BP - To Pay Largest Environmental Settlement

"After a long legal fight, BP agrees to largest environmental settlement in U.S. history" PBS NewsHour 7/2/2015

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  In the nation’s worst oil disaster, 134 million gallons of crude gushed into the Gulf of Mexico, coating beaches and barrier islands, killing thousands of animals and decimating fisheries.  Now nearly five years later, oil giant British Petroleum is facing a record settlement of $18.7 billion.  Judy Woodruff discusses the deal with Rep. Garret Graves, R-La.

JUDY WOODRUFF (NewsHour):  It was the nation’s worst oil disaster and came to be known as the BP (British Petroleum) spill.  After a long and bitter fight that played out in the courts, a record settlement was finally announced today.

The oil gushed from BP’s Macondo well for 87 days.  Now, almost five years since the well was sealed, the company aims to settle with the federal government and five states, Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas.

Alabama Governor Robert Bentley:

GOV. ROBERT BENTLEY (R), Alabama:  With the agreement reached today and the compensation BP will pay for their responsibility, we are taking a significant step forward in our state and in especially the Gulf Coast areas to move forward with the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history.

JUDY WOODRUFF:  In all, 134 million gallons of crude fouled the Gulf’s waters, and coated beaches and barrier islands, killing thousands of animals, and decimating local fisheries.

The projected deal totals $18.7 billion; $5.5 billion would go toward restoration efforts, as part of a federal Clean Water Act penalty.  Another $7 billion would cover natural resource damages.  And nearly $6 billion goes to economic and other claims by the five states and 400 local government entities.

In a statement today, U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch called it the largest environmental settlement in U.S. history.  For BP, the settlement will effectively add about $10 billion to the $44 billion it already set aside for cleanup costs and penalties.

The oil giant had revenues of $15 billion last year, and will spread the settlement costs over the next 15 to 18 years.  In a statement today, BP’s CEO, Bob Dudley said:  “This agreement will resolve the largest liabilities remaining from the tragic accident and enable BP to focus on safely delivering the energy the world needs.”

The agreement is still subject to final approval by a federal judge.

GULF OIL SPILL - Still Killing Dolphins

"New science shows Gulf spill is still killing dolphins" PBS NewsHour 5/19/2015

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  More than 1,000 bottlenose dolphins have died off the Gulf Coast since 2010, the year a massive Deepwater Horizon spill spewed millions of gallons of oil and chemicals.  A new study by researchers at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration examines why.  The NewsHour's William Brangham joins Judy Woodruff to discuss the findings.

JUDY WOODRUFF (NewsHour):  Now, the lasting impact of America’s biggest offshore oil spill.

It comes as officials are grappling with a new spill along the coast of Southern California near Santa Barbara.  It began yesterday when an onshore pipeline ruptured.  Slicks are now spanning a total of nine miles and the line was operating at full capacity when it broke.

Today, a new study by researchers at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration looked at why dolphins died in such large numbers after the Deepwater Horizon spill of 2010.  It was the strongest link yet to the spill and to the deaths of bottlenose dolphins.  More than 1,000 dolphins have died in the Gulf since 2010.

The spill lasted nearly three months, spewing millions of gallons of oil and chemicals into the Gulf of Mexico.

We get the latest from William Brangham, who weekend viewers will recognize, and he is now here with us as our newest NewsHour correspondent.

And we welcome you to the team, William.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM (NewsHour):  Thanks, Judy.  Great to be here.

JUDY WOODRUFF:  So, let’s talk about this, what researchers are saying.  What do they say these new studies show?

WILLIAM BRANGHAM:  What they’re saying is that this has been the first definitive link where they can directly connect the death, this massive die-off of dolphins — as you mentioned, over 1,300 — I think it’s 1,200, 1,300 dolphins — linking those deaths directly with the oil spill.

I mean, scientists have been studying these dolphins for several years, ever since the spill occurred.  This is the first time they have said, we now know why they died and in such large numbers, and it’s because of the Deepwater Horizon disaster.

