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December 30th, 2011
The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the National Research Council (NRC) have published a report titled, “Macondo Well – Deepwater Horizon Blowout, Lessons for Improving Offshore Drilling Safety,” which details the lapses in oil drilling safety culture leading up to the Gulf oil spill, as well as the need for a better engineered blowout preventer (BOP). The NAE and NRC study was conducted at the request of Interior Department head Ken Salazar. The report’s conclusions support many of the stricter environmental and safety regulatory changes the Interior Department has made since the Gulf oil spill.
The report noted that over the last twenty years, oil industry research and development has focused on exploration and drilling, to the detriment of safety. Additionally, the Los Angeles Times reports, the “fragmented nature of offshore oil drilling, with different companies responsible for highly specialized tasks, means that few people on a rig may have a complete sense of the risks involved in the drilling operation.”
The report devotes a chapter to discussing the role that misplaced confidence in BOPs played in the disaster:
“Before the Macondo well blowout, there were numerous warnings to both industry and regulators about potential failures of existing BOP systems. While the inadquacies were identified and documented…it appears that there was a misplaced trust by responsible government authorities and many industry leaders in the ability of the BOP to act as a fail-safe mechanism.”
Currently, there are no standard safety requirements or independent certifications for blowout preventers.
Tags: BOP, investigation
Posted in Gulf oil spill | Comments Off
December 1st, 2011
The New York Times reports that Kenneth R. Feinberg, administrator of the $20 billion fund set up by BP to compensate victims of the April 2010 Gulf oil spill, has announced a new formula to calculate final settlements for shrimp and crab fishermen.
The new formula “recognizes the ongoing uncertainty regarding the state of commercial harvesting of shrimp and crab in the gulf,” and allows shrimp and crab fishermen to collect a final settlement of four times their demonstrable losses from the 2010 disaster. Previously, they were only able to collect up to twice their 2010 losses; this adjustment comes during Louisiana’s worst white shrimp season in memory, which evidence suggests may be caused by the oil spill.
BP weighed in negatively on the change, saying that the fund “has already compensated commercial shrimpers and crabbers far in excess of the documented, spill-related losses.”
Tags: commercial fisheries, crabs, environment, GCCF, Kenneth Feinberg, long-term damage, settlement, shrimpers
Posted in Economic Impact, Environment, GCCF | Comments Off
November 30th, 2011
The San Francisco Chronicle and Fuel Fix report that BP, Transocean Ltd. and Halliburton may face additional government citations for safety and environmental violations connected to the Deepwater Horizon explosion.
The three companies have already received citations for their role in the April 2010 Deepwater Horizon blast and resulting Gulf oil spill. In October 2011, federal regulators charged BP with seven violations, and Transocean and Halliburton each with four violations. The original citations were based on a joint investigation by the Interior Department and the United States Coast Guard, while the upcoming citations will be based on government review of “underlying materials that were not specifically addressed (in the joint investigation report).”
Michael Bromwich, head of the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, says that the notices of violation will likely be sent out within two weeks.
Tags: BP, Deepwater Horizon, environment, Halliburton, Transocean
Posted in Environment, Gulf oil spill | Comments Off
November 1st, 2011
Transocean, the owner of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig that exploded in the Gulf of Mexico last year, filed a motion on Tuesday to shield itself from cleanup costs related to the 4.9 barrels of spilled oil, reported the Wall Street Journal.
BP hired Transocean as a contractor to drill the well, and protected it against pollution-related costs in the agreement.
BP, however, maintains that freeing Transocean of cleanup costs “would be inconsistent with the law and sound public policy,” and “to enforce the indemnification would be to allow Transocean to escape the consequences of its actions and avoid meeting its obligations in the Gulf.”
Nonetheless, some feel BP will have difficulty trying to convince a judge that Transocean should bear the burden of the cleanup costs. Blaine G. LeCesne, an associate professor at Loyola University New Orleans College of Law, stated “That is a self-serving argument by BP. There is nothing in the law that supports that perspective.”
Tags: BP, cleanup, Transocean
Posted in Litigation | Comments Off
October 31st, 2011
U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier dismissed claims on October 12, 2011 against the operators of emergency rescue boats related to the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico last year, reported the National Law Journal.
Plaintiffs filed a proposed class action seeking economic and property damages under federal and state laws, alleging that the emergency responders who battled the fires on the Deepwater Horizon should have known that dousing the rig with water would cause it to sink, breaking the riser pipe and initiating an oil spill. Barbier concluded the plaintiffs’ claims should be dismissed, in part because the spilled oil discharged from the Deepwater Horizon rig itself, not the emergency responders’ vessels.
