OMB blocked release of oil spill numbers
Report criticizes the federal government for creating the impression it was "either not fully competent to handle the spill or not fully candid" with Americans.
The Office of Management and Budget blocked efforts in late April or early May by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to reveal worst-case discharge numbers from the Deepwater Horizon well that exploded in the Gulf of Mexico, according to a report from The National Oil Spill Commission appointed by the President Obama.
The report said the federal government's estimates "undermined public confidence," and it criticizes the federal government for creating the impression that it was "either not fully competent to handle the spill or not fully candid with the American people about the scope of the problem."
In a joint statement, the directors of OMB and NOAA did not deny that NOAA's early spill estimate was blocked.
They said preliminary NOAA analysis was incomplete because it did not factor in measures used to control the oil.