Public Comment Policy

All readers are encouraged to leave comments. While all points of view are welcome the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling (hereby referred to as “Commission”)website, only comments that are courteous and on-topic will be posted.  To maintain a respectful dialogue, we've posted the guidelines of our comment policy below:

• Stay focused. All viewpoints are welcome, but comments should remain relevant to the Commission and the associated Web site.
• Be respectful. Personal attacks, profanity, and aggressive behavior are prohibited. Instigating arguments in a disrespectful way is also prohibited.
• Tell the truth. Spreading misleading or false information is prohibited.
• No spam. Repeated posting of identical or very similar content in a counter-productive manner is prohibited — this includes posts aggressively promoting services or products.
• No Personal Information. Sharing Personally Identifiable Information such as your name combined with your address, telephone number, social security number, Claim numbers, or health information, etc. is prohibited.

We retain the discretion to determine which comments violate our comment policy. We also reserve the right to remove and/or not allow comments to get posted. The views expressed within posted comments do not necessarily reflect those of the Commission, Department of Energy, or the federal government.

Please do not use this site to submit or request updates on individual claims. Individuals, businesses, and communities who have been impacted by the Deep Water Horizon Oil Spill and need assistance should visit DisasterAssistance.gov.

We recognize that the Web is a 24/7 medium, and your comments are welcome at any time. However, given the need to manage federal resources (i.e. your tax dollars), moderating and posting comments should only be expected to occur during regular business hours.

Reporters are asked to send questions via the Contact Us form and to refrain from submitting questions here as comments. Reporter questions will not be posted nor answered.

All comments submitted on this site are public information and may be stored according to the guidelines of the National Archives and Records Administration. The comments will be considered by the Commission in addition to public comments made in person at Commission meetings.

No comments delivered to this site will be understood as official correspondence. Official electronic comments may be delivered via e-mail to BPDeepwaterHorizonCommission@hq.doe.gov.  Official written comments may be mailed to:

Christopher A. Smith, U.S.

Department of Energy, 1000
Independence Avenue, SW.,
Washington, DC 20585.

Thank you for your participation. Click here to return to the comment page