Gulf of Mexico oil spill cleanup draws fresh criticism

[Pathfinder]

Gulf of Mexico oil spill cleanup draws fresh criticism

Published: Wednesday, July 18, 2012, 10:45 PM
By Mark Schleifstein, The Times-Picayune

With oil from the 2010 BP spill in the Gulf of Mexico continuing to show up on beaches and in wetlands along Louisiana's coast, the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority on Wednesday passed a resolution criticizing the Coast Guard for prematurely allowing BP to pull cleanup teams from coastal areas it declares clean. The authority passed a second resolution requesting the governor's office and the state attorney general's office to brief its members on whether any of the state's criminal statutes can be applied to BP.

"We've pretty much reached an impasse with the Coast Guard," said Drue Banta, a governor's office attorney handling legal issues involving the spill for the authority. "They continue to tell us 'no' in different ways."

Calls to Coast Guard Capt. Samuel Walker, the incident commander for the spill, were not returned.

The resolution requests the Coast Guard to:

?Return coastal segments for which the state has documented oiling concerns to active response, meaning BP contractors would continue to be responsible for cleaning any oil.
?Consult with the state and affected parishes involving coastal segments the Coast Guard wants to drop out of the active response program, and address their concerns before making a decision.
?Develop a long-term oil patrol and removal program for the entire coast.

State and parish officials have complained for more than a year that BP, with the Coast Guard's assent, has slowed or stopped its efforts to identify and clean oil-contaminated parts of the Louisiana coastline.

More...

http://www.nola.com/news/gulf-oil-spill/index.ssf/2012/07/gulf_of_mexico_oil_spill_clean_5.html

[Emily]

Re: Gulf of Mexico oil spill cleanup draws fresh criticism

Chemical Safety Board to Present its Deepwater Horizon Investigation Findings
Posted By Arnold & Itkin, LLP on Jul 9, 2012 9:34am PDT

[snip]
The JIT also concluded that little has changed since the accident in terms of regulatory controls designed to make drilling operations in the region safer. In April of this year, the JIT (now referred to as the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling) released a report giving grades to various regulatory bodies for making efforts to improve industry safety. The Obama administration received a B, the oil industry a C+ and Congress a shocking D grade for its "inability to enact any legislation responding to the explosion and spill."

Because the CSB is an independent federal agency, its findings on the incident are expected to go farther than other agencies did in assessing whether lax offshore drilling regulation contributed to the Gulf Oil Spill disaster. The findings of its report will be presented on the second day of the hearing, with the first day being devoted to hearings on process safety monitoring in the petrochemical and refining industries, seven years after the BP Texas City refinery explosion...

BP nearing ?7.4bn disaster deal (11.5 billion US dollars).UK News - News - WalesOnline

Oil giant BP is reportedly nearing a ?7.4 billion settlement with US authorities as it seeks to draw a line under the Deepwater Horizon disaster.

[snip]

But this figure includes just 3.5 billion (?2.2 billion) to cover charges under the Clean Water Act, which could rise to up to 17.5 billion US dollars (?11.2 billion) if BP is found grossly negligent.

[snip]

The Obama administration, which is keen to use the settlement as a potential vote winner ahead of the presidential election, is understood to be pushing for 25 billion US dollars (?16 billion) but both sides are thought keen to reach an agreement.

A deal would be seen as a coup for chief executive Bob Dudley, who is under pressure to revive the company's fortunes...