GULF OIL SPILL - Four Years Later

"After Gulf oil spill, filmmaker returns to see what happened when the cameras had gone" PBS NewsHour 11/19/2014

Excerpt

GWEN IFILL (NewsHour):  Now, the continuing effects of the Gulf Coast oil spill.

It may not be in the headlines as much as it once was, but some communities are still coping with its aftermath.

A new documentary showing in select theaters around the country returns to — the spotlight to those issues.

Hari Sreenivasan talks to the filmmaker.

HARI SREENIVASAN (NewsHour):  It’s been more than four years sense the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history fouled the waters off the Gulf Coast after the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded.  Oil gushed into Gulf for almost three months before it was capped.  Eleven people died.

Since then, billions of dollars have been paid in settlements, shorelines have been cleaned, and areas have been restored, but some residents, businesses, and environmentalists say some places along the Gulf Coast have never fully recovered.

A new documentary called “The Great Invisible” highlights some of those issues.  (must see trailer)

MAN:  I’m used to seeing dirt, sand, something like that, but I ain’t never seen no kind of black — like a black, like, oily look.  I just caught these shrimp.  Look how they look.  These shrimp, see the black in them and stuff?  That came out of the water.  Like, that — that came out of that shrimp.  While that shrimp was in the freezer freezing, that is what came out of the shrimp.

HARI SREENIVASAN:  Filmmaker Margaret Brown joins me now.

So, what was it that you were trying to achieve when you set out to make the film?

MARGARET BROWN, Director, “The Great Invisible”:  Well, when I started to make the film, it was very personal, because I’m from Alabama.

I grew up on the Gulf Coast. And my father started sending me pictures of his house, which is on the water, and it was surrounded by the oil boom — or the orange boom that the volunteer fire department had put out to prevent the oil from reaching the shoreline.

And there were all these workers working around the house.  It just was really — sort of didn’t look like his house anymore.  And it felt very personal.  And then I started talking to people that I had grown up with, and people just didn’t really know what to do.  Like, in a hurricane, which happens a lot in the South, people know what to do.  There’s, like, a checklist.  But, with this, no one knew what to do.

LOUISIANA - Political Fight Over Land-Loss

"As Louisiana’s coastline shrinks, a political fight over responsibility grows" PBS NewsHour 5/27/2014

Excerpt

GWEN IFILL (NewsHour):  The coast of Louisiana is crumbling into the Gulf of Mexico at an alarming rate.  Over the last 80 years, it’s lost nearly 2,000 square miles.  That’s as big as all of Rhode Island.  Now a political fight has broken out in the state legislature over who’s going to help pay to try and repair the damage.

Hari Sreenivasan has our story.

WOMAN:  I would like to introduce to John Barry.

MAN:  Hi, John.

HARI SREENIVASAN (NewsHour):  John Barry, the award-winning historian and writer, and a man who’s normally holed up in a book-lined office by himself, has lately become one of the busiest men in Louisiana.

JOHN BARRY, Author, “Rising Tide”:  This is not just another piece of legislation.

HARI SREENIVASAN:  He’s been talking to rotary clubs.

JOHN BARRY:  I’m John Barry.

HARI SREENIVASAN:  Testifying before the state legislature.

JOHN BARRY:  There is no debate, scientifically, over that fact.

HARI SREENIVASAN:  Why?  Barry is fighting a controversial legal and political battle to try and force the powerful oil and gas industry to pay billions for the role their dredging and drilling has played in the erosion of the coast of Louisiana.

Barry is best known for his book “Rising Tide,” an account of the devastating 1927 flood in Louisiana.  That bestseller made him something of a local celebrity, and has given him a platform to sound the alarm about the current land-loss crisis in the state.

GULF OIL SPILL - Update, Halliburton Destroyed Evidence

This as backdrop to BP's 'we are great' TV add campaign.  Can you hear the echo of shredders going full bore?

"Halliburton Admits Destroying Evidence in 'Grim Sorting Out' of Gulf Spill Blame" PBS Newshour 7/26/2013

Excerpt

HARI SREENIVASAN (Newshour):  Soon after the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded, three companies began a blame game over whose mistakes were most responsible for the environmental disaster.  That battle, which continues to play out in court, involved BP, Transocean, and Halliburton.

