GAO: Alaska MMS made mistakes

According to the Anchorage Daily News, the federal watchdog agency, the Government Accountability Office (GAO), has issued a report saying that the Alaska unit of the Minerals Management Service (MMS) mishandled its environmental consideration of oil leases in the North Aleutian Basin. The report states that the unit failed to share proprietary industry information with its own employees while they conducted environmental reviews, and that it was inconsistent in following federal environmental guidelines in weighing the risks of oil leasing in the region. Because President Obama recently cancelled lease sales in the basin because of its proximity to Bristol Bay, the GAO report lacks the bite it might have had if the MMS were still considering leases there. Read much more, here. By the way, Alaska Beat found one particular reader comment interesting; it reminded us that claims of very similar inconsistencies have been major components to legal objections raised over leasing in the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas.