Tag: BP

The nation must make commitment to spill prevention and response preparedness Last week the Department of the Interior released its proposed program for offshore oil and gas leasing from 2012 to 2017. The proposed program calls for potential lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico as well as in the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas north and west of Alaska. This is an important time to examine the lessons we are still learning from the BP oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. The nation must make a genuine commitment to spill prevention and response preparedness, which was not the case when the BP oil blowout occurred.If the United States is truly committed to protecting our ocean and the people who depend on ocean ecosystems, then we need to take action on six key lessons: Establishing baseline science before the federal government commits to offshore leases allows for better decisions about whether, where, when and how to drill. The necessary information includes identification of Important Ecological Areas and the Environmentally Sensitive Areas specified in the federal government's "blueprint" for responding to oil spills and other hazardous substance releases. Spill prevention and response preparedness must be integrated into oil and gas leasing ...

The court found that BP assumed full responsibility for oil released from the well A U.S. judge said Tuesday that BP PLC (BP) isn't entitled to receive money from Transocean Ltd.'s (RIG) insurers for costs related to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.The U.K. oil giant had sought U.S. courts to rule that it was covered under Transocean's insurance for the doomed Deepwater Horizon rig, even though its contract with the drilling company stated that BP would assume responsibility for spill costs.U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier, of Louisiana's Eastern District, said "BP is not entitled to the declarations of coverage it seeks," because in the drilling contract it signed both BP and Transocean split responsibilities. The court found that Transocean agreed to bear the cost of any accidents occurring above the surface of the water from spills, leaks or fuel discharges, while BP assumed full responsibility for oil released from the well."BP is not entitled to the declarations of coverage it seeks," the judge ruled. The policies included about $750 million of coverage, the court filing said.Under federal laws, the oil company in charge of a lease--in this case, BP--assumes the cost of stopping a spill and cleaning it up, to ...

Toxicology report relating to a sick oil spill cleanup worker A toxicology report relating to a sick oil spill cleanup worker claims the operation in which BP and the Coast Guard set the massive slick on fire was characterized by secrecy, including a threat to shoot down a news helicopter. The report also says most of the oiled birds found during the spill were euthanized rather than rehabilitated.Toxicologist Patricia Williams' report relates to Malcolm Coco, who worked for BP from May 14 to Sept. 2, 2010 as a Boat Igniter Operator, lighting the gigantic slick of oil from BP's failed Macondo well on fire. Williams, who has a Ph.D. in anatomy from the Tulane University School of Medicine, wrote the report for Coco's attorney, Daniel Becnel Jr., on letterhead of Environmental Toxicology Experts, of Metairie.According to the 13-page report, while Coco was lighting the crude oil on fire, "planes were flying overhead dropping dispersants which rained down on him and the other workers. ... The entire operation was overseen by the U.S. Coast Guard from the ship. There was much secrecy. He had a radio to maintain communication with the ship and overheard voices telling a news helicopter to leave ...

Focus will turn to restoring areas damaged in the oil spill BP will officially be off the hook for any deposits of oil that wash up on the shores of the Gulf of Mexico - unless they can be traced directly to the Macondo well, it has emerged.Under a plan approved by the Coast Guard on 2 November, the oil company will end active cleanup operations and focus on restoring the areas damaged by last year's oil disaster.The plan, which was obtained by the Associated Press, sets out a protocol for determining which areas of the Gulf still need to be cleaned, and when BP's responsibility for that would end.The plan "provides the mechanisms for ceasing active cleanup operations", AP said.It went on to suggest the biggest effort would be reserved for the most popular, heavily visited beaches. More oil would be tolerated on remote beaches. BP will be responsible for cleaning up thick oil in marshes - unless officials decide it is best to let nature do its work.The agency quoted coast guard officials saying the plan represented an important milestone in restoring the Gulf. BP has set aside about $1bn for restoration.The Obama administration has been indicating for ...