BP leased the Deepwater Horizon from Transocean.  It also owned much of the Macondo well that erupted and spilled millions of barrels of oil into the Gulf.  Halliburton was contracted to design and build the well.

One of the key arguments has been about whether Halliburton's work on the well may have led to the blowout that killed 11 people.  Yesterday, Halliburton pleaded guilty to destroying evidence in 2010 about test simulations it did with cement in the wake of the accident.

Paul Barrett has been following this story for Bloomberg Businessweek and fills us in.

AMERICA - Gulf Oil Spill Update, BP Fined $4.5 Billion (updated)

"BP to pay record fine in Gulf oil spill; 2 to face manslaughter charges" by AP, CBS News 11/15/2012

Excerpt

BP said Thursday that it will pay $4.5 billion in a settlement with the U.S. government over the massive 2010 oil spill and will plead guilty to felony counts related to the deaths of 11 workers and lying to Congress.

The figure includes nearly $1.3 billion in criminal fines — the largest such penalty ever — along with payments to several government entities.

Meanwhile, a source close to the case confirmed to CBS News Thursday that two BP employees face manslaughter charges over the 11 deaths in the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig that triggered the massive spill.

"We believe this resolution is in the best interest of BP and its shareholders," said Carl-Henric Svanberg, BP's Chairman. "It removes two significant legal risks and allows us to vigorously defend the company against the remaining civil claims."

The settlement includes payments of nearly $2.4 billion to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, $350 million to the National Academy of Sciences and about $500 million to the Securities and Exchange Commission.

London-based BP PLC said in a statement that the settlement would not include civil claims under the Clean Water Act and other legislation, pending private civil claims and state claims for economic loss.

The charges BP will plead guilty to include 11 felony counts of misconduct or neglect of ships officers, one felony count of obstruction of Congress and one misdemeanor count each under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and the Clean Water Act. The 11 counts related to the workers' deaths are under a provision of the Seaman's Manslaughter Act.

The obstruction charge is for lying to Congress about how much oil was pouring out of the ruptured well.

Attorney General Eric Holder was scheduled to discuss the settlement at an afternoon news conference in New Orleans.

BP made a profit of $5.5 billion in the third quarter.

The largest previous corporate criminal penalty assessed by the Department of Justice was a $1.2 billion fine imposed on drug maker Pfizer in 2009.

"BP to Pay Largest Fine in U.S. History, Admit Guilt in Gulf Oil Spill Settlement"
PBS Newshour 11/15/2012

AMERICA - The Lingering Effects of the Gulf Oil Spill

"Gulf Still Grapples With Massive BP Oil Leak 2 Years Later"
PBS Newshour 4/20/2012


COMMENT: As stated in the video it IS very hard to evaluate the lingering effects of the spill because we do not have baseline information to compare to.

This is especially since drilling at the depth of Deapwater Horizon is not been fully evaluated as of yet. This is just one of the problems with deep-water drilling in general, it is too new. BP and other drilling companies and affiliates are going ahead WITHOUT conscientious evaluation of what SHOULD be considered, as if deep-water drilling = shallow-water drilling. This also includes our own government when giving licenses for deep-water drilling, which they are TRYING to address as of now.

BP - Feds Ignore Safety Concerns

"Feds Let BP Off Probation Despite Pending Safety Violations" by Abrahm Lustgarten, ProPublica 3/12/2012

BP’s refining subsidiary was released today from criminal probation related to a 2005 explosion in Texas City that killed 15 workers.

The company has addressed the most serious safety deficiencies exposed by the accident and satisfied the terms of a felony plea agreement to settle charges that it failed to protect workers from known risks, a U.S. Justice Department spokesman said.

The move closes a controversial chapter for the company, but it leaves an array of worker-safety issues unresolved. BP is still negotiating over more than 400 additional violations brought against its Texas City refinery separately from the criminal case.

