for more more than 40 percent of wells and 50 percent of platforms by companies that held rights to drill in the Gulf from 2010 to 2022.
They are asking for the administration to put forward enforceable cleanup deadlines for drillers and require them to remove pipelines that are associated with their underwater drilling, according to a draft petition. Read more.
