The Transportation Department office, charged with overseeing the 2.6 million miles of pipelines in the United States, is spending more time at oil and gas industry conferences than it is addressing spills and other incidents.
Yes, you read that correctly. Apparently the perks of the job outweigh the satisfaction you get from protecting the planet, saving lives and preventing future accidents. Or maybe the oil and gas industry is trying to distract these poor individuals. The more they are wined and dined the less they can focus on the 300 spills, explosions and incidents that have occurred since 2006. To busy enjoying yourself than doing your job means that the agency did not dispatch inspectors to investigate these 300 incidents.
Between 2007 and 2012, staff from the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration spent 2,807 days at conferences, meetings and other events sponsored by the oil, gas and pipeline industries, according to the report from Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). That's nearly three times as many as the 970 days the staffers spent responding to spills, explosions and other significant incidents on the pipelines they regulate. Sounds like a permanent holiday with the odd inconvenience of protecting the world.
According to records that PEER provided, the pipeline agency spent $245,938 on travel to industry meetings and events sponsored by groups like the American Petroleum Institute and the American Gas Association in those six years. But it spent only $171,801 responding to significant spills, explosions and breakdowns on pipelines that transport oil, gas and other hazardous materials during the same period.
PEER also found that agency representatives attended 850 meetings and other events with industry in that period, but staffers were sent to investigate only 159 significant spills, explosions and breakdowns. A previous release from the watchdog group, also based on FOIA information received from the agency found that since 2006, the federal agency and its state partners had inspected less than one-fifth of the 2.6 million miles of pipeline.
All we are asking is that they do their jobs. Simple. We know life is hard, but please either start working or replace the people who choose free hotel rooms over doing an important job, with people who do. Lets send them a message showing them that we do not appreciate their indulgences, but would rather prefer it if they did some work.
Live up to your mission statement:
"To serve the United States by ensuring a fast, safe, efficient, accessible, and convenient transportation system that meets our vital national interests and enhances the quality of life of the American people, today and into the future."
More serving, less unnecessary travel please