Following the explosion, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration and BP reached a settlement requiring the company to address safety issues at the refinery. Fixing those problems became one of the Justice Department’s conditions for settling felony charges relating to the explosion and for ending the three-year probation period.

In late 2009, however, after a series of inspections, OSHA determined that BP had not addressed many of its safety lapses and levied 270 additional violations and a $87.4 million fine. It also hit the company with another 439 additional “egregious and willful” safety violations at the refinery that were not a component of the criminal case.

At issue then was whether the company had violated some of the most important terms of its probation even after it was given a second chance. In 2010, BP settled with OSHA, paying the agency $50.6 million and committing to making substantive safety changes by the court-set sunset of its probation period today (March 12).

A Justice Department spokesman said BP has met its obligations for probation, including addressing the 270 violations. The remaining 400 or so OSHA violations, however, were not specific to the Texas City agreement.

“These violations were unrelated to the 2005 settlement agreement and did not in the Department's view rise to criminal conduct,” said Wyn Hornbuckle, an agency spokesman, in a statement to ProPublica. “The Department did not seek any extension or revocation of BP's criminal probation.”

The resolution of those remaining violations will be dealt with administratively, by OSHA, Hornbuckle said, and not by the courts.

As the probation expired, confusion remained about exactly what improvements BP had made at its refineries. According to the 2010 agreement with OSHA, BP pledged to address the risk of catastrophic chemical releases and to install new protective equipment and instrument systems across the sprawling refinery’s 28 units.

It was not clear how much progress the company had made, however, and BP spokesman Daren Beaudo characterized the OSHA issues as Unresolved.

“We continue to work with OSHA to resolve these issues,” Beaudo wrote in an email. BP declined to say whether it had made any of the specific improvements listed in its 2010 settlement agreement, or to say how much money it had invested at the Texas City plant to meet the terms of its agreement with OSHA.

A spokeswoman for OSHA said the agency remained in negotiations with the company.

In an email exchange, OSHA told ProPublica that the agency could not provide copies of any of the quarterly progress reports that BP had agreed to submit, and that it was “unable” to specify how many of its outstanding violations BP had addressed.

On March 23, 2005, a facility used to distill gasoline and boost its octane content was overfilled by BP workers, spewing a geyser of flammable liquid into the air. The subsequent explosion destroyed an office trailer nearby, killed 15 workers, and sent nearly 200 more to area hospitals.

Like the investigations into BP’s Deepwater Horizon accident in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010, a series of reports analyzing the refinery disaster found that the company had failed to follow basic steps to avert a disaster, had not installed or maintained equipment that would have helped prevent the leak and the explosion, and generally had a poor safety approach.

A 2010 investigation by ProPublica found that in the years before the explosion, BP had been repeatedly warned that its facilities were in need of repair, and the company had declined to replace ailing equipment — including the unit that failed the day of the explosion — in order to cut costs.

Documents obtained by ProPublica showed that an internal BP report shortly before the disaster said that employees at the plant worked with “an exceptional degree of fear.” The report warned that the plant might “kills (sic) someone in the next 12-18 months.”

The Texas refinery, which produces about 3 percent of the country’s gasoline, continued to have problems after the explosion. Several more workers died in accidents, and in 2010, the plant was found emitting a huge cloud of unpermitted toxic emissions.

After the toxic release, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), Texas’s chief environmental regulator, charged the company with emissions reporting violations and alleged it had violated the terms of its probation with the federal government. BP settled that case, as well as an another similar emissions violation, with Texas in late 2011.

That left the criminal probation period and the outstanding OSHA violations as the final chapters in the Texas City saga.

BP has endeavored to keep the Texas City accident separate from claims and ongoing investigations into its 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. As recently as two weeks ago, the company’s lawyers argued in court that past accidents should have no bearing on a trial to decide liability for the Deepwater Horizon explosion that killed 11 workers.

BP sought to strike portions of testimony about Texas City and other past incidents from its former CEO, Tony Hayward, in depositions that would be admitted to the court.

