It’s been a while since the PTEP TPPPPET the Thai-government-owned oil rig started spewing oil into the ocean but for weeks now Sir Roger has been plagued and pestered by a question.

Who was responsible for approving the drilling contract and the company? Who prepared, who read and who approved the Environmental Impact Statement that the company would have been required to provide? And knowing that such a catastrophic accident, if not inevitable, was at least possible, what evidence and guarantees of damage control measures and explicit harm reduction measures did the operators provide and who approved them?

Because, as it turns out, there were clearly no procedures in place and the closest equipment which might make some attempt to deal with a spill like this was more than two weeks away if it was available at all. The company seemed to have no idea in the early days exactly what steps to take and to be making up some sort of plan on the fly as if it hadn’t considered the possibility at all.

Who is responsible for all this in Canberra? Why did they let drilling go ahead without a clear and demonstrated plan? What were the sanctions in the contract? What are the penalties that will now be slapped on the company? Any? Why are we not hearing all about the punitive legal ramifications for the company?

And why do we hear the sad excuse, Garrett, go on as if it’s just some awful accident that couldn’t have been foreseen and which the rest of us in Australia will just have to suck up?

Did we really just let them get away with all this because our eyes were blinded by shiny, black gold?

[tags]oil, oil exploration, oil spill, PTTEP, Thailand, Thai company, Thai oil, petroleum exploration, Thai petroleum, oil slick, contract law, EIS, environmental impact statement, environment, oil accident, accident, Garrett, Peter Garrett, values, Australian values, law, legal, legal values, Australian legal values, Australian law, politics, government, bureaucracy, Australian politics, Australian government, cost, worth, standards, principles[/tags]