"Is It Safe To Drill? Learn What New Oil-Spill Report Says"

"BP and the oil industry drilling in the Gulf of Mexico lacked the proper safety attitude to handle the large risks of deepwater drilling, leading to the many bad decisions behind the nation's worst offshore spill, a panel of expert engineers said today.

More specifically, the industry needs to radically redesign the blowout preventers that are meant to be a last line of defense against runaway wells or else risk a repeat of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster, the National Academy of Engineering concluded.

Before the oil spill, both the industry and federal regulators had 'misplaced trust' in the ability of those emergency devices to seal off wells and keep explosive oil and gas safely locked underground, the academy and the National Research Council said in a 136-page report on the disaster."

Seth Borenstein reports for the Associated Press December 14, 2011.

SEE ALSO:

"Report Seeks Far Tighter Safety System for Oil Drilling" (Green/NYT)

"BP's New License to Drill" (Mother Jones)

"'System Safety' Key to Preventing Offshore Drilling Disasters: Report" (ENS)

"U.S. Offshore Drillers Need New Safety Approach: Panel" (Reuters)