BP announced last year that it would sell its Texas City refinery along with another facility outside Los Angeles. The company said this week it has suitors and expects to complete a sale by year’s end.

Hay, after all BP has such an outstanding reputation on caring about safety.... NOT!

POLITICS - Drill-Baby-Drill Bill Dies

"GOP’s drilling bill is defeated easily" by Stephen Dinan, Washington Times 5/18/2011

A Republican oil drilling bill fell flat in the Senate on Wednesday, unable to garner even the support of all members of the GOP and underscoring the gridlock that prevails in Congress on energy issues.

The bill, which would have pushed the Obama administration to lease more territory for drilling, only got 42 votes of support from the GOP, well short of the 60 needed to advance. Five Republicans joined 52 Democrats in opposing the measure.

Sen. David Vitter, a Louisiana Republican who voted against the bill, said the Republican bill offered by Minority Leader Mitch McConnell would actually add a new layer of safety regulations that could slow companies that are finally coming to terms with drilling a year after the BP oil spill.

Other senators said the bill went too far to nationalize decision-making in Washington, taking it out of the hands of states.

“A year ago, oil was still spewing unabated off the coast of Louisiana,” said Sen. Olympia J. Snowe, Maine Republican. “Clearly, decisions about offshore drilling have dramatic implications for coastal states. I strongly believe the future of the Gulf of Maine must remain in the hands of Mainers, and we should afford states’ rights to manage our ocean resources.”

The debate over energy has heated up as gas prices nationwide flirt with $4 per gallon. This weekend President Obama announced his own unilateral steps he said he will take to try to lease more land for exploration.

The Republicans’ failed bill would have reopened leases the Obama administration canceled after the BP spill, required the government to accept previous environmental assessments of some leases, and set a deadline for the administration to accept or deny drilling requests which Republicans said was needed to prevent the Interior Department from slow-walking decisions. The bill did require outside certification of oil spill response plans.

“It’s time to stop holding Americans back with moratoriums, fees, bureaucratic roadblocks, and the ever-expanding reach of a president who seems to think that business owners in this country need to get his permission first if they want to create jobs,” Mr. McConnell said before the vote.

House Republicans last week pushed through pro-drilling bills similar to Mr. McConnell’s legislation, but Wednesday’s vote signals those are not likely to go anywhere.

The bill’s failure comes a day after Senate Republicans blocked Democrats’ plan to end tax breaks for the major five oil companies. Taken together, the votes show gridlock continues to prevail in the Senate when it comes to energy issues.

The Republicans who joined Democrats in addition to Mr. Vitter and Mrs. Snowe were Sens. Jim DeMint of South Carolina, Mike Lee of Utah and Richard C. Shelby of Alabama.

See, not all Republicans are rock-headed. The Gulf Oil Spill did teach something, if only "drill baby drill" is NOT a viable re-election slogan for 2012.

BOOK - The Deepwater Horizon Disaster

I usually do not recommend things to buy on this blog. Well, here's an exception.



"A Hole at the Bottom of the Sea" by Joel Achenbach

It was a technological crisis in an alien realm: a blown-out oil well in mile-deep water in the Gulf of Mexico. For the engineers who had to kill the well, this was like Apollo 13, a crisis no one saw coming, and one of untold danger and challenge.

A suspense story, a mystery, a technological thriller: This is Joel Achenbach’s groundbreaking account of the Deepwater Horizon disaster and what came after. The tragic explosion on the huge drilling rig in April 2010 killed eleven men and triggered an environmental disaster. As a gusher of crude surged into the Gulf’s waters, BP engineers and government scientists—awkwardly teamed in Houston—raced to devise ways to plug the Macondo well.

Achenbach, a veteran reporter for The Washington Post and acclaimed science writer for National Geographic, moves beyond the blame game to tell the gripping story of what it was like, behind the scenes, moment by moment, in the struggle to kill Macondo. Here are the controversies, the miscalculations, the frustrations, and ultimately the technical triumphs of men and women who worked out of sight and around the clock for months to find a way to plug the well.

