Texas State Auditor's looked into the dearth of oversight into the RRC inspectors.

State inspectors who check oil and gas wells for safety and environmental problems work under little supervision and need specific rules about accepting gifts from well operators, according to a state audit.

Forty-six percent of the 169,000 oil and gas leases in Texas have not been inspected for five years, reducing the agency's chances of preventing environmental problems, the Texas state auditor's office said in its Aug. 24 report.

State inspectors make their checks using an informal system that relies on complaints and might appear too friendly to well operators, the audit states.

"In the three districts visited, employees reported that they accept meals, caps, gift baskets and other small gifts from oil and gas operators that they regulate," the auditor's report says. "While this may not violate the Commission's policies, any acceptance of gifts by district employees from industry may create a public perception that the employee is not objective."

So what did Richard Varela of the RRC say about the inspectors taking gifts?

It's not unusual for an operator to take one of our inspectors out to lunch -- not only our inspectors but any inspectors in the state," Varela said. "We don't envision that being cushy."

No wonder there's corruption when Varela can't see anything wrong with that.