Second Train in Two Days Derails and Dumps Gnarly Pollutants in Wisconsin
For the second day in a row, a freight train has derailed in Wisconsin, reports the New York Times.
BP Will Pay $18.7 Billion in Deepwater Oil Spill Settlement
British oil company BP is finally settling up with the federal government and five states affected by the devastating oil spill that hit the Gulf Coast when BP’s Deepwater Horizon rig exploded in 2010. The company has tentatively agreed to pay $18.7 billion in damages over 18 years, The New York Times reports.
Devastating Photos of the 13,200 Gallon Oil Spill in Thailand
On Saturday, an oil pipeline leaked 13,200 gallons of crude oil (the equivalent of one and a half tanker trucks) into the Gulf of Thailand. The oil slick is continuing to spread, blackening the beaches and water of a tourist island in the country's eastern sea.
Halliburton Admits Destroying Gulf Oil Spill Evidence, Gets Probation
Halliburton announced today that it will plead guilty to destroying critical evidence in the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill, in exchange for three years probation and a fine.
New Zealand's Penguins in Dire Need of Fabulous Knits
The Taurunga oil spill off the coast of New Zealand unleashed 2,500 barrels of heavy fuel into a fragile ecosystem, coating thousands of local seabirds in oil. This puts many of them — particularly the mind-meltingly adorable Little Blue Penguin — at serious risk of freezing and/or being poisoned to death. We know, we…
BP Spills Oil In Alaska (Again)
A BP oil pipeline in Alaska leaked "a mixture of methanol and oily produced water" on Saturday during routine summer maintenance, but no more than 4,200 gallons spilled out (probably).
House Republicans Lend Big Oil a Hand
Geez, the federal government sure has made the last year so tough for struggling oil companies to get new offshore drilling leases. And if there's one sector that needs a helping hand these days, well, it's oil. But thanks to House Republicans those dark days will soon be over! Yesterday a bill was passed — creatively…
BP Fined for Another Oil Spill
Pariah oil company BP is settling charges by paying $25 million in civil fines over two oil spills on Alaska's North Slope in 2006, and for basically ignoring court orders to properly maintain their pipelines. How shocking! According to a report in the Times, "The fine is the largest per-barrel assessment ever levied…
BP Goes on a Suing Spree
BP went after three companies yesterday with lawsuits for "misconduct" (ha!) and for tarnishing its good name over the Gulf of Mexico oil spill last year, most notably Halliburton. Yesterday's filing blasts Halliburton for "improper conduct, errors and omissions, including fraud and concealment," and it is thought the…
One Year After Oil Spill, the Gulf Is Still Screwed
Happy BP Oil Spill Anniversary! In honor of this, the AP reports that, "More than 3,200 oil and gas wells classified as active lie abandoned beneath the Gulf of Mexico, with no cement plugging." Ugh.
Emails Prove That BP Is Shady
The Guardian has obtained internal BP meeting notes and emails that show how the oil company tried to influence scientists who were studying the effects of the Deepwater Horizon spill. Shocked??? Didn't think so.
How the Doobie Brothers Conquered the Gulf Oil Spill
After ejaculating 5 million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, BP doled out $750 million to state and local governments in a panicked attempt to seem less evil. The states, being dutiful stewards of the environment, directed the money to cleanup and mitigation. Kidding! No, they spent it on the Doobie Brothers…
Dead Gulf Dolphins Found Covered In BP Oil
In not-very-shocking news from the Gulf of Mexico, scientists have said that six dolphins that washed up on the shore there had oil on them, and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration officials have traced the oil directly to last year's BP spill. Previously, experts said that "unusual mortality events" were…
Transocean: Sorry for Being a Little 'Insensitive'
Last week, the owner of the fiery death trap Deepwater Horizon oil rig, Transocean Ltd., announced in a SEC filing that it was handing out huge bonuses to its top executives for the "best year in safety performance in our company's history." Transocean CEO and big bonus recipient Steve Newman also made a point that of…
Transocean Gives Bonuses for 'Safety Performance'
Remember Transocean Ltd., the company that owned the BP-operated Deepwater Horizon oil rig that exploded in a hellish ball of fire, killing 11 workers and setting off the massive Gulf oil spill last year? In documents filed with the SEC on Friday, the company announced it was handing out bonuses to senior executives…
Possible Manslaughter Charges for BP Managers
Bloomberg reports today that the Justice Department is exploring manslaughter charges against BP managers over the deaths of 11 workers on the Deepwater Horizon offshore oil rig last year. According to the report, invesitgators want "to determine whether [BP managers'] testimony was at odds with what they knew." In…
The Ecological Disaster No One Is Talking About
I realize we have a lot on our worrying plates, between all the tsunamis and Qaddaffis dominating the news these days—but if I could just momentarily direct your hopelessness in the direction of the adorable, oil-soaked rockhopper penguins above, I'd be much obliged. These faces are the innocent victims of yet another…
Reports of 'Sheen' in Gulf of Mexico
This doesn't sound good: The Coast Guard is looking into reports of a "sheen" in the Gulf of Mexico off the Louisiana coast — "We have an unknown substance in the water." Oil? Algae? Charlie?
Expert: Cornstarch Could Have Plugged BP Oil Well
An article in last month's Physical Review Letters says that oobleck, a mixture of cornstarch and water, could have plugged BP's very leaky oil well in the Gulf. It seems no one got the memo (literally).
Oil Spill Remnants: 'There's a Lot of it Out There'
Boy, that pesky Gulf oil spill thing just won't go away: "I've been to the bottom [...] It's not going to be fine by 2012," marine scientist Samantha Joye told the AP. But BP says otherwise. What gives?
