has the EPA been completely compromised? are they capable of regulating anything?

[spanone]

i wonder....


BP was OK to use dispersants, EPA insists

NEW ORLEANS — Responding to a congressional report critical of BP's use of chemical dispersants on the Gulf spill, the Environmental Protection Agency said Sunday that while it didn't agree with every waiver given to BP it believes that dispersants are appropriate and cited a sharp drop in BP's use.

"While EPA may not have concurred with every individual waiver granted by the federal on-scene coordinator, the agency believes dispersant use has been an essential tool in mitigating this spill's impact, preventing millions of gallons of oil from doing even more damage to sensitive marshes, wetlands and beaches and the economy of the Gulf coast," the agency said in a statement.

It added that BP also slashed its use of dispersants by 72 percent through mid-July, when engineers placed a cap on the leaking well.

The Coast Guard routinely approved BP requests to use thousands of gallons of chemicals per day to break up the oil, despite a federal directive to use the dispersant rarely, congressional investigators said Saturday.

Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass., released a letter that said instead of complying with the EPA restriction, "BP often carpet bombed the ocean with these chemicals and the Coast Guard allowed them to do it."

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38511495/ns/disaster_in_the_gulf/