Offshore-drilling study will resume

FAYETTEVILLE — An offshore-drilling safety study led by a UA professor has been cleared by federal officials to resume after an approximately nine-month delay.

The approval came 10 days before a Sept. 27 announcement of updated federal safety regulations, according to information provided by a spokesman with the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement in the U.S. Interior Department.

Greg Parnell, an industrial engineering professor, serves as chairman for a National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine committee that met once before a federal order in December halted their work, which aims to provide recommendations about safety inspections to the bureau. Parnell declined an interview request.

The published updates to federal regulations have drawn some criticism. Diane Hoskins, a campaign director for the nonprofit Oceana, said in a statement that the updates “allow offshore oil companies to self-police and prioritize industry profits over safety.”

Tiffany Gray, a public-affairs specialist with the bureau, said in a statement that the regulations update came “in response to Executive and Secretarial orders to review and revise regulations that created an unnecessary burden to the safe and sustainable exploration, development, and production of our nation’s offshore energy resources.”