Deep Water Horizon Sealed Shut but BP Still On The Hook

The five month long ordeal that leaked close to five million barrels of oil into the gulf may be officially over, but not for the rig’s owner. The deep water horizon oil well is sealed shut for good now but the cleanup and the expense still go on. Lawsuits will abound and according to the article below, ultimately the court of public opinion may determine more of the company's forward success than a court of law.
   . . . June


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Oil spill cleanup: After digging deep to kill well, BP faces long climb
CSMonitor.com:

The final relief well 'kill' – performed 18,000 feet below the sea floor – provided little more than a symbolic end to a summer-long disaster that put the Gulf oil industry, resort towns, and fishing communities in the grip of a crude-infused calamity that reopened wounds from hurricane Katrina five years earlier.

To be sure, troubling questions remain about the amount of oil left in Gulf waters, its impact on the complex coastal biology of the region, and the long-term economic effects of a six-month drilling ban and the 20 percent premium that explorers now expect to have to pay to drill new wells in the Gulf because of drilling delays and insurance rate hikes.

Despite a loss of nearly one-third of its stock value (or $70 billion) since the spill began, BP will endure in the Gulf, where untapped deep-water deposits shape its future as an oil company. But given the overall hit to its corporate reputation and stock price, and after a series of PR blunders under former chief Tony Hayward, BP knows it must build a new image, much as Exxon did after the Valdez disaster in 1989. And with deeds, not words.

"This is ultimately a story about corporate reputation and corporate liability," says James O'Rourke, a management professor at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana. "Clearly, the litigators want everybody to shut up and say nothing and then fight the battle in court. But ultimately the court of public opinion may determine more of the company's forward success than a court of law."
Read More . .

Thick Layer Of Oil On Seafloor in Gulf Of Mexico

According to the article below, they are finding oily sediment stretching for dozens of miles.This discovery suggests that a lot of oil from the Deepwater Horizon didn't simply evaporate or dissipate into the water — it has settled to the seafloor. It's very clearly a fresh layer. Oh My!

    . . . June


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Scientists Find Thick Layer Of Oil On Seafloor


NPR:   September 10, 2010

Scientists on a research vessel in the Gulf of Mexico are finding a substantial layer of oily sediment stretching for dozens of miles in all directions. Their discovery suggests that a lot of oil from the Deepwater Horizon didn't simply evaporate or dissipate into the water — it has settled to the seafloor.

The Research Vessel Oceanus sailed on Aug. 21 on a mission to figure out what happened to the more than 4 million barrels of oil that gushed into the water. Onboard, Samantha Joye, a professor in the Department of Marine Sciences at the University of Georgia, says she suddenly has a pretty good idea about where a lot of it ended up. It's showing up in samples of the seafloor, between the well site and the coast.

"I've collected literally hundreds of sediment cores from the Gulf of Mexico, including around this area. And I've never seen anything like this," she said in an interview via satellite phone from the boat.

Joye describes seeing layers of oily material — in some places more than 2 inches thick — covering the bottom of the seafloor.

"It's very fluffy and porous. And there are little tar balls in there you can see that look like microscopic cauliflower heads," she says.

It's very clearly a fresh layer. Right below it she finds much more typical seafloor mud. And in that layer, she finds recently dead shrimp, worms and other invertebrates.

Read More . . .

$10 million for Study of Oil Spill Health Issues - BP

 BP are getting hit with more expenses again. This time to study health-related issues with regard to the gulf coast oil spill. I guess they have so many long-term commitments there that it'll be many many years before they can put it behind them.
   . . . June


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BP provides $10 million for a study of health issues related to Gulf oil spill

WireUpdate Local | Local Breaking News | Local Breaking Wire

HOUSTON, TEXAS (BNO NEWS) – BP on Tuesday announced that it will provide $10 million to support a study of public health issues related to the Gulf oil spill and other related health research.

The fund will be awarded to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) under its Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative (GRI), a 10-year, $500 million independent research program established by BP to better understand and mitigate the environmental and potential health effects of the Gulf oil spill.

BP provided the funds to expedite work in support of the research priorities identified at the Institute of Medicine (IOM) workshop commissioned by the Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius and included in the IOM report "Assessing the Effects of the Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill on Human Health," released last August 10.

With the funding, NIH will be able to build on efforts by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Unified Command. It is also intended to support the immediate needs of researchers in understanding potential acute and long-term health impacts of exposures to oil, dispersed oil and dispersants

Read on . . .

