Tag: Gulf of Mexico

A Report by Save Our Gulf Waterkeepers This week a comprehensive status report on the Gulf Coast was released by Save Our Gulf, an environmental coalition of members of Waterkeeper Alliance from the states of Louisiana, Florida, Mississippi, and Alabama. The report is called "The State of the Gulf: A Status Report from the Save Our Gulf Waterkeepers in the Wake of the BP Oil Spill".The report documents the progress, current conditions and makes recommendations for the restoration efforts after the region experienced the worst environmental disaster in the history of the United States and is written from the perspective of the men and women who are Riverkeepers, Baykeepers, Basinkeepers, BayouKeepers, and Coastkeepers in the Gulf region, whose job on a normal day is to protect their individual waterways from polluters, no easy task I assure you. Since the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster in April 2010, there have been no normal days.That day changed everything, for all of them, affecting all of their waterways, their job descriptions, their environments, the health, welfare and livelihoods of their families and communities. In fact, every single living organism in the Gulf was impacted by this disaster.While it may no longer be nightly news, ...

Lawsuit against the Australian owners of the the Mermaid Vigilance Mermaid VigilanceFREMANTLE-based Mermaid Marine is one of three companies accused of actions ''tantamount to murder at sea'' in a US lawsuit filed by the family of one of four oil workers who died last month during a violent storm in the Gulf of Mexico.Two of the six men who survived the catastrophe also have filed lawsuits alleging ASX-listed Mermaid Marine and US-based companies Geokinetics Inc and Trinity Liftboat Services were grossly negligent.They claim the crew of Mermaid Vigilance, one of Mermaid Marine's fleet that was contracted to provide services to Houston-based Geokinetics, turned for shore instead of helping the oil workers as they abandoned the disabled Trinity II mobile platform on September 8.They contend the Vigilance's action in deserting the workers was both cowardly and intentional, and they allege Geokinetics was the ''ringleader''.One of the oil workers who died was Aaron Houweling, a 33-year-old from Narangba in south-east Queensland.Mr Houweling drowned in huge seas after shedding his life vest and pushing himself away from the tiny cork life raft that represented the last hope for survival for the oil workers.His body was not found until September 16 after an extensive ...

The Mexican Navy continues to search On Friday night around 6:30pm, Carnival officials confirm passengers witnessing a male passenger aboard the Conquest jumping overboard while cruising near Cozumel in the Gulf of Mexico.When news of the event reached Carnival officials, the ship returned to the location where the man was last seen and began a search and rescue mission for the man who has now been identified by the Houston Chronicle as 39-year-old Wayne Markham of Forney, Texas.According to Carnival, Mexican authorities searched the Conquest and then allowed the ship to continue on its scheduled voyage, leaving the search and rescue efforts to them. The Mexican Navy continues to search for Markham in the Gulf of Mexico and Carnival officials added that they are working with the man's family to provide support in this time of difficulty and uncertainty.Carnival's Conquest had departed from Galveston, Texas on September 18th and was expected to return as planned on Sunday after a 7-day cruise.Source: Maritime Executive

New tanker's mission is to respond to a deepwater well control incident in the Gulf Marine Well Containment Company (MWCC) has announced the delivery of an integral component to its expanded containment system, a new Aframax tanker. Named "Eagle Texas" in a recent ceremony in Takamatsu, Japan, the tanker will be operated by AET Tanker Holdings. The "Eagle Texas" will soon undergo extensive conversion and modification before taking up duties in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico."This tanker is critical to our expanded containment system, which will be operational next year," said MWCC Chief Executive Officer Marty Massey. "With the interim and expanded containment systems, MWCC is able to achieve its mission to be continuously ready to respond to a deepwater well control incident in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico."The "Eagle Texas" is one of two dedicated capture vessels that will serve as part of MWCC's expanded containment system. Modular process equipment will be installed on the capture vessels and will connect to the riser assembly that directs the oil from the subsea components. The process equipment will separate the oil from the gas, safely store the oil and flare the gas. Oil will be offloaded to shuttle tankers and transported ...

