No Relief for Jobs Killed by Drilling Ban

Shallow-water rig workers and those in industries unrelated to oil drilling are losing their jobs and being denied access to relief funds because of what Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) calls a “de facto shallow-water drilling ban.”

Nearly $1 billion is going to Gulf Coast industries that are suffering in the aftermath of the BP oil spill, but many workers losing their jobs due to the drilling ban, imposed by the Obama administrations’ Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, are not eligible. BP’s $20 billion relief fund for those affected by the Gulf oil spill does not cover workers that have lost their jobs due to the moratorium.

BP created a separate Rig Worker Assistance Fund with a $100 million fund for workers of select deep-water rigs that lost their jobs, leaving out workers on rigs that have moved out of the Gulf and shallow-water rig workers altogether. Shallow-water rigs are not banned from drilling in the Gulf, but have had more stringent requirements placed on them for obtaining permits to drill.
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