According to CNN.com a few hours ago:
'Federal official overseeing Offshore oil development to retire early'
The head of offshore drilling at an Interior Department agency criticized after the Gulf Coast oil spill is retiring a month earlier than planned.
Chris Oynes will step down as associate director of the agency's Offshore Minerals Management Program at the end of May, the official said. The program is part of the Minerals Management Service.
"Shortly after the Deepwater Horizon explosion, he approached leadership at MMS and announced he would be retiring on June 30, and today [Monday,] he told his colleagues that he would be accelerating his retirement." This, according to an unnamed official.
Oynes was named to the post in 2007. His responsibilities include overseeing the Outer Continental Shelf oil and gas program and working on a new alternative energy program.
In the past, critics have accused MMS of being too cozy with the industries it regulates.
A 2008 report from the Interior Department's inspector-general found MMS employees received improper gifts from energy industry representatives and engaged in illegal drug use and inappropriate sexual relations with them.
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar last week announced he would split MMS into separate divisions -- one for regulating offshore oil drilling and the other for collecting royalties from oil companies. Salazar said that having both responsibilities in one agency created a culture of possible corruption.
His job is done..time to move on..
'Federal official overseeing Offshore oil development to retire early'
The head of offshore drilling at an Interior Department agency criticized after the Gulf Coast oil spill is retiring a month earlier than planned.
Chris Oynes will step down as associate director of the agency's Offshore Minerals Management Program at the end of May, the official said. The program is part of the Minerals Management Service.
"Shortly after the Deepwater Horizon explosion, he approached leadership at MMS and announced he would be retiring on June 30, and today [Monday,] he told his colleagues that he would be accelerating his retirement." This, according to an unnamed official.
Oynes was named to the post in 2007. His responsibilities include overseeing the Outer Continental Shelf oil and gas program and working on a new alternative energy program.
In the past, critics have accused MMS of being too cozy with the industries it regulates.
A 2008 report from the Interior Department's inspector-general found MMS employees received improper gifts from energy industry representatives and engaged in illegal drug use and inappropriate sexual relations with them.
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar last week announced he would split MMS into separate divisions -- one for regulating offshore oil drilling and the other for collecting royalties from oil companies. Salazar said that having both responsibilities in one agency created a culture of possible corruption.
His job is done..time to move on..