Tar balls washed onto Gulf of Mexico beaches Tar balls washed onto Gulf of Mexico beaches by Tropical Storm Lee earlier this month show that oil left over from last year's BP spill isn't breaking down as quickly as some scientists thought it would, university researchers said Tuesday. Auburn University experts who studied tar samples at the request of coastal leaders said the latest wave of gooey orbs and chunks appeared relatively fresh, smelled strongly and were hardly changed chemically from the weathered oil that collected on Gulf beaches during the spill.The study concluded that mats of oil - not weathered tar, which is harder and contains fewer hydrocarbons - are still submerged on the seabed and could pose a long-term risk to coastal ecosystems.BP didn't immediately comment on the study, but the company added cleanup crews and extended their hours after large patches of tar balls polluted the white sand at Gulf Shores and Orange Beach starting around Sept. 6. Tar balls also washed ashore in Pensacola, Fla., which is to the east and was farther from the storm's path.Marine scientist George Crozier said the findings make sense because submerged oil degrades slowly due to the relatively low amount ...

BP bears ultimate responsibility for the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history BP bears ultimate responsibility for the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history, a key government panel said Wednesday in a report that assigns more blame to the company than other investigations and could hurt its effort to fend off criminal charges and billions of dollars in penalties.The report concluded that BP violated federal regulations, ignored crucial warnings, was inattentive to safety and made bad decisions during the cementing of the well a mile beneath the Gulf of Mexico.Eleven rig workers were killed in the April 2010 explosion, and some 200 million gallons of crude spewed from the bottom of the sea.The investigation was conducted by a team from the two main agencies responsible for drilling and safety in federal waters: the Coast Guard and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management Regulation and Enforcement.In the report, other companies shared some of the blame. Rig owner Transocean was accused of being deficient in preventing or limiting the disaster, in part by bypassing alarms and automatic shutdown systems. Halliburton, the contractor responsible for mixing and testing the cement, was faulted as well.But BP, as the designated operator of the ...

Report into what caused the worst offshore oil spill is set to be released soon A BP scientist identified a previously unreported deposit of flammable gas that could have played a role in the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, but the oil giant failed to divulge the finding to government investigators for as long as a year, according to interviews and documents obtained by The Associated Press.While engineering experts differ on the extent to which the two-foot-wide swath of gas-bearing sands helped cause the disaster, the finding raises the specter of further legal and financial troubles for BP. It also could raise the stakes in the multibillion-dollar court battle between the companies involved.A key federal report into what caused the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history is set to be released as early as Wednesday."This is a critical factor, where the hydrocarbons are found," said Rice University engineering professor Satish Nagarajaiah. "I think further studies are needed to determine where this exactly was and what response was initiated by BP if they knew this fact."At issue: BP petrophysicist Galina Skripnikova in a closed-door deposition two months ago told attorneys involved in the oil spill litigation that there appeared to ...

New evidence of a massive oil slick near Deepwater Horizon site

Interview of a scientist who is studying the Gulf oil spill's impact on basic

Over the last several weeks, concern has been growing that the well is leaking oil Over the last several weeks, many have become concerned based on reports of oil on the surface of the water near BP's now P&A'd (plugged and abandoned) Macondo Well, and concern has been growing that the well is now leaking oil. I have been skeptical of such an occurrence, since properly plugged wells don't do that, but reports have become so frantic that BP actually responded in a press release that this is simply not the case.The press release asserted that a subsea inspection with ROVs was conducted, witnessed by the Gulf Coast Incident Management Team, which is the successor organization to the old Unified Command that was organized last year to respond to the growing disaster. BP did not, to my knowledge, provide the public with a video of the inspections, which would have dispelled the rumors (or at least decreased them).The story started in August with reports of oil on the surface from the Mobile Press Register along with video of oil sheen close to the Macondo location. Aerial photos of the area were then posted by the Gulf Restoration Network and On ...