PA 800
To: Dr. Shea
From: Xu Han
Date: Feb 11, 2015
Case Study: The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill
Introduction
The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill is one of the manmade disasters in 2010.
Its scale and severity is considered the largest marine oil spill in the history. The
disaster itself has drawn much of attention as its controversial response. Obama
administration’s decision on emergency response policy has faced tremendous
critique from state and local government as well as the general public. The
disaster response has demonstrated the complexity of public issues, while it
again revealed challenge of public administration. First, multiple stakeholders
have their respective priority and approach toward the Oil Spill. Second, decision
making has its bounded rationality in practice. Third, policy values should be
recognized at different levels.
Summary of the case
Oil spill was discovered by the end of April in the Gulf. After establishing a
National Incident Command (NIC) to coordinate response efforts, Obama
administration proceeded with the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA) in order to
response to major oil spills. However, the states are more familiar with the oil
spill response plan, Stafford Act. (Giles, 2013) From the very beginning,
discontent was raised among local and state leaders by the fact that federal
government went for OPA. Consequently, the implementation of OPA has been
constantly challenged throughout the oil spill response. In mid-July, the spill was
finally under control and stopped. The damage to the Gulf coast is imaginable,
but Obama administration has successfully put BP in the situation where they
were fully responsible for this disaster.
Key stakeholders
A few key stakeholders has played significant role in the Oil Spill
response. Holding respective interests, state and local government held large
participation in the whole process, for they are accountable for their
constituents. Federal government, as the decision maker, has made critical
decision on Oil Spill response policy, as well as the decisions on response
coordination. BP, an important stakeholder, is responsible for the Oil Spill,
therefore, it has been seeking ways to seal off the Macondo Well. With the time
passing by, the general public has increasingly raised their concern and anger to
exert pressure on local government and federal government.
Identified problems
Decision-making
One of disputes in Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill is the decision on response
policy, OPA or Stafford Act. Once Obama administration proceeded OPA, state
and local government immediately given resentment to this decision, because
they believe that this Oil Spill is one of the other spills that they have responded
to under their familiar policy, Stafford Act. OPA has its obvious limitation in
terms of the policy itself, which it has passed in 1990 and it was dealt with
surface oil, but not the deepwater oil. However, this policy requires BP to be fully
responsible for clean-up costs. (Giles, 2013) On one hand, the state and local
government believe they know what to do better than the federal government.
“we all resent those who have authority over us when we suspect that we know
more about life on the firing line than they do.” (Perrow, 1986) The federal
government, on the other hand, were “muddling through” an urgency.
(Lindblom, 1959) OPA might have offered values at the cost of big risk, time
consuming, than Stafford Act. Lack of understanding between local governments
and federal governments over the decision-making is a severe problem in this
case.
Trust Issue
Despite the fact that ceasing the oil spill is urgent, response expertise
didn’t gain much trust from the local government. As the severity of the disaster
increased, local government started to force more pressure on federal
government and Coast Guard on the matter of deploying boom. Coast Guard is
supposed to be the expert of Oil Spill response, yet it doesn’t have the power
compare to local government. A conflict between professional values and
bureaucratic values rose. (Perrow, 1986) Professionals only care about how to
get their job done well, while bureaucrats care about their constituents and their
public image. If local government thought that federal government has stuck its
nose into Oil Spill response too much, they should have examined how much
they interfere with responders. Therefore, there is a lack of trust between
government and expertise.
Recommendations
Means and Ends
Means and ends relationship is a theory that Lindblom has proposed in
his root method. Decision-making is a means-ends relationship where means to
be evaluated and chosen in the light of ends. (Lindblom, 1959) In this case, it is
recommended to consider this relationship in order to make a sound decision in
which will minimize the impact of Oil Spill. It is better to foresee the ends, what
to achieve, before making a decision on means.
Stakeholder analysis
Second recommendation is to conduct a stakeholder analysis either
before making a decision or after. Stakeholder analysis will help to identify the
interests and power grid. It provides a picture of where the emphasis of the issue
is and who will be the most impacted, furthermore, it helps to outline a winning
argument. (Bryson et al, 2002) It is important for the leadership to keep in mind
that to minimize discrepancy among stakeholders, for it is likely to slow down
things. And for such a major disaster, nobody wants the response slow down.
Cost and efficiency analysis
Last recommendation would be cost and efficiency analysis, or costefficiency forecast. Efficiency is a ratio between resources and results, which can
be assessed in the light of public values. (Meer & Rutgers, 2010) In this case,
between OPA and Stafford Act, it is worthwhile to make an assessment of
resources and values of these two plans, so that a more rational decision could
be made.
Conclusion
The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill has revealed some major problems in the
action of response, yet it has again given us a lesson not only on disaster
management, but also on political and administrative issues. Even though there
is no absolute right or wrong policy, it is important to weigh the values of
policies and to make a decision, which would generate minimum impact on the
public.
References
Giles, David W. (2013) The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill: The Politics of Crisis
Response (B). Case Number 1982.0. Cambridge, MA: Case Program, John F.
Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University.
Perrow, Charles. (1986) Complex Organizations: A Critical Essay, 3rd Edition.
New York: Random House.
Lindbolm, Charles E. (Spring, 1959) The Science of “Muddling Through”. Public
Administration Review, Vol. 19, No. 2. Blackwell Publishing on behalf of
American Society for Public Administration.
Bryson, John M, Cunningham, Gary L. & Lokkesmoe, Karen J. (2002) What to Do
When Stakeholders Matter. The Case of Problem Formulation for the African
American Men Project of Hennepin County, Minnesota. Public Administration
Review 62(5): 568-584
Meer, v., Rutgers, M. (2010). The Origins and Restriction of Efficiency in Public
Administration: Regaining Efficiency as the Core Value of Public Administration.
American & Society, 42(7), 755-779