Officials from the US Department of the Interior’s Minerals Management Service participated in a media forum May 15 with representatives from the US Coast Guard and the American Petroleum Institute to discuss new final rules regarding enhanced information on hurricane conditions. The groups also discussed the design of offshore structures and the actions needed to reduce risk of severe damage to basic oil and gas structures in the Gulf of Mexico in the event of hurricanes this season.
MMS work in environmental and personnel safety proved worthy during the 2005 hurricane season, according to Walter Cruickshank, MMS deputy director. Before hurricanes Katrina and Rita passed through the gulf, a total of 748 platforms (93%) and 101 drilling rigs (75%) were evacuated safely with no personnel injuries.
Last month MMS published a new regulation, effective May 15, incorporating three API bulletins that impose more-stringent design and assessment criteria for new and existing structures in the gulf.
“Our belief is that this regulation will help increase the survivability of offshore infrastructure in the event of a storm,” said Cruickshank. “We can say today that we are much better prepared than we were 3 years ago.”
MMS launched a hurricane web site last year in an effort to better inform the public about evacuations, production shut-in statistics, historical information, and links to other federal agencies involved in hurricane preparation and response.
As part of the response effort, MMS has been testing its continuity of operations (COOP) plan this week. “COOP took place [May 15-16] and tested our ability to transition from our New Orleans region site to [Houston] and to handle the reporting of offshore evacuations and production shut-ins,” explained Lars Herbst, MMS regional director, Gulf of Mexico region. He said the drill was a success.
Since Katrina and Rita, the Coast Guard has placed a liaison officer at MMS’ COOP site to pass information between MMS and Coast Guard headquarters in New Orleans.
The Coast Guard’s contingency plans are based on saving lives, being able to reopen critical ports and waterways, and responding to environmental damage, said Joel R. Whitehead, Coast Guard District 8 commander.