Barbier noted that, “even assuming Defendants’ actions fell below the standard of care, a reasonable person in Defendants’ situation would not foresee that spraying water from one vessel onto another vessel in apparent hopes of extinguishing a fire would cause oil to discharge continuously from the latter vessel’s drill pipe, which would probably result in the economic and property damages allegedly incurred by onshore Plaintiffs over fifty miles away.”
However, Barbier’s order left certain details, specifically negligence and damage liability, unresolved , and will likely be appealed by the plaintiffs.
Tags: court orders, Deepwater Horizon, emergency responders
Posted in Litigation | Comments Off
October 17th, 2011
Anadarko Petroleum Co. has agreed to pay $4 billion to BP to settle claims related to Anadarko’s role in last year’s Gulf of Mexico oil spill, reported Associated Press.
Anadarko will also hand over its 25% share in the Macondo well to BP as part of the settlement.
BP has now settled with both of its partners in the Macondo well. Earlier this year, BP also announced a $1 billion settlement with MOEX Offshore, its other partner in the Macondo well.
However, BP is still entangled in litigation over the oil spill, with numerous categories of plaintiffs, state and federal government, and with former contractors Transocean Ltd., operator of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, and Halliburton Co., which was responsible for cementing the well. The first trial is scheduled for February in New Orleans.
Tags: Anadarko, BP, Litigation, settlement
Posted in Litigation | Comments Off
October 13th, 2011
The Interior Department formally cited BP and its contractors Transocean and Halliburton for several safety and environmental violations committed while operating the Deepwater Horizon well that blew out on April 20, 2010, killing 11 workers and causing a massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
The New York Times reported that the citations followed a report issued last month, in which the Interior Department and the Coast Guard found that BP, Transocean, and Halliburton failed to operate the drilling rig safely and follow proper protocol, thus endangering workers and contributing to the ultimate well blowout and oil spill .
“To ensure the safe and environmentally responsible conduct of offshore operations, companies that violate federal regulations must be held accountable,” stated Michael R. Bromwich, head of the department’s offshore safety office.
Tags: BP, Deepwater Horizon, investigation, safety, Transocean
Posted in Litigation | Comments Off
October 3rd, 2011
A new study by scientists from Louisiana State University says common fish in Louisiana marshes have been severely affected by last year’s Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and now appear deformed and may reproduce improperly, reported the Associated Press.
The scientists found “sub-lethal” damage to killifish in the area, including genetic effects that appear as animals grow. Scientists also found damaged gills, intestines, and cardiovascular organs among killifish sampled in the Barataria estuary.
The fish are showing signs of damage despite that the amount of oil in the tissues and in the surrounding water was minimal or even undetectable.
Killifish are an important link in the Gulf of Mexico food chain, as a food source for larger fish like speckled trout and redfish. Reproduction issues caused by the oil spill could decrease killifish populations and threaten the species that rely on them.
The findings are similar to what scientists found in Alaskan waters after the Exxon Valdez spill, where serious problems in some marine populations developed subltly and were not discovered until several years after the spill.
Tags: environment, long-term damage
Posted in Environment | Comments Off
October 3rd, 2011
Last Friday, U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier ruled that the Deepwater Horizon cleanup crews and Nalco, the manufacturer of the oil dispersant Corexit, failed to prove immunity to personal injury claims by cleanup workers and residents alleging harmful exposure to oil, dispersants, and other chemicals, reported Law360.
The defendants claimed their use of Corexit was approved by the government for use after the oil spill disaster, and should thus by covered by the government’s immunity under the Clean Water Act.
Filed on behalf of boat captains, crew members, onshore workers, and local resident, the plaintiffs’ charge the oil and dispersant caused a range of health problems including rashes, lesions, burns, headaches, vomiting, and eye irritation. The complaint also alleges that the plaintiffs’ could face long-term health problems such as lung, liver and kidney damage, cardiovascular damage, chemical pneumonia, and nervous system depression.
Tags: BP, court order, Deepwater Horizon, dispersants, Litigation, long-term damage, physical health, safety
Posted in Litigation | Comments Off
September 26th, 2011
Criminal investigators on the federal Deepwater Horizon task force are examining whether BP failed to report significant changes in pressure measurement during drilling operations, reported the Houston Chronicle.
Department of Justice officials are now focusing on whether pressure readings indicated a narrow margin of safety and increased volatility in the well, which may have required BP to halt operations and request approval from regulators to continue drilling.
It is unclear whether BP properly reported the results of tests.
Prosecutors are also investigating involuntary manslaughter charges based on decisions that increased the risk of a blowout, like the one that ultimately destroyed the Deepwater Horizon, kill ing 11 workers, and releas ing massive amounts of oil into the Gulf of Mexico.
Tags: BP, Deepwater Horizon, investigation, Litigation, safety
Posted in Litigation | Comments Off
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