The Deepwater Horizon disaster was an environmental 9/11. The government did not have the means to solve the problem; only the private sector had the tools, and it didn’t have the right ones as the country became haunted by Macondo’s black plume, which was omnipresent on TV and the Internet. Remotely operated vehicles, the spaceships of the deep, had to perform the challenging technical maneuvers on the seafloor. Engineers choreographed this robotic ballet and crammed years of innovation into a single summer. As he describes the drama in Houston, Achenbach probes the government investigation into what went wrong in the deep sea. This was a confounding mystery, an engineering whodunit. The lessons of this tragedy can be applied broadly to all complex enterprises and should make us look more closely at the highly engineered society that surrounds us.

Achenbach has written a cautionary tale that doubles as a technological thriller.

I have the Kindle (PC) version that I'm reading now and I fully agree, it IS a technological thriller. Worth reading.

OIL DRILLING - Gulf Oil Spill's Lessons

"Technology Failures, Perils of Deepwater Drilling Among Gulf Oil Spill's Lessons"
PBS Newshour 4/21/2011

Excerpt from transcript

JOEL ACHENBACH, The Washington Post: Well, you know, this kind of thing will happen again.

And, as I say at the end of the book, it might not be another blowout. It might be a different kind of technological disaster. And I mentioned a possible disaster at a nuclear power plant. I wrote that before the tragic event in Japan at Fukushima.

I think people need to understand we live in an engineered world, and that the technology, as marvelous as it is, there are these failures modes that lurk within it. So, anyone out there who is in charge of one of these complex technologies, either as a policy-maker or as an engineer, needs to say, OK, where is -- where is the failure point in this whole thing? What's the thing I'm not thinking of that's lurking within it that makes the system less robust than I thought it was?

GULF - Infamous Anniversary, Oil Spill

"Along Gulf Coast, Cautious Optimism for Future a Year After Oil Spill Began"
PBS Newshour 4/20/2011

GULF OF MEXICO - Lets Trust BP.... NOT!

"BP Seeks to Resume Drilling in Gulf of Mexico" by JULIA WERDIGIER and JOHN M. BRODER, New York Times 4/3/2011

Excerpt

BP has asked United States regulators for permission to resume drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, two company officials said on Sunday, creating a delicate situation for the Obama administration as it seeks to balance safety concerns with a desire to increase domestic oil production.

The petition comes less than 12 months after a rig BP had leased there exploded, causing a huge oil spill and killing 11 workers. The accident tarnished BP’s image and raised questions about its safety procedures.

Just last week, the Justice Department confirmed that it was considering a range of civil and criminal penalties against BP, including potential manslaughter charges for the deaths of the rig workers, as part of its ongoing investigation into the accident.

At the same time, President Obama, in a major statement on energy policy last week, said the administrations was seeking to reduce dependence on imported oil in part by increasing domestic production, both onshore and off. BP was one of the major producers in the gulf before the accident.

BP is seeking permission to continue drilling at 10 existing deepwater production and development wells in the region in July in exchange for adhering to stricter safety and supervisory rules, said one of the officials. An agreement could be reached within the next month but would not include new drilling, the official said.

The other official said, “We’re making progress but it’s not a yes yet.” Both people spoke on the condition of anonymity because talks on a possible agreement were continuing.

Can you believe these assholes (excuse my language)!

We are supposed to just trust them to continue drilling after what they did?!

I hope that they do NOT receive approval unless it includes very, very stringent regulation and close monitoring by people have never been connected to BP or its affiliates.

This should include a very detailed inspection of EACH rig and that ALL problems be fixed, and reinspected, BEFORE the rig is approved. Note, re-inspection is NOT just a letter from BP stating a problem has been fixed; their word has no credibility.

