NEWS FLASH

Coast Guard Official To Lead Policing Of Offshore Drilling | Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar named a Coast Guard official who played a key role in the response to the BP oil spill as director of the newly launched Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE). Rear Adm. James A. Watson IV will take over the agency that handles permitting, enforcement of environmental and safety rules, and other tasks, and he replaces Michael Bromwich, the former director who oversaw the restructuring of the agency after last year’s Gulf Coast oil spill. Watson worked as the federal on-scene coordinator during the BP oil disaster. “The safe and responsible production of oil and gas from our nation’s oceans is vital to our energy security,” Watson said. According to the Hill, Salazar previously had said the BSEE director needed to manage the intense politics that come with regulating oil drilling.