Earth Environment Underground

Surprise inspections of deepwater drilling rigs in the Gulf of Mexico dwindled to about three a year over the past decade, even as exploratory drilling far from shore increased, according to federal data analyzed by The Wall Street Journal. And since 2004 federal authorities haven’t made a single surprise inspection on any of the 50 or so deepwater natural gas and oil production platforms in the Gulf, despite a law requiring periodic unannounced inspections. Like rigs, these semi-permanent structures also handle enormous amounts of oil and natural gas and are at risk for oil spills and worker fatalities. … Read ahead

Source: online.wsj.com

The government repeatedly underestimated how much oil was flowing into the Gulf of Mexico and how much was left after the well was capped in July, leading to a loss of faith in the government’s ability to handle the spill and a continuing breach between the federal authorities and state and local officials, the commission staff members found in a… Read ahead

Source: nytimes.com

Researchers are warning that the Gulf of Mexico oil spill is a bigger mess than the government claims and that a lot of crude is lurking deep below the surface, some of it settling perhaps in a critical undersea canyon off the Florida Panhandle. … Read ahead

Source: google.com

WASHINGTON – The Obama administration announced on Monday that it will grant no more permits for deepwater oil exploration without requiring studies on their impact on the environment. The Interior Department said it would award offshore drilling permits only to projects “involving limited environmental risk” while it undertakes a comprehensive review of its procedures under U.S. environmental protection laws. The administration imposed a moratorium on most offshore drilling activities until November following the Deepwater Horizon disaster, which released several million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico from a ruptured BP well. The Bureau of Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEM) said it has directed its staff not to grant “categorical exclusions” for deepwater drilling activities even after the moratorium is lifted, the Interior Department said. The exclusions, which were created to reduce bureaucratic red tape, allowed companies to undertake deepwater drilling projects without providing either environmental assessments or impact statements. The department said it was examining what kinds of environmental reviews should be required for offshore activities, as well as the procedures that should be followed under the National Environmental Protection Act. “The changes in our regulatory framework and approach will serve to hold offshore operators accountable and ensure that the industry and the country are fully prepared to deal with catastrophic blowouts and oil spills like the Deepwater Horizon,” BOEM director Michael Bromwich said. Meanwhile, Thad Allen, the administration’s pointman for the oil-spill response, announced the deployment of 19 teams to assess the economic impact of the BP oil spill. The teams, which are in addition to two already sent to Louisiana, will go to Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, and Texas, he said. … Read ahead

Source: grist.org

Latest at grist.org

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BP’s massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has led adults in the five largest European countries and the United States to be more concerned than before the spill about many environmental issues and oil dependency, according to a new poll released last week. … Read ahead

Source: ecopolitology.org

Gulf of Mexico oil spill. “The farther away you are from the Gulf and the Gulf shore the less likely it is that you will have a valid claim,” Feinberg, administrator of the fund, said Aug. 13 in a telephone interview. “But I will take a look at each claim.” BP has received more than 142,400 claims, representing every state, for damages from the well that gushed for almost three months, and most will be turned over to the Feinberg-run Gulf Coast Claims Facility that goes into operation on Aug. 23, according to … Read ahead

Source: blog.al.com

Latest at blog.al.com

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BP says it is no longer using toxic dispersants to break up the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. Gulf Coast residents claim otherwise, and say they have the sicknesses to prove it. BP has been using two oil dispersants, Corexit 9500 and Corexit 9527, both of which are banned in Britain. More than 1.9 million gallons of dispersant has been used. … Read ahead

Source: commondreams.org

The Deepwater Horizon oil spill is overshadowing another catastrophe that’s also unfolding in the Gulf of Mexico this summer: The oxygen dissolved in the Gulf waters is disappearing. In some places, the oxygen is getting so scarce that fish and other animals cannot survive. They can either leave the oxygen-free waters or die. The … Read ahead

Source: climateprogress.org

Latest at climateprogress.org

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When Ed Overton looks at the remains of what’s happened to the Gulf of Mexico over the past few months, he sees a stale, unsolved crime scene. The oil has stopped leaking. The damage is largely done, he says. But what exactly happened? Until more clues surface, that’s anyone’s guess… … Read ahead

Source: cnn.com

Latest at cnn.com

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BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. – Filmmaker Spike Lee is calling a “lie” a U.S. government report that 75 percent of the spilled Gulf Coast oil is gone. Speaking to a meeting of the Television Critics Association on Saturday, Lee said journalists should expose what he called the real story. He argued that it’s unlikely that “abracadabra, presto chango” the vast majority of the oil has vanished from Gulf of Mexico waters and coastal wetlands. Federal scientists said last week that nearly three-quarters of the oil has been removed by various artificial or natural means, but that the spill’s effect on wildlife will long continue. Lee was promoting his new documentary about New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. “If God is Willing and Da Creek Don’t Rise,” a follow-up to his 2006 film about the hurricane, debuts Aug. 23 and 24 on HBO. … Read ahead

Source: news.yahoo.com