Billions of dollars are potentially at stake in a trial scheduled for February The companies involved in the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history are trying to prevent government investigations blaming them for the disaster from being used against them by the people and businesses who are suing them.Billions of dollars are potentially at stake in a trial scheduled for February to determine whether rig owner Transocean can limit what it pays those making claims under maritime law and to assign percentages of fault to Transocean and other companies involved.BP, Transocean and cement contractor Halliburton filed motions late Monday in federal court in New Orleans seeking to keep certain government oil spill reports out of the civil case. BP also wants a judge to bar plaintiffs' lawyers from using past criminal, civil and regulatory proceedings against the British firm in the civil case. The companies cited rules of evidence and other procedural issues.The filings deal with the two most comprehensive federal investigations of the disaster. One that was issued in September by the U.S. Coast Guard and the agency that regulates offshore drilling concluded that BP bears ultimate responsibility for the disaster. The other report by the presidential oil ...

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Fresh oil rising from BP's Macondo Reservoir is coming ashore, again The Gulf Coast is reeling from reports that fresh oil rising from BP's Macondo Reservoir - ground zero of last year's massive spill - is coming ashore, again. Scientists have confirmed the existence of a "second wave" of BP oil fouling Gulf waters and beaches, poisoning marine life and wildlife, and posing a grave public health risk.While federal officials fail to acknowledge the problem, the situation in the Gulf worsens by the day. "It's deja vu all over again, in the very worst way," says New Orleans-based environmental attorney Stuart H. Smith. "We have fresh oil surfacing again at the Deepwater Horizon site.'Through rigorous "fingerprint" testing, LSU chemist Ed Overton confirmed that slicks sweeping across the Macondo Prospect since mid-August are made up of BP oil. "It is a dead-ringer match," Professor Overton said. "I was amazed that the ratios matched as good as they did."Chemical confirmation that the oil is from the Macondo wellsite provides vindication for those who pursued the truth for months despite a hard-nosed campaign of denial, intimidation and obfuscation executed by BP and its partners in the federal government. It is this very type ...

o examine the compensation fund set up for the residents of the Gulf

The legal tussle between Transocean and BP stemming from the 2010 spill Transocean Ltd. filed a motion in federal court Tuesday to forceBP PLC to indemnify it against damages related to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.The legal salvo is the latest in an increasingly bitter contractual dispute between the companies over whether the Switzerland-based Transocean should help pay billions of dollars in costs and government penalties. Federal investigations into the incident have put blame on both BP and Transocean in the 2010 spill, which occurred after a drilling crew lost control of an oil well in deep water off the coast of Louisiana.BP has agreed to pay costs related to cleaning up the spill. But the London-based oil giant is seeking to have Transocean help cover the oil-spill cleanup costs, arguing that Transocean and its employees bear partial responsibility for the accident.Transocean, owner of the world's largest fleet of offshore deepwater drilling rigs, says that BP agreed in its contract to "defend, indemnify and hold harmless" the driller.Transocean, in its legal motion, argues that BP is trying to nullify its contract for use of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig. "Why have you signed so many contracts, reviewed by an army ...

Many complain of ongoing health problems related to the oil and chemical dispersant mix Willie Seaman of Irvington, AL,lays carpet and floors for a living. But last summer, as the BP well gushed thousands of barrels of oil daily into the Gulf, Seaman signed up with the BP cleanup program, working on a shrimp boat several miles off shore.It was brutally hot and the smell of oil was putrid, he remembers. His job was to use a net to try to pull in the thick, reddish BP crude that he says was up to a foot thick in places. Problem was, the white protective suits didn't do much to keep the oil off, Seaman recalls. Instead, he says they acted like absorbent pads, soaking up the oil that would rub against his skin.Seaman says before longhe started breaking out in blistery red hives on his hands and feet. Theitching was so bad a coworker said Seaman would scrub his feet with a wire brush until his skin sloughed off like scales of a fish.Despite shots of steroids and numerous doctor visits, Seaman endured countless bouts of painful hives; and hestill gets them, he says, especially after eating seafood from the ...