Safety Board Starts BP Spill Probe

 Now that oil is no longer spilling into the gulf, it's time to delve into the broader issues, such as safety and regulations. According to this article in the Houston Chronicle, investigators from the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board start their investigation of the Deepwater Horizon accident. It is essential that safety is assured for future platforms if off-shore drilling is to continue.
   . . . June

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Safety board ventures offshore for BP spill probe
Energy | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle: 

As emergency crews responded to the fire on a Mariner Energy platform Thursday, investigators from the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board stood on the deck of a drilling rig 200 miles to the east, starting their investigation of the Deepwater Horizon accident.

Investigators with the federal agency, better known for looking at the causes of accidents at chemical plants and refineries, will be based in Texas for the next month, looking into the April 20 drilling rig blowout that killed 11 and spilled almost 5 million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico.

Earlier this week the team attended an offshore safety conference at Texas A&M University and on Thursday flew out to Transocean's Development Driller III, the rig drilling the relief well that soon should intercept BP's Macondo well and seal it for good.

No oil has spilled from the well since workers put a cap on the wellhead July 15.

Don Holmstrom, CSB's lead investigator, said his team isn't looking at emergency response issues or spill cleanup, but causes behind the blowout itself.

This includes meeting with the internal investigation teams from BP, which held the federal lease where the well was drilled; Transocean, which owned and operated the rig; and other companies involved, looking at documents filed in ongoing investigations and interviewing witnesses.

"We will also be looking at broader issues like regulatory enforcement safety metrics, the focus on preventing catastrophic accidents versus focusing on issues such as personal safety, and BP's safety culture," Holmstrom said.

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More Trouble For Oil Industry? Gulf oil platform explodes and burning

 According to the article below, there's more trouble for the oil industry - thankfully not BP this time. Still, it's just another warning that catastrophic things can happen aboard an oil rig and that the coast is constantly in peril.
   . . . June


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Gulf oil platform explodes, burning off La. coast
By ALAN SAYRE, Associated Press Writer
 
"NEW ORLEANS, La. – An offshore petroleum platform exploded and was burning Thursday in the Gulf of Mexico about 100 miles off the Louisiana coast, west of the site where BP's undersea well spilled after a rig explosion.

The Coast Guard said no one was killed in the explosion, which was spotted by a commercial helicopter flying over the site Thursday morning. All 13 people aboard the rig have been accounted for, with one injury. The extent of the injury was not known.

They were rescued from the water by an offshore service vessel, the Crystal Clear, said Coast Guard Cmdr. She said they were taken to a nearby platform. All were being flown to the Terrebonne General Medical Center in Houma to be checked over.

"Thirteen people were seen huddled together in the water wearing gumby suits or immersion suits, water protection suits, so we were able to confirm that all people were accounted for," Coast Guard spokesman Chief Petty Officer John Edwards said.

Seven Coast Guard helicopters, two airplanes and three cutters were dispatched to the scene from New Orleans, Houston and Mobile, Ala., Ben-Iesau said. She said authorities do not know whether oil was leaking from the site.

The platform, known as Vermilion Oil Platform 380, was owned by Mariner Energy of Houston, according to a homeland security operations update obtained by The Associated Press. The platform was not producing oil and gas, according to the operations report.

Read More Of The Article . . .

Boat Captains and Deckhands No Longer Needed For Cleanup!

 It's great news that oil is no longer spilling into the Gulf, but many of the boat captains and deckhands hired now find themselves out of work and are as badly off as ever. How are BP going to compensate them now?  The article below enlarges on this problem.
   . . . June 


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Gulf Oil Spill Hits Workers Hard, Aid Groups Out Of Money
KEVIN McGILL and TOM BREEN | 08/23/10 05:40 PM

NEW ORLEANS — The oil has stopped flowing into the Gulf of Mexico, and that should be a relief. But with fewer cleanup jobs to be had, many of the people hit hardest by the huge spill are struggling as badly as ever.

Boat captains and deckhands who managed to put food on the table over the summer because they got hired by BP to skim the oil are being dropped from the payroll while huge swaths of the Gulf remain off-limits to those who haul in shrimp, oysters and other seafood

Now, just when with the environmental and engineering crisis is easing, large charities providing food to coastal communities have run out of money, homeless shelters are filling up with men thrown out of work by the spill, and demand for drug and alcohol counseling is up.

In yet another source of anxiety for fishermen and others, the federal government took over the handling of oil-spill damage claims from BP on Monday, and many people along the Gulf are waiting to see how Obama administration appointee Kenneth Feinberg administers the $20 billion victims compensation fund set up by the company.

Already, there are indications he intends to be stricter than BP in some cases when it comes to handing out checks to individuals and businesses.

Read More from the article . .