OIL SPILL - Commission Final Report

"Oil Spill Probe Reveals Need to Balance Precautions, Profits"
PBS Newshour 1/11/2011

OIL SPILL - And Louisiana Oysters

"Oil and Oysters: Testing Continues in Louisiana After Gulf Disaster"
PBS Newshour 1/7/2011

OIL SPILL - Human Interest Side

"After Oil Spill Crisis, a Protector Keeps Watch" by DAN BARRY, New York Times 12/20/2010

Excerpt

A daughter of Plaquemines Parish, her camouflage outfit the color of the forest, checks the oil. She checks the steering, the coolant, the gas. She makes sure that everything is tied down or stored away, so that nothing loose will fly into the fanlike propeller at the rear of her airboat. “Maintenance,” she says. “Maintenance.”

Then off she roars, a singular woman named Albertine Marie Kimble, guiding her airboat across the grass and into the precious marsh waters, where she is most at home. An honor guard of green-winged teal ducks rises to greet her, the only resident of this southeastern Louisiana spot called Carlisle.

“Wow!” she shouts. “Whee-e-e-e!”

The BP oil spill of 2010 has come and gone, mostly. The cleanup armies have been reduced to platoons, the oil company’s public-relations blitz has lost its apologetic urgency, and you have to know where to look to find any remnants of the catastrophe. But Albertine Kimble, protector of these waters, is still here; she has neither forgotten nor forgiven.

She is not an oil rigger, or an oysterman, or a shrimper. She is the coastal program manager for Plaquemines Parish, tending to its wounded banks. She is also the parish itself, rooted generations-deep in its soft soil, an outdoorswoman living in a remote mobile home raised nine feet off the ground by creosote poles and galvanized girders.

OIL SPILL - BP Lawsuit Begins

"BP Faces Lawsuit to Recover Billions in Damages From Gulf Spill"
PBS Newshour 12/15/2010

OIL SPILL - The Commission Hearing

"At Oil Spill Commission Hearing, 'Rough Day' for BP, Halliburton, Transocean"
PBS Newshour 11/8/2010

From the transcript

"And the commission has been handicapped. They don't have the subpoena power."

WHAT?!

I wonder who is to blame for that? I would not put it past the Republicans quashing subpoena power for this important commission.

As for the testamentary, the company representatives present were likely coached by company lawyers NOT to say anything that could be construed as an admission of guilt. After all, there are years of BIG$ lawsuits waiting at the door.

I look forward to the commission's final report. ( due January 2011)

ENVIRONMENT - Brazil's Test on Deep Water Drilling

"Drill, Brazil, drill" by Erik German, GlobalPost 10/27/2010

Excerpt

This week Brazil is poised to start selling off its “gift from God.”

After billions of barrels of undersea oil were discovered off Brazil’s coast in 2007, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva credited divine providence. “God is Brazilian,” he said in a speech following the discovery, later calling the oil not only a divine gift, but his country’s “passport to the future.”

That future arrives in part on Thursday. That’s when Brazil’s state-run oil company, Petrobras, is set to announce the start of its commercial production of a small section of the Tupi field, one of several billion-barrel oil fields the company says are located offshore.

More than 200 miles out to sea and several miles below the surface, the pools of oil are thought to be among the biggest discovered on earth in recent decades. Properly tapped, they’ll make fortunes and catapult Brazil into the ranks of the world’s top oil-producing countries.

But as the crude begins to flow, some industry experts say Brazil has understated the risks involved — made apparent by the deep-sea drilling that caused this year’s disastrous spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

The fields are known as the "pre-salt" region, due to the fact that the bulk of the oil is locked beneath a formation of hardened salt as much as 6,500 feet thick. The closest of the new fields are about 200 miles southeast from the beaches of Rio de Janeiro on a patch of sea floor where the water is more than a mile deep.

Bold-blue emphasis mine

I HOPE Brazil can learn from our (USA) mistakes, but it's only a hope. The big bright flashing $$$-signs and the loud JACKPOT! bells will likely drown out caution.

ENVIRONMENT - Frontline on BP and the Gulf Oil Spill

Frontline aired what I consider to be a damning show on BP and the Gulf oil spill.

I highly recommend my readers view the show online: "The Spill" Frontline (54min)

What I took from this show is this is what happens when a company grows too big, too fast, and is lead by people who do NOT REALLY understand the industry they are a member of. Where money is much more important than anything else, an "account's" view.